AthleticsAthletics world record
1500 m, men
3 min 26.00 s
- Holder
- Hicham El Guerrouj
- Date
- Place
- Rome
- Standing since
- 1998 (28 years)
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How the record evolved
The last record set in each decade, up to the current record (highlighted).
| Year | Record | Holder |
|---|---|---|
| 3 min 26.00 s | Hicham El Guerrouj | |
| 3 min 27.37 s | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | |
| 3 min 29.46 s | Saïd Aouita (MAR) | |
| 3 min 32.1 s | Sebastian Coe (GBR) | |
| 3 min 33.1 s | Jim Ryun (USA) | |
| 3 min 36.0 s | Herb Elliott (AUS) | |
| 3 min 43.0 s | Lennart Strand (SWE) | |
| 3 min 47.8 s | Jack Lovelock (NZL) | |
| 3 min 51.0 s | Otto Peltzer (GER) | |
| 3 min 54.7 s | John Zander (SWE) |
Put them in order
Sort these records from the oldest to the most recent.
- 3 min 26.00 sHicham El Guerrouj
- 3 min 43.0 sLennart Strand (SWE)
- 3 min 32.1 sSebastian Coe (GBR)
- 3 min 54.7 sJohn Zander (SWE)
What to remember
Just under 55 seconds per lap, on average, for the whole 1500 m: that was the pace Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj held at the Golden Gala in Rome, on July 14, 1998, to finish in 3 min 26.00 s. His average speed works out at 26.214 km/h.
Nicknamed "the metric mile", the 1500 m has been an Olympic event since 1896 and a World Championships event since 1983. In 1917 the record stood at 3 min 54.7 s, by John Zander. Jack Lovelock was at 3 min 47.8 s in 1936, Herb Elliott at 3 min 36.0 s in 1958, Saïd Aouita at 3 min 29.46 s in 1985 and Noureddine Morceli at 3 min 27.37 s in 1995. From 1917 to 1998 the time came down by 12.2%, over 81 years.
El Guerrouj won four world 1500 m titles between 1997 and 2003. Over the mile, his record of 3:43.13 lasted 27 years, from 1999 to 2026. At the 2004 Athens Olympics he won both the 1500 m and the 5000 m, a double nobody had achieved since Paavo Nurmi.
Related records
Sources and licences
- Value, holder and date: Wikipedia article “List of world records in athletics” (revision used 1378411308). Data from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo: filip bossuyt from Kortrijk, Belgium, Photo licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons). Remove this photo.
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