1500 metres world record progression

File:Paavo Nurmi breaks 1,500 m world record.jpg

Paavo Nurmi breaks the 1,500 m world record in Helsinki in 1924.

The 1500-metre run became a standard racing distance in Europe in the late 19th century, perhaps as a metric version of the mile, a popular running distance since at least the 1850s in English-speaking countries.

A distance of 1500m sometimes is called the "metric mile". The French had the first important races over the distance, holding their initial championship in 1888.

When the Olympic Games were revived in 1896, metric distances were run, including the 1500; however, most of the best milers in the world were absent, and the winning time of 4:33 1/5 by Australian Edwin Flack was 17 4/5 seconds slower than the amateur mile record, despite the fact one mile is 109.344 metres longer than 1500 metres.

The 1900 Olympics and 1904 Olympics showed improvements in times run, but it was not until the 1908 Olympics that a meeting of the top milers over the distance took place, and not until the 1912 Olympics that a true world-class race over the distance was run.

The distance has now almost completely replaced the mile in major track meets.

Men (outdoors)

Pre-IAAF

Time	Athlete	Date	Place
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1892
4:21	Template:Flagathlete	1893-05-28	Paris, France
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1894-07-22	Paris, France
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1895-05-12	Paris, France
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1895-05-26	Paris, France
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1895-08-26	New York City, United States
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1896-06-26	Paris, France
4:09	Template:Flagathlete	1900-05-30	Bayonne, France
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1900-07-15	Paris, France
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1904-09-03	St. Louis, United States
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1908-05-30	London, Great Britain
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1912-05-26	New York City, United States
Template:Sfrac	Template:Flagathlete	1912-06-01	New York City, United States

IAAF era

The first world record in the 1500m for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1912. To July 17, 2015, the IAAF has ratified 38 world records in the event.

	Ratified
	Not ratified
	Ratified but later rescinded
	Pending ratification

Time	Auto	Athlete	Date	Place
3:55.8		Template:Flagathlete	1912-06-08	Cambridge, United States
3:54.7		Template:Flagathlete	1917-08-05	Stockholm, Sweden
3:52.6		Template:Flagathlete	1924-06-19	Helsinki, Finland
3:51.0		Template:Flagathlete	1926-09-11	Berlin, Germany
3:49.2		Template:Flagathlete	1930-10-05	Paris, France
3:49.2		Template:Flagathlete	1933-09-09	Turin, Italy
3:49.0		Template:Flagathlete	1933-09-17	Milan, Italy
3:48.8		Template:Flagathlete	1934-06-30	Milwaukee, United States
3:47.8		Template:Flagathlete	1936-08-06	Berlin, Germany
3:47.6		Template:Flagathlete	1941-08-10	Stockholm, Sweden
3:45.8		Template:Flagathlete	1942-07-17	Stockholm, Sweden
3:45.0		Template:Flagathlete	1943-08-17	Gothenburg, Sweden
3:43.0		Template:Flagathlete	1944-07-07	Gothenburg, Sweden
3:43.0		Template:Flagathlete	1947-07-15	Malmö, Sweden
3:43.0		Template:Flagathlete	1952-06-29	Berlin, Germany
3:42.8+		Template:Flagathlete	1954-06-04	Compton, United States
3:41.8+		Template:Flagathlete	1954-06-21	Turku, Finland
3:40.8		Template:Flagathlete	1955-07-28	Helsinki, Finland
3:40.8		Template:Flagathlete	1955-09-06	Oslo, Norway
3:40.8		Template:Flagathlete	1955-09-06	Oslo, Norway
3:40.6		Template:Flagathlete	1956-08-03	Tata, Hungary
3:40.2		Template:Flagathlete	1957-07-11	Turku, Finland
3:40.2		Template:Flagathlete	1957-07-11	Turku, Finland
3:38.1		Template:Flagathlete	1957-07-12	Stará Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
3:36.0		Template:Flagathlete	1958-08-28	Gothenburg, Sweden
3:35.6		Template:Flagathlete	1960-09-06	Rome, Italy
3:33.1		Template:Flagathlete	1967-07-08	Los Angeles, United States
3:32.2	3:32.16	Template:Flagathlete	1974-02-02	Christchurch, New Zealand
3:32.1	3:32.03	Template:Flagathlete	1979-08-15	Zürich, Switzerland
3:32.1	3:32.09	Template:Flagathlete	1980-07-15	Oslo, Norway
3:31.4	3:31.36	Template:Flagathlete	1980-08-27	Koblenz, West Germany
3:31.24		Template:Flagathlete	1983-08-28	Cologne, West Germany
3:30.77		Template:Flagathlete	1983-09-04	Rieti, Italy
3:29.67		Template:Flagathlete	1985-07-16	Nice, France
3:29.46		Template:Flagathlete	1985-08-23	Berlin, Germany
3:28.86		Template:Flagathlete	1992-09-06	Rieti, Italy
3:27.37		Template:Flagathlete	1995-07-12	Nice, France
3:26.00		Template:Flagathlete	1998-07-14	Rome, Italy

The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.

Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000m from 1981. Hence, Steve Ovett's record at 3:31.4 was rendered as 3:31.36 from that year.

Women (outdoors)

Pre-IAAF

Time	Athlete	Date	Place
5:18.2	Template:Flagathlete	1927-08-19	Moscow, Soviet Union
5:07.0	Template:Flagathlete	1934-09-16	Alma-Ata, Soviet Union
5:02.0	Template:Flagathlete	1936-07-13	Moscow, Soviet Union
4:47.2	Template:Flagathlete	1936-07-30	Moscow, Soviet Union
4:45.2	Template:Flagathlete	1937-09-13	Moscow, Soviet Union
4:41.8	Template:Flagathlete	1940-06-10	Moscow, Soviet Union
4:38.0	Template:Flagathlete	1944-08-17	Moscow, Soviet Union
4:37.8	Template:Flagathlete	1946-09-15	Dnepropetrovsk, Soviet Union
4:37.0	Template:Flagathlete	1952-08-30	Leningrad, Soviet Union
4:35.4	Template:Flagathlete	1956-05-17	Hornchurch, Great Britain
4:30.0	Template:Flagathlete	1957-05-16	Hornchurch, Great Britain
4:29.7+	Template:Flagathlete	1957-07-19	London, Great Britain
4:19.0+	Template:Flagathlete	1962-12-08	Perth, Australia

IAAF era

The first world record in the 1500 m for women (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1967.

Time	Auto	Athlete	Date	Place	Ref
4:17.3+		Template:Flagathlete	1967-06-03	Chiswick, Great Britain
4:15.6		Template:Flagathlete	1967-10-24	Sittard, Netherlands
4:12.4		Template:Flagathlete	1969-07-02	Milan, Italy
4:10.7	4:10.77	Template:Flagathlete	1969-09-20	Athens, Greece
4:09.6	4:09.62	Template:Flagathlete	1971-08-15	Helsinki, Finland
4:06.9		Template:Flagathlete	1972-07-18	Moscow, Soviet Union
4:06.5	4:06.47	Template:Flagathlete	1972-09-04	Munich, Germany
4:05.1	4:05.07	Template:Flagathlete	1972-09-07	Munich, Germany
4:01.4	4:01.38	Template:Flagathlete	1972-09-09	Munich, Germany
3:56.0		Template:Flagathlete	1976-06-28	Podolsk, Soviet Union
3:55.0		Template:Flagathlete	1980-07-06	Moscow, Soviet Union
3:52.47		Template:Flagathlete	1980-08-03	Zürich, Switzerland
3:50.46		Template:Flagathlete	1993-09-11	Beijing, China
3:50.07		Template:Flagathlete	2015-07-17	Fontvieille, Monaco
3:49.11		Template:Flagathlete	2023-06-02	Florence, Italy
3:49.04		Template:Country flagbio	2024-07-07	Paris, France

+ - En route time during mile race.

The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.

The IAAF accepted records to the hundredth of a second starting in 1981.

References

General

• Women's record progressionTemplate:Category handler[1][2][3]
• Men's record progressionTemplate:Category handler

Specific

Further reading

• Cordner Nelson and Roberto Quercetani, The Milers, Tafnews Press, 1985, Template:ISBN