Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

The men's 1,500m metres was an event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. The final was held on Sunday 10 September 1972 and was contested by 10 athletes. The semi-finals were held on Saturday 9 September 1972 and were contested by 27 athletes. The heats were held on Friday 8 September 1972 and 71 athletes entered, with 66 runners from 46 nations competing.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Pekka Vasala of Finland, the nation's first championship in the 1500 metres since back-to-back wins in 1924 and 1928. Kipchoge Keino of Kenya came half a second short of becoming the first man to successfully defend Olympic gold in the event; instead, his silver made him just the second man to win two medals of any color in the 1500 metres.

Men's 1500 metres
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
VenueOlympiastadion
Dates8–10 September
Competitors66 from 46 nations
Winning time3:36.3
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Pekka Vasala
 Finland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kipchoge Keino
 Kenya
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Rod Dixon
 New Zealand
← 1968
1976 →

Background

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This was the 17th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. All three medalists from 1968 (Kipchoge Keino of Kenya, Jim Ryun of the United States, and Bodo Tümmler of West Germany) returned, along with two other finalists: sixth-place finisher Jacky Boxberger of France and seventh-place finisher Henryk Szordykowski of Poland. Ryun "was no longer the dominant runner he had been in 1966–67," but was still the world record holder and had run the third-fastest mile ever between the Olympic trials and the Games. Keino and Ryun were favorites for the top two spots again, especially with their respective countrymen Ben Jipcho (who had played a strategic role helping Keino in the 1968 final, but was now a legitimate contender himself) and Marty Liquori out with injury. A third Kenyan, Mike Boit, was also a challenger, but was more of an 800 metres specialist. Rod Dixon of New Zealand and Pekka Vasala of Finland were also strong challengers.[2]

Sixteen nations made their 1500 metres debut in 1972: Algeria, Burma, Cameroon, East Germany, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Panama, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. The United States made its 17th 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, 1964, and 1968). The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964, but not used in 1968, returned; once again the semifinals were balanced. Now, however, the semifinal heats and final were set at 10 men each, rather than the 8 or 12 previously.

There were seven heats in the first round, each with 10 or 11 runners (before withdrawals). The top four runners in each heat, along with the next two fastest overall, advanced to the semifinals. The 30 semifinalists were divided into three semifinals, each with 10 runners. The top three men in each semifinal, plus the fastest fourth-placer, advanced to the 10-man final.[2][3]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics.

World record   Jim Ryun (USA) 3:33.1 Los Angeles, United States 8 July 1967
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 Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Friday, 8 September 1972 16:45 Round 1
Saturday, 9 September 1972 16:40 Semifinals
Sunday, 10 September 1972 15:35 Final

Results

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Round 1

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Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thomas Wessinghage   West Germany 3:40.6 Q
2 Dave Wottle   United States 3:40.7 Q
3 Jean-Pierre Dufresne   France 3:40.8 Q
4 Brendan Foster   Great Britain 3:40.8 Q
5 Donaldo Arza   Panama 3:41.8
6 Ivan Ivanov   Soviet Union 3:42.3
7 Mehmet Tümkan   Turkey 3:44.0
8 Mohamed Kacemi   Algeria 3:45.2
9 Daniel Andrade   Senegal 3:59.2
10 Dafallah Sultan Farah   Sudan 4:02.9

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Franco Arese   Italy 3:44.0 Q
2 Herman Mignon   Belgium 3:44.2 Q
3 Bodo Tümmler   West Germany 3:44.5 Q
4 Gerd Larsen   Denmark 3:44.7 Q
5 John Kirkbride   Great Britain 3:45.3
6 Filbert Bayi   Tanzania 3:45.4
7 Josef Horčic   Czechoslovakia 3:45.7
8 William Smart   Canada 3:49.2
Bram Wassenaar   Netherlands DNS
Kassem Hamze   Lebanon DNS

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Shibrou Regassa   Ethiopia 3:43.6 Q
2 Spilios Zakharopoulos   Greece 3:43.8 Q
3 Henryk Szordykowski   Poland 3:44.2 Q
4 Pekka Paivarinta   Finland 3:44.4 Q
5 André de Hertoghe   Belgium 3:44.6
6 Petre Lupan   Romania 3:44.8
7 Mohamed Makdouf   Morocco 3:48.4
8 Abdul Wahab Naser Al-Safra   Saudi Arabia 4:14.5
Benson Mulomba   Zambia DNS
Robert Leborgne   France DNS

Heat 4

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Both Ryun and Fordjour fell when the latter clipped the former's heel, knocking both out of contention for advancement. The United States appealed, asserting that Ryun was tripped. Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) acknowledged that a foul had occurred, U.S. appeals to have Ryun reinstated in the competition were denied.[2]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Kipchoge Keino   Kenya 3:40.0 Q
2 Rod Dixon   New Zealand 3:40.0 Q
3 Gunnar Ekman   Sweden 3:40.4 Q
4 Klaus-Peter Justus   East Germany 3:40.4 Q
5 Gianni del Buono   Italy 3:40.8 q
6 Werner Meier   Switzerland 3:43.2
7 Mohamad Younas   Pakistan 3:44.1
8 Vitus Ashaba   Uganda 3:45.2
9 Jim Ryun   United States 3:51.5
10 Billy Fordjour   Ghana 4:08.2
Yevgeniy Arzhanov   Soviet Union DNS

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hailu Ebba   Ethiopia 3:41.6 Q
2 Paul-Heinz Wellmann   West Germany 3:41.8 Q
3 Ray Smedley   Great Britain 3:42.1 Q
4 Chris Fisher   Australia 3:42.5 Q
5 Frank Murphy   Ireland 3:43.4
6 Byron Dyce   Jamaica 3:45.9
7 Cosmas Silei   Kenya 3:52.0
8 Joze Medjimurec   Yugoslavia 3:52.1
9 Harry Nkopeka   Malawi 4:00.9
10 Edward Kar   Liberia 4:21.4

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Pekka Vasala   Finland 3:40.9 Q
2 Tom Hansen   Denmark 3:41.1 Q
3 Bob Wheeler   United States 3:41.3 Q
4 Haico Scham   Netherlands 3:41.4 Q
5 Ulf Högberg   Sweden 3:41.5 q
6 Edgard Salvé   Belgium 3:42.1
7 Anthony Colon   Puerto Rico 3:44.6
8 Edouard Rasoanaivo   Madagascar 3:48.5
9 Jaiye Abidoye   Nigeria 3:48.8
10 Mohamed Aboker   Somalia 3:59.5

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mike Boit   Kenya 3:42.2 Q
2 Tony Polhill   New Zealand 3:42.3 Q
3 Volodymyr Panteley   Soviet Union 3:42.3 Q
4 Jacques Boxberger   France 3:42.6 Q
5 Mansour Guettaya   Tunisia 3:43.9
6 Fernando Eugenio Mamede   Portugal 3:45.1
7 Azzedine Azzouzi   Algeria 3:46.4
8 Kenneth Elmer   Canada 3:46.6
9 Esaie Fongang   Cameroon 3:54.5
10 Jimmy Crampton   Burma 4:06.9

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mike Boit   Kenya 3:41.3 Q
2 Volodymyr Panteley   Soviet Union 3:41.6 Q
3 Tom Hansen   Denmark 3:41.6 Q
4 Dave Wottle   United States 3:41.6
5 Chris Fisher   Australia 3:42.0
6 Gianni del Buono   Italy 3:42.0
7 Thomas Wessinghage   West Germany 3:43.4
8 Spilios Zacharopoulos   Greece 3:43.5
9 Ulf Högberg   Sweden 3:43.6
10 Hailu Ebba   Ethiopia 3:43.7

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Kipchoge Keino   Kenya 3:41.2 Q
2 Herman Mignon   Belgium 3:41.7 Q
3 Tony Polhill   New Zealand 3:41.8 Q
4 Shibrou Regassa   Ethiopia 3:41.9
5 Jacques Boxberger   France 3:42.4
6 Henryk Szordykowski   Poland 3:42.5
7 Haico Scharn   Netherlands 3:44.4
8 Pekka Päivärinta   Finland 3:45.1
9 Ray Smedley   Great Britain 3:45.8
10 Bodo Tümmler   West Germany 3:50.0

Semifinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rod Dixon   New Zealand 3:37.9 Q
2 Pekka Vasala   Finland 3:37.9 Q
3 Brendan Foster   Great Britain 3:38.2 Q
4 Paul-Heinz Wellmann   West Germany 3:38.4 q
5 Gunnar Ekman   Sweden 3:39.4
6 Bob Wheeler   United States 3:40.4
7 Franco Arese   Italy 3:41.1
8 Jean-Pierre Dufresne   France 3:41.6
9 Klaus-Peter Justus   East Germany 3:44.6
10 Gerd Larsen   Denmark 3:59.4

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
  Pekka Vasala   Finland 3:36.3
  Kipchoge Keino   Kenya 3:36.8
  Rod Dixon   New Zealand 3:37.5
4 Mike Boit   Kenya 3:38.4
5 Brendan Foster   Great Britain 3:39.0
6 Herman Mignon   Belgium 3:39.1
7 Paul-Heinz Wellmann   West Germany 3:40.1
8 Volodymyr Panteley   Soviet Union 3:40.2
9 Tony Polhill   New Zealand 3:41.8
10 Tom Hansen   Denmark 3:46.6

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, pp. 51–52.