Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1500 m came about as a result of running 3+3⁄4 laps of a 400 m outdoor track or 7+1⁄2 laps of a 200 m indoor track, which were commonplace in continental Europe in the 20th century.
Eamonn Christopher Coghlan is an Irish former track and field athlete who specialised in middle distance track events and the 5,000 metres. He is a three-time Olympian, held the world indoor mile record and was world champion in the 5,000 m. Coghlan served as a senator from 2011 to 2016.
Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres and mile events, 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.
Melvin Whinfield "Peerless Mel" Sheppard was an American athlete, member of the Irish American Athletic Club, and winner of four gold medals and one silver medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics. Along with Henry Taylor of the United Kingdom, he was the most successful athlete at the 1908 Olympics.
Joe Falcon is a former US middle-distance runner whose greatest success was his victory in the 1990 Oslo Dream Mile with a time of 3:49.31 minutes, which was the fastest mile in the world in 1990. In the course of the race, he ran a personal best over 1500 m of 3:33.6. Also, in 1990 Joe won the 5000 meter at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in 13:20, with a last lap under 53 seconds.
Gabe Jennings is an American Olympian and semi-retired middle-distance runner. As a student at Madison East High School in Madison, Wisconsin, Jennings won nine state titles in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) and, as of 2022, still holds the 1600 meter record in the WIAA Division 1 with his 1997 time of 4:04.97. At Stanford University, he was an All-America athlete ten times and a NCAA champion four times. He qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics as a college junior but was eliminated during the semi-finals.
Frank O’Mara is a former Irish runner. A three-time Olympian, he was twice World Indoor Champion in the 3000m. O’Mara has post-graduate degrees from the University of Arkansas and had a successful career in the wireless industry.
Seneca Lassiter is an American former middle distance runner who specialized in the 1500 meters. As a high schooler running for Lafayette of Williamsburg, Virginia, he won National Scholastic indoor and outdoor championships for the mile and 800 meter run. In collegiate competition he ran for University of Arkansas, which was recognized for its prestigious track program which in Lassiter's time included recruits such as Sharif Karie. Lassiter ran professionally for Nike after his college spell.
Paul Richard Cummings was a world-class middle and long distance runner who ran competitively from the 1,500 meters to the marathon, breaking several American records and one world record. His ability to have a middle distance runner's kick and also have the stamina to compete in distances up to the marathon place him as one of the most versatile American track and road racers of his era.
Graham Hood is a retired track and field athlete from Canada, who competed in the middle distance events.
Arthur "Art" George Bragg was an American sprinter who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Raymond P. Flynn is a retired middle-distance runner who works as a sports agent. Over the course of his racing career, Flynn ran a total of 89 sub-four minute miles, with his best time of 3:49.77 on 7 July 1982 in Oslo, Norway at the Bislett Games Dream Mile. He also held the Irish 1500 metres record for 41 years after running 3:33.5, in the same Oslo race.
Kathy Fleming is a retired American middle-distance runner. In 1994 she was the USA Track and Field National Champion in the indoor 3000 meters.
Matthew Centrowitz Jr. is an American middle-distance runner, who specializes in the 1500 metres. He won a gold medal in the event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He also achieved a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships. Centrowitz is a five-time national champion in the 1500 m at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Craig Engels is an American middle-distance runner. He competed for the United States at the 2013 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, where he won the men's 1500 meters. In the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Engels was focused on making the semi-finals of the 800m and was listed as an alternate for the 1500m. He finished 4th in the 800m final and 5th in the 1500m final, missing out on the Olympics in both events.
Paul Donovan (athlete) (born 11 July 1963) is an Irish former long-distance runner. He was the silver medallist in the 3000 metres at the 1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He was the number one ranked indoor runner that year. He represented Ireland at the Olympics twice: in 1984 and again in 1992.
Steven Clifton Orlando Holman is a retired American middle-distance runner who competed primarily in the 1500 meters. He represented his country at the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as two indoor and two outdoor World Championships. Holman was coached at Georgetown University and in his professional career by Frank Gagliano.
Andrew James Hunter is an American middle distance runner from Purcellville, Virginia, who competes professionally for Adidas on the running group Tinman Elite. He set the national indoor mile record for high school boys in 2016. He was named Gatorade National Cross-Country Runner of the Year in 2016. He committed to the University of Oregon on November 12, 2015 but instead decided to pursue a professional career by signing a 10-year contract with Adidas on July 8, 2016.
The 4 × mile relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise four runners who each complete one mile or slightly more than 4 laps on a standard 400 metre track.
Yared Nuguse is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 1500 meters. He was the 2019 NCAA Division I champion in the event. Nuguse is the North American outdoor record holder over 1500 meters and one mile, and the North American indoor record holder for the 1500 meters, one mile and 3000 meters. Since June 2022, Nuguse has competed for the On Athletics Club under coach Dathan Ritzenhein.
Ireland 
