| Event: | Men's 1500 metre freestyle |
| Games: | 2000 Summer |
| Venue: | Sydney International Aquatic Centre |
| Date: | September 22, 2000 (heats) September 23, 2000 (final) |
| Competitors: | 41 |
| Nations: | 32 |
| Win Value: | 14:48.33 |
| Gold: | Grant Hackett |
| Goldnoc: | AUS |
| Silver: | Kieren Perkins |
| Silvernoc: | AUS |
| Bronze: | Chris Thompson |
| Bronzenoc: | USA |
| Prev: | 1996 |
| Next: | 2004 |
The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
Australia's Grant Hackett denied his teammate and sentimental favourite Kieren Perkins a third straight title in the event. Having suffered badly over the first six days of the Games, Hackett maintained a strong lead from start to finish, and touched the wall first to claim a gold in 14:48.33.[2] [3] Perkins fought off a challenge against his newest rival in the middle of the program's longest race, but ended up only with a silver in 14:53.59, handing the entire medal haul for the host nation with a 1–2 finish. U.S. swimmer Chris Thompson came up with a spectacular swim to take the bronze in an American record of 14:56.81, holding off a fast-closing Alexei Filipets of Russia (14:56.88) by seven hundredths of a second (0.07). For the first time in Olympic history, all three medalists finished the race under a 15-minute barrier.[4]
South Africa's dark horse Ryk Neethling powered home with a fifth-place effort in a new national record of 15:00.48, while American Erik Vendt, who previously set a continental mark from the trials, faded shortly to sixth in a time of 15:08.61.[5] Ukraine's Igor Chervynskiy (15:08.80) and Germany's Heiko Hell (15:19.87) rounded out the finale.[4]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 14:58.34 | Q | |||
| 2 | 5 | 4 | 15:05.11 | Q | |||
| 3 | 6 | 4 | 15:07.50 | Q | |||
| 4 | 6 | 5 | 15:09.12 | Q, AF | |||
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 15:10.94 | Q | |||
| 6 | 5 | 5 | 15:11.21 | Q | |||
| 7 | 5 | 6 | 15:11.91 | Q | |||
| 8 | 4 | 5 | 15:12.30 | Q | |||
| 9 | 6 | 6 | 15:12.64 | NR | |||
| 10 | 6 | 2 | 15:12.72 | ||||
| 11 | 6 | 1 | 15:13.26 | ||||
| 12 | 4 | 2 | 15:14.37 | ||||
| 13 | 5 | 2 | 15:14.43 | AS | |||
| 14 | 5 | 3 | 15:14.67 | ||||
| 15 | 3 | 5 | 15:17.00 | ||||
| 16 | 6 | 8 | 15:18.20 | ||||
| 17 | 6 | 7 | 15:21.09 | ||||
| 18 | 4 | 1 | 15:23.15 | ||||
| 19 | 6 | 3 | 15:27.65 | ||||
| 20 | 3 | 4 | 15:29.62 | ||||
| 21 | 3 | 3 | 15:29.69 | ||||
| 22 | 4 | 7 | 15:30.69 | ||||
| 23 | 4 | 6 | 15:30.98 | ||||
| 24 | 5 | 8 | 15:32.01 | ||||
| 25 | 5 | 1 | 15:32.90 | ||||
| 26 | 1 | 4 | 15:33.25 | NR | |||
| 27 | 4 | 8 | 15:34.94 | ||||
| 28 | 3 | 8 | 15:39.60 | ||||
| 29 | 5 | 7 | 15:39.86 | ||||
| 30 | 3 | 1 | 15:42.76 | ||||
| 31 | 3 | 2 | 15:43.03 | ||||
| 32 | 3 | 7 | 15:48.49 | ||||
| 33 | 3 | 6 | 15:50.45 | ||||
| 34 | 2 | 3 | 15:51.57 | NR | |||
| 35 | 2 | 6 | 15:52.69 | ||||
| 36 | 2 | 5 | 16:02.11 | ||||
| 37 | 2 | 4 | 16:03.41 | ||||
| 38 | 2 | 7 | 16:10.98 | ||||
| 39 | 2 | 2 | 16:12.91 | ||||
| 40 | 1 | 5 | 16:13.05 | ||||
| 1 | 3 |
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 14:48.33 | |||||
| 4 | 14:53.59 | |||||
| 7 | 14:56.81 | AM | ||||
| 4 | 2 | 14:56.88 | ||||
| 5 | 6 | 15:00.48 | AF | |||
| 6 | 5 | 15:08.61 | ||||
| 7 | 8 | 15:08.80 | ||||
| 8 | 1 | 15:19.87 |