Stephen Cram is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arrow", after his hometown, Cram set world records in the 1500 m, 2000 m and the mile during a 19-day period in the summer of 1985. He was the first man to run 1500 m under 3 minutes and 30 seconds. He won the 1500 m gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1500 m silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.
Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder of the outdoor 1500 meters, mile, and 2000 meters events. He also held indoor world records for the mile and 1500 meters until 2019, and is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to earn a gold medal in both the 1500 metres and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games. El Guerrouj holds 7 of the fastest 9 times ever run in the 1500 meters and 7 of the 10 fastest in the mile. Given these achievements, El Guerrouj is considered by many to be the greatest middle-distance runner of all time.
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Masterkova is a Russian former middle distance runner and former women's world record holder for the mile and the kilometer. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in both the 800 metres and 1500 metres.
Saïd Aouita is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. He won the 5000 meters at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, as well as the 3000 meters at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He is a former world record holder over 1500 metres (3:29.46), 2000 m (4:50.80), 3000 m (7:29.45), and twice at 5000 m. Aouita was one of the first globally known Arab sportspeople. He lives in Orlando, Florida.
Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat is a Kenyan-American middle and long-distance runner.
Tatyana Vasilyevna Kazankina is a Soviet/Russian former runner who set seven world records and won a total of three gold medals at the Olympic Games. She was also awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1976. Kazankina competed for VSS Burevestnik.
Ruth Wysocki is an American middle distance runner who specialized in the 800 meters and 1500 metres.
The 1500-metre run became a standard racing distance in Europe in the late 19th century, perhaps as a metric version of the mile, a popular running distance since at least the 1850s in English-speaking countries.
Genzebe Dibaba Keneni is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 1500 m at the Beijing World Championships and a silver medal in the 1500 meters at the 2016 Olympics. Genzebe is the current world record holder for the 1500 m, the indoor 3000 m, the indoor 5000 m, and the indoor mile. Her 2000 m indoor world's best time is the absolute world record, as it is faster than the previous outdoor mark.
Vittorio Fontanella is a former middle distance runner from Italy.
Totka Nikolaeva Petrova is a retired female middle distance runner who represented Bulgaria in the 1970s and the early 1980s. She specialized in the 800 and 1500 metres, and won numerous international medals. She is still the Bulgarian 1500 metres record holder.
Michael Roeger is an Australian T46 athletics competitor. He competed at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympics in athletics in middle distance running events. He has won one gold and three bronze medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. He won the gold medal in the Men's T46 marathon at 2019 World Para Athletics Championships held as part of the London Marathon in a world record.
The 1500 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the first edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 1500 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The women's event was not introduced until over seventy years later, but it has been a permanent fixture since it was first held in 1972. It is the most prestigious 1500 m race at elite level. The competition format comprises three rounds: a heats stage, semi-finals, then a final typically between twelve athletes.
Maureen de St. Croix is a Canadian middle- and long-distance runner and former sprinter.
Deon Kenzie is an Australian Para athlete who competes in the T38 (classification) prominently in the 1500m. He has won medals at the 2013, 2015 and 2017 World Para Athletics Championships including gold in the Men's 1500 m T38 in 2017. He won a silver medal in the Men's 1500 m T38 at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Lyubov Kremlyova is a Russian former middle- and long-distance runner who competed internationally both for the Soviet Union and Russia. She had her greatest success indoors, winning medals at the 1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 1992 European Athletics Indoor Championships. She was stripped of a second World Indoor medal in 1995 after a positive test for steroids.
Ravilya Agletdinova was a Soviet middle-distance runner who competed in 800 metres, 1500 metres and 3000 metres events.
Jaryd Clifford is an Australian Paralympic vision impaired middle distance athlete. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics. He won a bronze medal at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships.
