The men's 1500 metre event at the 1928 Olympic Games took place between August 1 & August 2. Forty-four athletes from 19 nations competed. NOCs were limited to 4 competitors each.Official Report, p. 374. The event was won by Harri Larva of Finland, the nation's second consecutive victory in the 1500 metres. France won its first medal in the event since 1900, with Jules Ladoumègue's silver matching the nation's best result.
Background
This was the eighth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Sixth-place finisher Lloyd Hahn of the United States was the only finalist from the 1924 Games to return. Defending champion Paavo Nurmi of Finland was in Amsterdam, but competed only in longer distances this Games. Finland was still well-represented, however, as Eino Purje and Harri Larva were among the favorites, along with Jules Ladoumègue of France and world-record holder Otto Peltzer of Germany.
Argentina and Yugoslavia each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its eighth appearance, the only nation to have competed in the men's 1500 metres at each Games to that point.
Competition format
The competition consisted of two rounds, the format used since 1908. As in 1924, there were six semifinals, this time with anywhere between 6 and 9 runners in each, and once again the top two runners in each heat advanced to the final, for a 12-man final race.Official Report, pp. 417–20.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1928 Summer Olympics.
In the final Harri Larva set a new Olympic record at 3:53.2.
Schedule
Date Time Round Wednesday, 1 August 1928 16:15 Semifinals Thursday, 2 August 1928 15:30 Final
Results
Semifinals
The top two runners from each of the six heats advanced to the Final Round.
Semifinal 1
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Hans Wichmann 4:03.0 2 Adolf Kittel Unknown 3 József Marton Unknown 4 Luigi Becalli Unknown 5 Guus Zeegers Unknown 6 George Hyde Unknown 7 Józef Jaworski 4:14.0 8 Séra Martin Unknown — Gerry Coughlan Joquin Miquel
Semifinal 2
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Herbert Böcher 3:59.6 2 William Whyte 3:59.9 3 Armas Kinnunen 4:01.5 4 Albert Larsen 4:01.5 5 Reidar Jørgensen 4:01.6 6 Jack Walter Unknown — Frédéric du Hen Gyula Belloni Lloyd Hahn — Andreas Paouris
Semifinal 3
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Eino Purje 4:00.8 2 Jules Ladoumègue Unknown 3 Stan Ashby Unknown 4 Vilém Šindler Unknown 5 Serafín Dengra Unknown 6 Luka Predanić 4:27.0 7 Pete Walter Unknown 8 Jan Zeegers Unknown — Grigorios Georgakopoulos Gábor Gyulay
Semifinal 4
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Paul Martin 4:00.8 2 Harri Larva 4:02.0 3 Reg Thomas Unknown 4 David Griffin Unknown 5 Leopoldo Ledesma Unknown — Sid Robinson — Antonios Mangos Georges Baraton Ömer Besim Koşalay Robert Masino
Semifinal 5
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Ray Conger 4:02.6 2 Jean Keller 4:02.7 3 Edvin Wide Unknown 4 Otto Peltzer Unknown 5 Alex Docherty Unknown 6 Reggie Bell Unknown — Vasilios Stavrinos Ciro Chapa Philippe Coenjaerts Juichi Nagatani
Semifinal 6
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Cyril Ellis 4:01.8 2 Hans-Helmuth Krause Unknown 3 Nick Carter Unknown 4 Leo Helgas 4:06.0 5 Danie Jacobs Unknown 6 Czesław Foryś 4:11.5 7 Wilhelm Effern Unknown — Jesús Oyarbide Gurbachan Singh
Final
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes Harri Larva 3:53.2 Jules Ladoumègue 3:53.8 Eino Purje 3:56.4 4 Hans Wichmann 3:56.8 5 Cyril Ellis 3:57.6 6 Paul Martin 3:58.4 7 Hans-Helmuth Krause 3:59.0 8 Adolf Kittel 4:00.4 9 William Whyte 4:00.4 10 Ray Conger Unknown 11 Jean Keller Unknown — Herbert Böcher
References