Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

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Men's 1500 metres
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Olympic Athletics.png
Olympic Athletics
Venue Olympic Stadium
Dates29–31 July
Competitors42 from 28 nations
Winning time3:39.1
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg John Walker
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Silver medal icon.svg Ivo Van Damme
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
Bronze medal icon.svg Paul-Heinz Wellmann
Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany
  1972
1980  

The men's 1,500m metres was an event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The final was held on Saturday 31 July 1976 and was contested by 9 athletes. The semifinals were held on 30 July 1976 and were contested by 18 athletes. The heats were held on 29 July 1976 and 45 athletes entered; 42 athletes from 28 nations competed. [1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by John Walker of New Zealand, the nation's first 1500 metres title since 1964 and third overall. Ivo Van Damme's silver was Belgium's first medal in the event.

As of 2023, the winning margin of 0.10 seconds remains the narrowest winning margin in the men's 1500 metres at the Olympics since the introduction of fully automatic timing.

Summary

With the absence of notable front runner, world record holder Filbert Bayi, who was part of the 1976 Summer Olympics boycott, the race devolved into a slow, tactical battle. After a slow 62 second first lap, notable kicker Eamonn Coghlan rushed from the back of the field to the front, followed by mile world record holder, John Walker, but their action in the front only seemed to keep the pace slow. For another lap and a half, the field jockeyed for position for the inevitable final kick. Between 500 meters out and the bell the field bunched so it was almost four abreast across the line behind Walker and Coghlan. The bunch followed around the turn to the start line, then Walker decided to make the break, gaining a step on Coghlan with 800 meter medalists Rick Wohlhuter and Ivo Van Damme the next in line. Walker never relinquished his lead, slowly building on the gap. Behind him van Damme with Wohlhuter as his shadow, edged up on Coghlan. First Wohlhuter fell back, then Coghlan. As van Damme continued to chase Walker, Paul-Heinz Wellmann ran past the faltering athletes along the rail. A defeated Coghlan tried not to give up, dipping for the finish line in vain almost 10 meters too early. All that succeeded in doing was making him lose his balance, clearly falling to fourth place.

Five months after this race, van Damme was killed in an automobile accident. Three other competitors from this race had notable extended careers; Walker set the record for running 100 sub-4 minute miles in his career in 1985. He competed in the Athletics at the 1990 Commonwealth Games on home soil at age 38. David Moorcroft set the 5,000 metres world record and later the masters M40 world record in the mile. Coghlan held the title of "Chairman of the boards" as a spectacular indoor mile runner. He took Moorcroft's masters record on an indoor track, becoming the first masters runner to break the 4 minute mile.

Background

This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. There were two 1972 finalists returning, sixth-place finisher Herman Mignon of Belgium and seventh-place finisher Paul-Heinz Wellmann of West Germany. The highly anticipated matchup was between Filbert Bayi of Tanzania and John Walker of New Zealand; at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, the two had both beaten the world record with Bayi taking top honors by 0.36 seconds. But New Zealand's rugby tour of South Africa meant that the rematch would not occur: Tanzania was among the nations that would boycott the Games if New Zealand were not banned; thus, either Walker or Bayi would be unable to compete. When the IOC did not ban New Zealand, Tanzania followed through on the boycott, keeping Bayi out of the Games. Neither man was in perfect health in any case, with Walker battling chronic compartment syndrome and Bayi fighting malaria. [2]

Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its 18th appearance, the only nation to have competed in the men's 1500 metres at each Games to that point.

Competition format

The competition was again three rounds (used previously in 1952 and since 1964). The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964 was used for both the first round and semifinals. For the third straight Games, the size of the final changed: 1968 had upped the final from 9 to 12 runners, 1972 had reduced it to 10, and now the final was back to 9 men.

There were five heats in the first round, each with 9 runners (before withdrawals). The top three runners in each heat, along with the next three fastest overall, advanced to the semifinals. The 18 semifinalists were divided into two semifinals, each with 9 runners. The top four men in each semifinal, plus the fastest fifth-placer, advanced to the 9-man final. [2] [3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of Tanzania.svg  Filbert Bayi  (TAN)3:32.16 Christchurch, New Zealand 2 February 1974
Olympic recordFlag of Kenya.svg  Kip Keino  (KEN)3:34.9 Mexico City, Mexico 20 October 1968

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 29 July 197616:40Round 1
Friday, 30 July 197616:20Semifinals
Saturday, 31 July 197618:00Final

Results

Round 1

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Marc Nevens Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 3:44.18Q
2 Helder Baiona De Jesus Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 3:44.20Q
3 János Zemen Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 3:44.27Q
4 Åke Svenson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 3:44.42
5 Evert Hoving Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 3:45.00
6 Matt Centrowitz Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:45.02
7 Antti Loikkanen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 3:45.32
8 Ruben Sørensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 3:45.39
Mhamed Amakdouf Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco DNS

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Steve Ovett Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:37.89Q
2 Thomas Wessinghage Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 3:37.93Q
3 Fernando Pacheco Mamede Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 3:37.98Q
4 Herman Mignon Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 3:38.32q
5 Mike Durkin Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:38.89
6 Gheorghe Ghipu Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg  Romania 3:39.20
7 Günther Hasler Flag of Liechtenstein (1937-1982).svg  Liechtenstein 3:39.34
8 Markku Laine Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 3:45.32
9 Francisco Menocal Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 4:12.47

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 John Walker Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 3:36.87Q
2 Frank Clement Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:37.53Q
3 Graham Crouch Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 3:37.97Q
4 Paul Craig Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 3:38.00q
5 Francis Gonzalez Flag of France.svg  France 3:38.59q
6 Bronisław Malinowski Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 3:41.67
7 Ágúst Ásgeirsson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 3:45.47
8 Sheikr Al-Shabani Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 4:08.70
Anders Gärderud Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden DNS

Heat 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Paul-Heinz Wellmann Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 3:39.86Q
2 Ivo Van Damme Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 3:39.93Q
3 Rick Wohlhuter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:39.94Q
4 Niall O'Shaughnessy Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:40.12
5 Anthony Colón Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 3:43.51
6 Ulf Hogberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 3:47.96
7 Peter Spir Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 3:59.60
8 Emmanuel Saint-Hilaire Flag of Haiti (1964-1986).svg  Haiti 4:23.41
Carlo Grippo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DNS

Heat 5

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Eamonn Coghlan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:39.87Q
2 Dave Moorcroft Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:40.69Q
3 Dave Hill Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 3:41.24Q
4 Karl Fleschen Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 3:42.09
5 Rolf Gysin Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 3:42.69
6 Luis Medina Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 3:42.71
7 Lars Kaupang Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 3:44.59
8 Spilios Zaxaropoulos Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece 3:45.12
9 Muhammad Siddique Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 3:45.59

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 John Walker Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 3:39.65Q
2 Graham Crouch Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 3:39.86Q
3 David Moorcroft Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:39.88Q
4 Janos Zemen Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 3:39.94Q
5 Thomas Wessinghage Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 3:40.06
6 Steve Ovett Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:40.34
7 Herman Mignon Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 3:40.92
8 Fernando Pacheco Mamede Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 3:42.59
David Hill Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada DNF

Semifinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Eamonn Coghlan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:38.60Q
2 Rick Wohlhuter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:38.71Q
3 Ivo Van Damme Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 3:38.75Q
4 Frank Clement Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:38.92Q
5 Paul-Heinz Wellmann Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 3:38.99q
6 Francis Gonzalez Flag of France.svg  France 3:40.73
7 Paul Craig Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 3:41.02
8 Marc Nevens Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 3:41.52
9 Helder Baiona De Jesus Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 3:47.37

Final

RankAthleteNationTime
Gold medal icon.svg John Walker Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 3:39.17
Silver medal icon.svg Ivo Van Damme Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 3:39.27
Bronze medal icon.svg Paul-Heinz Wellmann Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 3:39.33
4 Eamonn Coghlan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:39.51
5 Frank Clement Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:39.65
6 Rick Wohlhuter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:40.64
7 David Moorcroft Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:40.94
8 Graham Crouch Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 3:41.80
9 Janos Zemen Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 3:43.02

See also

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References

  1. "Athletics at the 1976 Montreal Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  3. Official Report, vol. 3, p. 55.