| Event: | Men's 1500 metres |
| Games: | 1979 |
| Venue: | Estadio Sixto Escobar |
| Dates: | 12 & 14 July |
| Win Value: | 3:40.4 |
| Win Label: | Winning time |
| Gold: | Don Paige |
| Goldnoc: | USA |
| Silver: | Todd Harbour |
| Silvernoc: | USA |
| Bronze: | Agberto Guimarães |
| Bronzenoc: | BRA |
| Prev: | 1975 |
| Next: | 1983 |
The men's 1500 metres sprint competition of the athletics events at the 1979 Pan American Games took place at the Estadio Sixto Escobar.[1] [2] The defending Pan American Games champion was Tony Waldrop of the United States.
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Pan American Games records were as follows:
| World record | 3:32.16 | Christchurch, New Zealand | February 2, 1974 | ||
| Pan American Games record | 3:42.1 | Cali, Colombia | 1971 |
| KEY: | WR | World Record | GR | Pan American Record |
Held on 12 July[3]
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 3:45.2 | Q | |||
| 2 | 1 | 3:45.5 | Q | |||
| 3 | 1 | 3:45.5 | Q | |||
| 4 | 1 | 3:45.6 | Q | |||
| 5 | 2 | 3:45.8 | Q | |||
| 6 | 2 | 3:45.8 | Q | |||
| 7 | 1 | 3:45.9 | Q | |||
| 8 | 2 | 3:46.0 | Q | |||
| 9 | 1 | 3:46.0 | q | |||
| 10 | 2 | 3:46.1 | Q | |||
| 11 | 2 | 3:46.1 | Q | |||
| 12 | 2 | 3:47.3 | q | |||
| 13 | 1 | 3:48.1 | ||||
| 14 | 2 | 3:49.9 | ||||
| 15 | 1 | 3:50.5 | ||||
| 16 | 2 | 3:50.9 | ||||
| 17 | 1 | 3:51.2 | ||||
| 18 | 2 | 3:59.3 | ||||
| 19 | 1 | 4:08.9 | ||||
| 1 |
Held on 14 July
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time[4] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Paige | 3:40.5 | GR | |||
| Todd Harbour | 3:41.5 | ||||
| Agberto Guimarães | 3:41.5 | ||||
| Eduardo Castro | 3:42.1 | ||||
| John Craig | 3:42.6 | ||||
| Peter Spir | 3:46.0 | ||||
| Michael Watson | 3:46.3 | ||||
| José González | 3:46.7 | ||||
| Ignacio Melesio | 3:49.2 | ||||
| 10 | Jorge Ortiz | 3:49.8 | |||
| 11 | Leandro Civil | 3:52.4 | |||
| Luis Medina |