Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics - Men's 1500 metres

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The men's 1500 metres was an Olympic event for the fourth times at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The race consisted of three and three-quarters laps of the track. There were eight heats of the first round, with the winners of those heats competing in the final. A new Olympic record was set twice during the event.

Contents 1 Medallists 2 Results 2.1 Semifinals 2.1.1 Semifinal 1 2.1.2 Semifinal 2 2.1.3 Semifinal 3 2.1.4 Semifinal 4 2.1.5 Semifinal 5 2.1.6 Semifinal 6 2.1.7 Semifinal 7 2.1.8 Semifinal 8 2.2 Final 3 References

[edit] Medallists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Mel Sheppard United States of America	Harold A. Wilson Great Britain	Norman Hallows Great Britain

[edit] Results

[edit] Semifinals

The semifinals of the 1500 metres were the first competitions of the athletics programme held, on 13 July 1908. The fastest runner in each semifinal heat advanced to the final the next day while all other runners were eliminated.

[edit] Semifinal 1

Meadows, de Fleurac, Smith, and Lightbody each lead during the race, but it was Sullivan who was in front at the finish line.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	James P. Sullivan	United States of America	4:07.6
2	Jim Lightbody	United States of America	4:08.6
3	Frederick Meadows	Canada	4:12.2
4	Francis Knott	Great Britain	Unknown
5	Joseph M. Smith	Great Britain	Unknown
6	Louis de Fleurac	France	Unknown
7	Nils Dahl	Norway	Unknown
8	Ödön Bodor	Hungary	Unknown
9	Jacques Keyser	Netherlands	Unknown

[edit] Semifinal 2

Butterfield and Lee were ahead of Sheppard and Halstead at the bell, but the American pair proved the better runners on the straight and passed the English duo. Sheppard's time set a new Olympic record, with Halstead just behind him clocking in at the old record time.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Mel Sheppard	United States of America	4:05.0 OR
2	John Halstead	United States of America	4:05.6
3	George Butterfield	Great Britain	4:11.8
4	John W. Lee	Great Britain	4:12.4
5	Joseph Lynch	Australasia	Unknown
6	Kjeld Neilsen	Denmark	Unknown
7	Arno Hesse	Germany	Unknown

[edit] Semifinal 3

Cartasegna took the lead early, eventually losing it to Lunghi. Lunghi subsequently was passed by Hallows, who led by a bare two yards at the line. Both Hallows and Lunghi beat the Olympic record set by Sheppard in the previous heat.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Norman Hallows	Great Britain	4:03.4 OR
2	Emilio Lunghi	Italy	4:03.8
—	Evert Björn	Norway	Did not finish
	Massimo Cartasegna	Italy	Did not finish
	Frank Riley	United States of America	Did not finish
	Charles Swain	Australasia	Did not finish

[edit] Semifinal 4

McGough led for the greater part of the race, with Loney and Coe passing him late and battling to the finish.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Vincent Loney	Great Britain	4:08.4
2	Harry Coe	United States of America	4:09.2
3	John McGough	Great Britain	4:16.4
4	Stefanos Dimitrios	Greece	Unknown
5	Joseph Dreher	France	Unknown

[edit] Semifinal 5

Tait won easily, leading by fifty yards as he finished.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	John Tait	Canada	4:12.2
2	József Nagy	Hungary	4:19.6
3	Fredrik Svanström	Finland	4:25.2
—	Gaston Ragueneau	France	Did not finish

[edit] Semifinal 6

Deakin's win was even easier than Tait's, as he led the entire way and finished fully seventy-five yards ahead of Breynck.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Joseph Deakin	Great Britain	4:13.6
2	Andreas Breynck	Germany	4:30.0
3	Ary Vosbergen	Netherlands	4:38.6

[edit] Semifinal 7

Galbraith led most of the race, but was passed by Wilson en route to a relatively comfortable 30-yard victory by Wilson.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Harold A. Wilson	Great Britain	4:11.4
2	Jean Bouin	France	4:17.0
3	William Galbraith	Canada	4:20.2

[edit] Semifinal 8

Braun, Dahl, and Crawford were the clear frontrunners for the entire race. Crawford pulled in front late, winning by four yards.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford	Great Britain	4:09.2
2	Edward Dahl	Sweden	4:10.4
3	Hanns Braun	Germany	4:18.2
4	Oscar Larsen	Norway	Unknown
5	François Delloye	Belgium	Unknown
6	Axel Andersson	Sweden	Unknown
7	John E. Fitzgerald	Canada	Unknown

[edit] Final

Crawford went out fast, leading for the first 500 metres. He tired, however, and most of the rest of the race was primarily between Wilson, Hallows, and Sheppard. Those three runners were in that order going into the final straight, but Sheppard's late burst powered him to the front. He won by about 2 yards as he tied the Olympic record that Hallows had set in the first round.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Mel Sheppard	United States of America	4:03.4 =OR
2	Harold A. Wilson	Great Britain	4:03.6
3	Norman Hallows	Great Britain	4:04.0
4	John Tait	Canada	4:06.8
5	Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford	Great Britain	4:07.6
6	Joseph Deakin	Great Britain	4:07.9
—	Vincent Loney	Great Britain	Did not finish
	James P. Sullivan	United States of America	Did not finish

[edit] References

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association. 
• De Wael, Herman (2001). Athletics 1908. Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved on 30 July, 2006.
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich. Retrieved on 30 July, 2006. (Polish)

The 1908 Summer Olympics in London

Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics

100 m | 200 m | 400 m | 800 m | 1500 m | 110 m hurdles | 400 m hurdles | 3200 m steeplechase | medley relay | 3 mile team race | 5 miles | marathon | 3500 m walk | 10 mile walk high jump | long jump | triple jump | pole vault | standing high jump | standing long jump shot put | discus | hammer | javelin | Greek discus | freestyle javelin