Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder of the outdoor 1500 metres, mile, and 2000 metres events. He also held indoor world records for the mile and 1500 metres 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 is widely regarded as the greatest middle-distance runner in history and is also viewed as one of the greatest athletes 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 current 1000 metres world record world record. 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 is the only athlete in history to have won a medal in each of the 800 meters and 5000 meters at the Olympic games. 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. He lives in Orlando, Florida.
Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat is a Kenyan-American 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 race, from which it derives its nickname "the metric mile".
The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track.
Lorraine Mary Moller is a former athlete from New Zealand, who competed in track athletics and later specialised in the marathon. Moller's international career lasted over 20 years and included winning a silver medal in the marathon at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and a bronze medal in the marathon at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona at the age of 37. A four-time Olympian, she also completed the marathon at the 1984, 1988 and 1996 games. Her other marathon victories included the 1984 Boston Marathon and being a three-time winner (1986,87,89) of the Osaka International Ladies Marathon.
Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Shabunin is a Russian middle distance runner who specializes in the 1500 metres. After a career that took him to three Olympics, he has continued into masters athletics. In 2010 he set world records in the M40 1500 metres, mile run and 3000 metres.
Ruth Wysocki is an American middle distance runner who specialized in the 800 meters and 1500 metres.
Genzebe Dibaba Keneni is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. A 1500 metres 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist, she won a gold medal in this event and a bronze in the 5000 metres at the 2015 World Championships. Genzebe is the current world record holder for the 1500m, and the indoor events of the one mile, 3000m and 5000m. She holds the distinction of possessing the most world records by one woman in track history, with her current haul of four, plus two world bests.
Shannon Rowbury is an American middle-distance runner from San Francisco, California. After competing collegiately for Duke University, she turned professional in 2007. Rowbury has represented the United States at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics. She also represented the United States at the World Championships in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017, winning the bronze medal in the 1500 meters in 2009. In 2015, Rowbury helped set the world record with the U.S. team for the distance medley relay event, and set a then-American record for 1500 meters on July 17, 2015, breaking Mary Slaney's 32 year-old mark with a time of 3:56.29.
Vittorio Fontanella is a former middle distance runner from Italy.
Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specializing in the 1500 metres. A 2016 Rio Olympic and 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion with the Games record at the latter, she is the second woman in history to claim back-to-back Olympic titles at the event. Kipyegon has won or finished second in every major championships since 2015 (track), and is regarded the greatest female 1500 metres runner in history.
Sifan Hassan is an Ethiopian-born Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics winning gold medals in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, and a bronze medal for the 1500 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 woman to complete an Olympic distance double.
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 and a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo 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.
In the sport of athletics, pentathlons have taken various forms over the history of the sport, typically incorporating five track and field events. The only version of the event to remain at a high level of contemporary competition is the women's indoor pentathlon, which is present on the programme for the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a Norwegian middle- and long-distance runner. He won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting an Olympic and European record. At the 2022 World Athletics Championships, Ingebrigtsen took silver in the event and a gold for the 5000 metres. He is a four-time European champion, winning the 1500 m/5000 m double in 2018 and 2022. His 1500 m victory in 2018 achieved at the age of 17 made him the second youngest ever individual senior European track and field champion, while his double was the first in history. Indoors, he is 2022 World Indoor Championship 1500 m silver medallist and a four-time European Indoor Championships medallist in the 1500/3000 metres events, including three golds. Ingebrigtsen won sixth successive titles at the European Cross Country Championships. He is the current world indoor record holder for the 1500 m, which he set on 17 February 2022 in Liévin, France.
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