1500 metres


The 1500 metres or 1500-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 miles. The event is closely associated with its slightly longer variant, the mile run, from which it derives its nickname "the metric mile".
The demands of the race are similar to that of the 800 metre run, but with a slightly higher emphasis on aerobic endurance and a slightly lower sprint speed requirement. The 1500-metre run is predominantly aerobic, but anaerobic conditioning is also required.
Each lap run during the men's world-record race of 3:26.00, run by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1998, averaged just under 55 seconds per lap. Since El Guerrouj, only three other men in history have broken the 3:27 barrier; Bernard Lagat, Asbel Kiprop, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen. El Guerrouj remains the only man to break the 3:27 barrier more than once, having done so five times.
1500 metres is three and three-quarter laps around a 400-metre track. During the 1970s and 1980s this race was dominated by British runners, along with an occasional Finn, American, or New Zealander. Through the 1990s, many African runners began to win Olympic medals in this race, especially runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, and East Africa, as well as North African runners from Morocco and Algeria. In the mid-2010s and 2020s, European and American runners began to emerge again in the men's event. American Matthew Centrowitz Jr. won at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the 2020 Summer Olympics, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the youngest of a dynasty of Norwegian middle-distance runners, became Olympic champion, while Scottish and British runner Jake Wightman became world champions the following year at the head of an all-European podium. Wightman's compatriot Josh Kerr won at the world championships the year after. In the 2024 Summer Olympics, Americans and Europeans continued to dominate the podium, with Cole Hocker, Kerr, and Yared Nuguse earning gold, silver, and bronze respectively. Faith Kipyegon of Kenya maintained Africa's grip on the global titles in the female event in the same time period, although here again, Europeans Sifan Hassan and Laura Muir, and Americans such as Jenny Simpson also contended for the podium, along with Australian Jessica Hull.
File:The three Olavis.jpg|thumb|Olavi Salsola, Olavi Salonen and Olavi Vuorisalo break the 1500 m world record in 1957 in Turku, Finland.
In the Modern Olympic Games, the men's 1500-metre run has been contested since the 1896 Games. The first winner, in 1896, was Edwin Flack of Australia, who also became Olympic champion in the 800-metre race. The women's 1500-metre race was first added to the Summer Olympics in 1972, and the first champion was Lyudmila Bragina of the Soviet Union. During the Olympic Games of 1972 through 2008, the women's 1500-metre race has been won by three Soviets plus one Russian, one Italian, one Romanian, one Briton, one Kenyan, and two Algerians. The 2012 Olympic results are still undecided as a result of multiple doping cases. The best women's times for the race were controversially set by Chinese runners, all set in the same race on just two dates four years apart at the Chinese National Games. At least one of those top Chinese athletes has admitted to being part of a doping program. This women's record was finally broken by Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia in 2015.
In American high schools, the 1600-metre run, also colloquially referred to as "metric mile", is the designated official distance by the National Governing Body the NFHS. Because of the legacy, since US customary units are better-known in America, the mile run is more frequently run than the 1500-metre run. For convenience, national rankings are standardized by converting all 1500-metre run times to their mile run equivalents.

Strategy

Many 1500 metres events, particularly at the championship level, turn into slow, strategic races, with the pace quickening and competitors jockeying for position in the final lap to settle the race in a final sprint. Such is the difficulty of maintaining the pace throughout the duration of the event, most records are set in planned races led by pacemakers or "rabbits" who sacrifice their opportunity to win by leading the early laps at a fast pace before dropping out.

Continental records

Men (outdoor)

  • Updated June 2025.
TimeAthleteNationDatePlace
113:26.00Hicham El Guerrouj14 July 1998Rome
23:26.12El Guerrouj #224 August 2001Brussels
233:26.34Bernard Lagat24 August 2001Brussels
43:26.45El Guerrouj #312 August 1998Zürich
353:26.69Asbel Kiprop17 July 2015Monaco
463:26.73Jakob Ingebrigtsen12 July 2024Monaco
73:26.89El Guerrouj #416 August 2002Zürich
83:26.96El Guerrouj #58 September 2002Rieti
93:27.14Ingebrigtsen #216 July 2023Chorzów
103:27.21El Guerrouj #611 August 2000Zürich
113:27.34El Guerrouj #719 July 2002Monaco
5123:27.37Noureddine Morceli12 July 1995Nice
133:27.40Lagat #26 August 2004Zürich
6143:27.49Azeddine Habz20 June 2025Paris
153:27.52Morceli #225 July 1995Monaco
163:27.64El Guerrouj #86 August 2004Zürich
7163:27.64Silas Kiplagat18 July 2014Monaco
183:27.65El Guerrouj #924 August 1999Seville
8183:27.65Cole Hocker6 August 2024Saint-Denis
203:27.72Kiprop #219 July 2013Monaco
9203:27.72Phanuel Koech20 June 2025Paris
10223:27.79Josh Kerr6 August 2024Saint-Denis
11233:27.80Yared Nuguse6 August 2024Saint-Denis
243:27.83Ingebrigtsen #322 August 2024Lausanne
253:27.91Lagat #319 July 2002Monaco
123:28.12Noah Ngeny11 August 2000Zürich
133:28.28Timothy Cheruiyot9 July 2021Monaco
143:28.36George Mills20 June 2025Paris
153:28.75Taoufik Makhloufi17 July 2015Monaco
163:28.76Mohamed Katir9 July 2021Monaco
173:28.79Abdalaati Iguider17 July 2015Monaco
183:28.80Elijah Manangoi21 July 2017Monaco
183:28.80Brian Komen12 July 2024Monaco
203:28.81Mo Farah19 July 2013Monaco
203:28.81Ronald Kwemoi18 July 2014Monaco
223:28.95Fermín Cacho13 August 1997Zürich
233:28.98Mehdi Baala5 September 2003Brussels
243:29.02Daniel Kipchirchir Komen14 July 2006Rome
253:29.03Festus Lagat20 June 2025Paris

Women (outdoor)

TimeAthleteNationDatePlace
113:48.68Faith Kipyegon5 July 2025Eugene
23:49.04Kipyegon #27 July 2024Paris
33:49.11Kipyegon #32 June 2023Florence
243:50.07Genzebe Dibaba17 July 2015Monaco
353:50.30Gudaf Tsegay20 April 2024Xiamen
63:50.37Kipyegon #410 August 2022Monaco
473:50.46Qu Yunxia11 September 1993Beijing
83:50.62Tsegay #216 August 2025Chorzów
93:50.72Kipyegon #516 September 2023Eugene
5103:50.83Jessica Hull7 July 2024Paris
6113:50.98Jiang Bo18 October 1997Shanghai
123:51.07Kipyegon #69 July 2021Monaco
133:51.29Kipyegon #710 August 2024Saint-Denis
7143:51.34Lang Yinglai18 October 1997Shanghai
153:51.41Kipyegon #821 July 2023Monaco
8163:51.44Diribe Welteji5 July 2025Eugene
9173:51.92Wang Junxia11 September 1993Beijing
10183:51.95Sifan Hassan5 October 2019Doha
193:52.15Kipyegon #916 September 2025Tokyo
11203:52.47Tatyana Kazankina13 August 1980Zürich
213:52.56Hull #210 August 2024Saint-Denis
223:52.59Kipyegon #1028 May 2022Eugene
12233:52.61Georgia Bell10 August 2024Saint-Denis
243:52.67Hull #35 July 2025Eugene
253:52.75Welteji #210 August 2024Saint-Denis
133:53.22Birke Haylom20 April 2024Xiamen
143:53.37Laura Muir10 August 2024Saint-Denis
153:53.91Yin Lili18 October 1997Shanghai
163:53.96Paula Ivan1 October 1988Seoul
173:53.97Lan Lixin18 October 1997Shanghai
183:54.16Freweyni Hailu30 August 2024Rome
193:54.23Olga Dvirna27 July 1982Kyiv
203:54.52Zhang Ling18 October 1997Shanghai
213:54.73Beatrice Chebet16 August 2025Chorzów
223:54.87Hirut Meshesha16 July 2023Chorzów
233:54.92Dorcas Ewoi16 September 2025Tokyo
243:54.99Shelby Houlihan5 October 2019Doha
253:55.07Dong Yanmei18 October 1997Shanghai