2019 World Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres explained

Event:Men's 1500 metres
Competition:2019 World Championships
Venue:Khalifa International Stadium
Dates:3 October (heats)
4 October (semi-finals)
6 October (final)
Competitors:43
Nations:24
Win Value:3:29.26
Gold:Timothy Cheruiyot
Goldnoc:KEN
Silver:Taoufik Makhloufi
Silvernoc:ALG
Bronze:Marcin Lewandowski
Bronzenoc:POL
Prev:2017
Next:2022

The men's 1500 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha from 3 to 6 October 2019.[1] The winning margin was 2.12 seconds which as of 2024 remains the only time the men's 1,500 metres has been won by more than two seconds at these championships (the 1991 final was won by exactly two seconds).

Summary

In modern history, championship races are slow strategic affairs where fast athletes are unwilling to sacrifice their medals by running a fast pace. Fast races happen in more controlled environments with planned pace setters at major European meets.

Timothy Cheruiyot didn't get the memo. From the gun, Cheruiyot and his Kenyan teammate Ronald Kwemoi went out hard, breaking away by 2 metres in the first 200. The guys who usually drop to the back realized this was serious and started scrambling to the front. Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz Jr. and silver medalist Taoufik Makhloufi formed a chase group 5 metres back, Jakob Ingebrigtsen leading the peloton another 5 metres back. Over the next lap, the chasers fell back to the peloton, the breakaway now 10 metres. Cheruiyot kept up the pressure, over the next half lap, Kwemoi fell off his back. By the bell, Kwemoi was back to the peloton, again led by Makhloufi. The next on the front were Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr. It appeared a more mature 23 year old Cheruiyot had learned from his fast early pace at the 2015 World Relays where he fell apart on the last lap. Here, there was no sign of letting up. Down the backstretch, coming from 9th place, Marcin Lewandowski ran around the outside of the pack, hitting Makhloufi's shoulder by the beginning of the final turn. The other competitors were already fully extended and couldn't make any dramatic moves. Cheruiyot crossed the finish line 17 metres ahead of Makhloufi. Lewandowski was able to stay a metre behind Makhloufi, trying to nudge ahead in vain at the finish line. The others fell off the back with only Ingebrigtsen remaining two metres behind Lewandowski and Jake Wightman yet another metre back.

While 3:29.26 was "only" the 57th best performance ever, it was the third fastest Olympic or World Championship performance, only bettered by the 1999 championships when the number 2 miler ever, Noah Ngeny chased world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj to the championship record,[2] and unlike that race, this was done off the front, solo.

Records

Before the competition records were as follows:[3]

World record3:26.00Rome, Italy14 July 1998
Championship record3:27.65Sevilla, Spain24 August 1999
World Leading3:28.77Lausanne, Switzerland5 July 2019
African Record3:26.00Rome, Italy14 July 1998
Asian Record3:29.14Rome, Italy14 July 2006
North, Central American and Caribbean record3:29.30Rieti, Italy28 August 2005
South American Record3:33.25Rieti, Italy28 August 2005
European Record3:28.81Monaco19 July 2013
Oceanian record3:29.66Monaco17 July 2015

The following records were set at the competition:

Record Athlete Date
Polish3:31.46Marcin Lewandowski Poland6 Oct 2019
Swedish3:33.70Kalle Berglund Sweden

Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 3:36.00 or 3:53.10 for the mile.[4]

Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+3), was as follows:[5]

DateTimeRound
3 October 22:00 Heats
4 October 20:10 Semi-finals
6 October 19:40 Final

Results

Heats

The first six in each heat (Q) and the next six fastest (q) qualified for the semi-finals.[6]

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes
1 3 3:36.16 Q
2 3 3:36.18 Q
3 3 3:36.19 Q
4 3 3:36.31 Q
5 3 3:36.35 Q
6 3 3:36.54 Q
7 3 3:36.66 q
8 3 3:36.72 q
9 2 3:36.82 Q
10 3 3:36.88 q
11 2 3:36.99 Q
12 2 3:37.13 Q
13 2 3:37.26 Q
142 3:37.44 Q
152 3:37.62 Q
161 3:37.67Q
171 3:37.69 Q
181 3:37.69 Q
191 3:37.72 Q
20 1 3:37.75 Q
21 1 3:37.80 Q
221 3:37.82 q
232 3:37.87 q
242 3:37.93 q
251 3:37.95
262 3:37.98
271 3:38.17
281 3:38.39
29 1 3:38.69
301 3:38.79
313 3:39.11
323 3:39.79
331 3:39.86
342 3:39.86
353 3:40.84
362 3:41.32 qR
373 3:42.24
382 3:45.07
391 3:45.19
403 3:46.24
412 3:47.59 qR
422 3:48.98
431 3:52.93
3
2

Semi-finals

The first five in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualified for the final.[7]

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes
1 2 3:36.50 Q
2 1 3:36.53 Q
3 2 3:36.53 Q
4 2 3:36.58 Q
5 2 3:36.58 Q
6 1 3:36.69 Q
7 1 3:36.69 Q
8 1 3:36.69 Q
9 1 3:36.72 Q
10 2 3:36.72 Q,
11 2 3:36.77 q,
12 2 3:36.85 q
13 1 3:36.98
14 1 3:37.00
15 2 3:37.16
16 2 3:37.19
17 1 3:37.39
18 1 3:37.50
19 2 3:37.56
20 2 3:37.74
21 1 3:37.95
22 1 3:38.35
23 1 3:38.79
24 1 3:40.29
25 2 3:42.23
2

Final

The final was started on 6 October at 19:40.[8]

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
3:29.26
3:31.38
3:31.46
4 3:31.70
5 3:31.87
6 3:32.52
7 3:32.72
8 3:32.81
9 3:33.70
10 3:34.24
11 3:37.30
12 3:37.96

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Start list.
  2. Web site: 1500 Metres - men - senior - outdoor. www.worldathletics.org.
  3. Web site: 100 Metres Men − Records. IAAF. 21 September 2019.
  4. News: Competitions Entry Standards 2019 – IAAF World Championships – PDF title, Qualification Standards for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. iaaf.org. 2 August 2019.
  5. Web site: 1500 Metres Men − Timetable. IAAF. 21 September 2019.
  6. Web site: Heats results.
  7. Web site: Semi-finals results.
  8. Web site: Final results.