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

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.

Men's 1500 metres
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates29–31 July
Competitors42 from 28 nations
Winning time3:39.1
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) John Walker
 New Zealand
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ivo Van Damme
 Belgium
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Paul-Heinz Wellmann
 West Germany
← 1972
1980 →

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

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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

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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

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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

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

World record   Filbert Bayi (TAN) 3:32.16 Christchurch, New Zealand 2 February 1974
Olympic record   Kip Keino (KEN) 3:34.9 Mexico City, Mexico 20 October 1968

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

Schedule

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All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Thursday, 29 July 1976 16:40 Round 1
Friday, 30 July 1976 16:20 Semifinals
Saturday, 31 July 1976 18:00 Final

Results

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Round 1

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Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Marc Nevens   Belgium 3:44.18 Q
2 Helder Baiona De Jesus   Portugal 3:44.20 Q
3 János Zemen   Hungary 3:44.27 Q
4 Åke Svenson   Sweden 3:44.42
5 Evert Hoving   Netherlands 3:45.00
6 Matt Centrowitz   United States 3:45.02
7 Antti Loikkanen   Finland 3:45.32
8 Ruben Sørensen   Denmark 3:45.39
Mhamed Amakdouf   Morocco DNS

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Steve Ovett   Great Britain 3:37.89 Q
2 Thomas Wessinghage   West Germany 3:37.93 Q
3 Fernando Pacheco Mamede   Portugal 3:37.98 Q
4 Herman Mignon   Belgium 3:38.32 q
5 Mike Durkin   United States 3:38.89
6 Gheorghe Ghipu   Romania 3:39.20
7 Günther Hasler   Liechtenstein 3:39.34
8 Markku Laine   Finland 3:45.32
9 Francisco Menocal   Nicaragua 4:12.47

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Walker   New Zealand 3:36.87 Q
2 Frank Clement   Great Britain 3:37.53 Q
3 Graham Crouch   Australia 3:37.97 Q
4 Paul Craig   Canada 3:38.00 q
5 Francis Gonzalez   France 3:38.59 q
6 Bronisław Malinowski   Poland 3:41.67
7 Ágúst Ásgeirsson   Iceland 3:45.47
8 Sheikr Al-Shabani   Saudi Arabia 4:08.70
Anders Gärderud   Sweden DNS

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Paul-Heinz Wellmann   West Germany 3:39.86 Q
2 Ivo Van Damme   Belgium 3:39.93 Q
3 Rick Wohlhuter   United States 3:39.94 Q
4 Niall O'Shaughnessy   Ireland 3:40.12
5 Anthony Colón   Puerto Rico 3:43.51
6 Ulf Hogberg   Sweden 3:47.96
7 Peter Spir   Canada 3:59.60
8 Emmanuel Saint-Hilaire   Haiti 4:23.41
Carlo Grippo   Italy DNS

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eamonn Coghlan   Ireland 3:39.87 Q
2 Dave Moorcroft   Great Britain 3:40.69 Q
3 Dave Hill   Canada 3:41.24 Q
4 Karl Fleschen   West Germany 3:42.09
5 Rolf Gysin   Switzerland 3:42.69
6 Luis Medina   Cuba 3:42.71
7 Lars Kaupang   Norway 3:44.59
8 Spilios Zaxaropoulos   Greece 3:45.12
9 Muhammad Siddique   Pakistan 3:45.59

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Walker   New Zealand 3:39.65 Q
2 Graham Crouch   Australia 3:39.86 Q
3 David Moorcroft   Great Britain 3:39.88 Q
4 Janos Zemen   Hungary 3:39.94 Q
5 Thomas Wessinghage   West Germany 3:40.06
6 Steve Ovett   Great Britain 3:40.34
7 Herman Mignon   Belgium 3:40.92
8 Fernando Pacheco Mamede   Portugal 3:42.59
David Hill   Canada DNF

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eamonn Coghlan   Ireland 3:38.60 Q
2 Rick Wohlhuter   United States 3:38.71 Q
3 Ivo Van Damme   Belgium 3:38.75 Q
4 Frank Clement   Great Britain 3:38.92 Q
5 Paul-Heinz Wellmann   West Germany 3:38.99 q
6 Francis Gonzalez   France 3:40.73
7 Paul Craig   Canada 3:41.02
8 Marc Nevens   Belgium 3:41.52
9 Helder Baiona De Jesus   Portugal 3:47.37

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
  John Walker   New Zealand 3:39.17
  Ivo Van Damme   Belgium 3:39.27
  Paul-Heinz Wellmann   West Germany 3:39.33
4 Eamonn Coghlan   Ireland 3:39.51
5 Frank Clement   Great Britain 3:39.65
6 Rick Wohlhuter   United States 3:40.64
7 David Moorcroft   Great Britain 3:40.94
8 Graham Crouch   Australia 3:41.80
9 Janos Zemen   Hungary 3:43.02

See also

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References

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  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. ^ a b "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 55.