The 1,500 metres is a premier middle distance track event. It is judged a very tough distance to perform at mentally. The distance is often witness to some of the more tactical, more physical races in the sport, as many championship races are won in the final few metres.

In modern times, it has become more of a prolonged sprint with each lap averaging under 56 seconds for the world record performance by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1998 at Rome. Thus, speed is necessary, and it seems that the more aerobic conditioning, the better. The 1500 is three and three-quarter laps around a 400 meter track. Through the 1980's the event was dominated by British runners, but through the 1990's, the African runners began to take over, with runners from Kenya, Morocco and Algeria winning the Olympic titles.

This is also known in the US as "the metric mile". The record at this distance for men:

• Hicham El Guerrouj 3:26.00 Roma 14 July 1998

For women:

• Yunxia Qu 3:50.46 Beijing 11 September 1993

Famous 1500m. runners

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Men

• Saïd Aouita
• Sebastian Coe
• Steve Cram
• Herb Elliott
• Hicham El Guerrouj
• Bernard Lagat
• John Landy
• Noureddine Morceli
• Steve Ovett
• Jim Ryun
• Peter Snell
• John Walker

Top ten All time athletes on the 1500 meters - men

Updated May 18 2006.

Rank	Res.	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place
1.	3:26.00	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	14 july 1998	Rome
2.	3:26.34	Bernard Lagat	KEN	24 august 2001	Brussels
3.	3:27.37	Noureddine Morceli	ALG	12 july 1995	Nice
4.	3:28.12	Noah Ngeny	KEN	11 august 2000	Zürich
5.	3:28.95	Fermín Cacho	ESP	13 august 1997	Zürich
6.	3:28.98	Mehdi Baala	FRA	5 september 2003	Brussels
7.	3:29.18	Vénuste Niyongabo	BDI	22 august 1997	Brussels
8.	3:29.29	William Chirchir	KEN	24 august 2001	Brussels
9.	3:29.46	Saïd Aouita	MAR	23 august 1985	Berlin
9.	3:29.46	Daniel Komen	KEN	16 august 1997	Monaco

Women

• Hassiba Boulmerka
• Kelly Holmes
• Tatyana Kazankina
• Gabriela Szabo

Top ten All time athletes on the 1500 meters - women

Updated May 18 2006.

Rank	Res.	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place
1.	3:50.46	Yunxia Qu	CHN	11 september 1993	Beijing
2.	3:50.98	Bo Jiang	CHN	18 october 1997	Shanghai
3.	3:51.34	Yinglai Lang	CHN	18 october 1997	Shanghai
4.	3:51.92	Junxia Wang	CHN	11 september 1993	Beijing
5.	3:52.47	Tatyana Kazankina	URS	13 august 1980	Zürich
6.	3:53.91	Lili Yin	CHN	18 october 1997	Shanghai
7.	3:53.96	Paula Ivan	ROM	1 october 1980	Seoul
8.	3:53.97	Lixin Lan	CHN	18 october 1997	Shanghai
9.	3:54.23	Olga Dvirna	URS	27 july 1982	Kiev
10.	3:54.52	Ling Zhang	CHN	18 october 1997	Shanghai

1,500 metres is also an event in swimming and speed skating.

Events in athletics | Middle distance race

Běh na 1500 m | 1500-Meter-Lauf | 1500 m jooks | 1500 m | 1500 m piani | 1500メートル走 | 1 500 metrin juoksu