Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres and mile, and the former world record holder in the 2000 metres. He is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to win a gold medal in both the 1500 m and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games.
Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat is a Kenyan-American former middle and long-distance runner.
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers or approximately 15⁄16 miles. The event is closely associated with its slightly longer cousin, the mile run, from which it derives its nickname "the metric mile".
Marcin Przemysław Lewandowski is a Polish retired middle-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and silver in the same event at the 2018 World Indoor Championships. At the European Athletics Championships, Lewandowski claimed gold in the 800 metres in 2010 and silvers in 2016 and 2018 for the 800 m and 1500 m respectively. He took also five medals at the European Indoor Championships, including three golds between 2015 and 2019, and two silvers in 2011 and 2021.
Mary Cecilia Cain is an American professional middle distance runner from Bronxville, New York. Cain was the 2014 World Junior Champion in the 3000 meter event. She is the youngest American athlete ever to represent the United States at a track and field World Championships meet after competing in the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow aged 17 years and 3 months.
Sifan Hassan is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She is most recognized for her versatility in running championship and world-leading performances in widely disparate distances. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1,500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second of three women to complete an Olympic distance double. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Hassan secured a bronze medal in both the women's 5,000 m and 10,000 m events and gold in the women's marathon, becoming the only woman to win the Olympic gold medal in the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and Marathon races.
Kate Van Buskirk is a Canadian Olympian, cross-country and track runner, with 18 years National Team experience. She won bronze for Canada at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 1500 m. She was named as an Athlete Director of Athletics Canada, in August 2019. She continues in this role as of August 2020.
Yomif Kejelcha Atomsa is an Ethiopian distance runner. He holds the current world record in the short track mile, and the half marathon.
Emily Infeld is an American long-distance runner. She regularly competes in the 5000 m and 10,000 m distances during her professional career; in her college career she regularly competed in the 4 × 800 meter relay and 1500 m on up to 5000 m.
Timothy Cheruiyot is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the event and the 11th fastest athlete all time over the distance. At the World Athletics Championships, Cheruiyot won the silver medal in 2017 in London, and a gold in 2019 in Doha.
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot is a Canadian middle-distance runner who specializes in the 1500 metres. In his specialty event, he has represented Canada at the 2015, 2022, and 2023 World Championships as well as at the 2016 Olympics, having reached the semi-final on all occasions. He is also the 2023 Pan American Champion over 1500 m, having won a bronze medal in the same event at the 2015 edition.
Konstanze "Koko" Klosterhalfen is a German middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2019 World Championship bronze medallist and 2022 European champion in the 5000 metres, becoming the first German medalist of the event at the World Athletics Championships and the first German winner of the event at the European Athletics Championships. At the European Indoor Championships, Klosterhalfen won silver medals for the 1500 metres in 2017 and the 3000 metres in 2019 and 2023. She took four individual medals at the European Cross Country Championships. In February 2020, she set a European indoor record in the 5000 m with 14:30.79, the fourth fastest time ever.
Luke Mathews is a retired Australian middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres and 1500 metres. He represented his country in both events at the 2016 Summer Olympics. As well as in the 4 × 800 m at the 2017 IAAF World Relays, the 1500m at the 2017 IAAF World Championships and in both events at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He also competed for Australia at 2019 World Athletics Championships in the 800 m.
Selemon Barega Shirtaga is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, silver for the 5,000 metres at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and bronze in the 10,000 metres at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. Selemon is a two-time 3,000 metres World Indoor Championship medallist, taking silver in 2018, and a gold in 2022.
Neil Gourley is a Scottish middle-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He won the silver medal in the event at the 2023 European Indoor Championships and bronze at the 2015 European Under-23 Championships.
Matthew Ramsden is an Australian middle-distance runner. He won a gold medal in 1500 metres at the 2019 Oceania Athletics Championships in Townsville. He represented Australia at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, competing in men's 1500 metres.
John Eamon Gay is a Canadian track and field Olympic Finalist who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase.
Sam Atkin is a British Olympic athlete specialising in long-distance running, predominantly the 5000 metres and 10,000 m races.
Samuel Tanner is a New Zealand middle- and long-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He is Māori; his iwi affiliation is Ngāpuhi. Tanner is the New Zealand indoor record holder for the 1500 metres.
