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1952 Olympic Games Helsinki, Finland - Men's 1500 m

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1952 Olympic Games Helsinki, Finland - (Athletics); Last Updated: 04 August 2016; Hits: 894

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Host City: Helsinki, Finland

Format: Top six in each heat advanced to the final.

Date Started: July 24, 1952

Format: Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-final.

Date Finished: July 26, 1952

(Competitors: 52; Countries: 26; Finalists: 12)

Venue(s): Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki

Overview by IAAF

The pre-meet favourites were Lueg, who had equalled the world record of 3:43.0 in the German championships, and the top two men of 1951, Bannister, and El Mabrouk. The large entry meant that an extra round was needed to arrive at a 12-man final. All the preliminary races were tactical affairs, the athletes mindful of the extra round, with Åberg (3:51.14) the fastest in round 1 and Denis Johansson (3:49.59) of Finland the quickest in the semi-finals. Lamers set a fast pace in the final, seemingly to help his compatriot Lueg, but after passing 400m in 57.8 he slowed to 2:01.4 at 800m. Lueg moved ahead at 900m, and led by 2m at the bell (2:48.0). Piling on the pressure, Lueg led by 3m as the athletes came off the final curve, with the surprising Barthel in second, just ahead of McMillen on the inside and Bannister and El Mabrouk on the outside. Barthel quickly moved away from the others and caught Lueg with just under 50m to go. McMillen passed Lueg with 20m to go and finished 0.11 down on the Luxembourg star, who was as surprised as the crowd by his win. Barthel later broke down in tears of happiness on the victory stand after winning his country’s only major championship gold medal in athletics history (but also see the 1900 Marathon).

Summary by Sports-reference.com

There was no favorite for the 1952 1,500, but the field had outstanding depth. At least 25 runners had run under 3:50 or 4:10 leading up to Helsinki. For the first time, the event had three rounds, with two semi-finals qualifying six runners in each heat for the final. The leading qualifiers for the final were Bob McMillen (USA), Patrick El Mabrouk (FRA), Werner Lueg (GER), Audun Boysen (NOR), Josy Barthel (LUX), and Roger Bannister (GBR). The first lap was led by Germany’s Rolf Lamers in the overly fast time of 57.8. He still led after two laps but in a more reasonable 2:01.4. Lueg led thru 1,000 metres in 2:32.8 with the field still closely bunched. He continued to lead into the last curve, with McMillen, Bannister, Barthel and El Mabrouk chasing him. Lueg finally tied up on the straight and Barthel and McMillen passed him while Bannister and El Mabrouk began to slow. In one of the greatest Olympic finishes ever, Barthel barely held off McMillen, while Lueg recovered slightly to get the bronze medal. Roger Bannister finished fourth. A bit less than two years later, on 6 May 1954, at the Iffley Road track at Oxford, Bannister ran the mile in the British AAA vs. Oxford meet. His time that day was a world record of 3:59.4, making him the first runner to better the magical 4-minute mile barrier. Barthel’s gold medal was the “first” ever for tiny Luxembourg, although in the 1990s, French athletics historian Alain Bouillé discovered that the 1900 marathon gold medalist, Michel Théato, was actually a Luxembourgeois national.

1,500

Barthel wins from McMillen, while Lueg hangs on for third.

For the first time there were not only heats but also a semi-final for this event. Thus to excel in the final, a runner had to be strong enough to run three hard races in a short time-span. This meant that a successful runner in the finals had to be used to training hard almost every day—something that gentlemen runners in England did not do at this time. A new world was evolving for elite track runners: only the hard trainers would succeed. The Zatopeks and Piries were the runners of the future—amateur runners with a professional attitude.

The Helsinki experience of Roger Bannister illustrates this new reality for major championship track races. Bannister had run an amazing 2:52.9 3/4 time-trial ten days before the Games. This showed he was good enough to beat anyone in a single race. So he was shocked to find out subsequently that the Olympic Committee, due to high entry levels, had decided to have two qualifying rounds for the 1,500; further, the heats, semis and final were to be on three consecutive days. This late announcement was totally unexpected as there had never been semis in this event. Bannister later wrote: “It was crazy for such an exhausting distance. No man who trained as I did could possibly run three good races in three consecutive days.” (First Four Minutes, 146)

Bannister wrote that the first round (3:56) “did not exhaust me unduly.” (First Four Minutes, 152) But he was sleeping poorly, and the semi, where he finished only fifth (3:50.6), left him “blown and unhappy.” (FFM, 156) During the night between the semi and final, his legs ached so much that he could not sleep. For the final he “hardly had the strength to warm up.” (FFM,158)

A runner like Josy Barthel (25), on the other hand, who had trained rigorously under Woldemar Gerschler, possessed the strength to run his heat and semi (3:51.6 and 3:50.4) with little trouble and thus perform well in the final. But Barthel, who came to the Games with a PB of only 3:51, had not been considered likely to medal. Apart from Bannister, Werner Lueg of Germany was given the best chance of winning. Another threat was Bob McMillen, who had won the US trials and had a 4:07 Mile to his credit. McMillen had run in the 1948 Olympic Steeplechase, but had fallen three times.

Lamers of Germany made the pace fast for his compatriot Lueg, passing 400 in 57.8. However, he slowed in the second lap and Lueg felt he had to push the pace himself. Lueg led through 800 in 2:01.4 and 1,200 in 3:03—surely slower than he had wished. Lueg continued to lead into the back stretch, while behind him there was considerable jockeying. Aberg, El Mabrouk and Bannister all challenged the German, but he held onto his lead into the final bend. Bannister was in a perfect position for his patented sprint, but he had “a sickening feeling of exhaustion” and was unable to change gears. Coming off the bend, Barthel put in a dramatic sprint and drew level with Lueg at 50m. But finishing even faster than Barthel, the American McMillen was catching up. After Barthel passed Lueg, he was almost caught by McMillen at the tape. The first three were separated by only 0.4 of a second. Just behind these three was Bannister, who finished in the same time as El Mabrouck, only 0.8 behind the winner.

Barthel, who had a 3:51 PB coming into the Games, improved to 3:45.1 in the final. He had been coached to perfection by Woldemar Gerschler. Later, on talking to the German coach, British runners were “astounded” to hear the details of Barthel’s hard training before the Games.

1. Josy Barthel LUX 3:45.1; 2. Robert McMillen USA 3:45.2; 3. Werner Lueg GER 3:45.4; 4. Roger Bannister GBR 3:46.0; 5. El Mabrouk FRA 3:46.0; 6. Lamers GER 3:46.8.

			Results

*1500 m*	Men		Final	26 July

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.45.28		Josy Barthel	Luxembourg	LUX	25	OR	3.45.2 h
2	3.45.39		Bob McMillen	United States	USA	24	(=)OR	3.45.2 h
3	3.45.67		Werner Lueg	Germany	GER	20		3.45.4 h
4	3.46.30		Roger Bannister	Great Britain	GBR	23		3.46.0 h
5	3.46.35		Patrick El Mabrouk	France	FRA	23		3.46.0 h
6	3.47.18		Rolf Lamers	Germany	GER	25		3.46.8 h
7	3.47.20		Olle Åberg	Sweden	SWE	27		3.47.0 h
8	3.47.70		Ingvar Ericsson	Sweden	SWE	24		3.47.6 h
9	3.49.77		Don MacMillan	Australia	AUS	24		3.49.6 h
10	3.50.24		Denis Johansson	Finland	FIN	24		3.49.8 h
11	3.51.75		Audun Boysen	Norway	NOR	23		3.51.4 h
12	3.56.0		Warren Druetzler	United States	USA	23
*1500 m*	Men		Semi-Finals Heat One	25 July

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.49.60	Q	Denis Johansson	Finland	FIN	24		3.49.4 h
2	3.50.06	Q	Werner Lueg	Germany	GER	20		3.49.8 h
3	3.50.81	Q	Don MacMillan	Australia	AUS	24		3.50.8 h
4	3.51.16	Q	Warren Druetzler	United States	USA	23		3.50.8 h
5	3.51.25	Q	Patrick El Mabrouk	France	FRA	23		3.51.0 h
6	3.51.33	Q	Audun Boysen	Norway	NOR	23		3.51.0 h
7	3.51.37		Václav Čevona	Czechoslovakia	TCH	30		3.51.4 h
8	3.51.45		Sture Landqvist	Sweden	SWE	27		3.51.4 h
9	3.51.93		Bill Nankeville	Great Britain	GBR	27		3.52.0 h
10	3.52.91		Bill Parnell	Canada	CAN	24		3.52.4 h
11	3.52.58		Mihail Velsvebel	Soviet Union	URS	25		3.52.6 h
12	3.52.72		George Hoskins	New Zealand	NZL	23		3.53.0 h
*1500 m*	Men		Semi-Finals Heat Two	25 July

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.50.51	Q	Josy Barthel	Luxembourg	LUX	25		3.50.4 h
2	3.50.71	Q	Olle Åberg	Sweden	SWE	27		3.50.6 h
3	3.50.77	Q	Ingvar Ericsson	Sweden	SWE	24		3.50.6 h
4	3.50.84	Q	Bob McMillen	United States	USA	24		3.50.6 h
5	3.50.92	Q	Roger Bannister	Great Britain	GBR	23		3.50.6 h
6	3.51.30	Q	Rolf Lamers	Germany	GER	25		3.50.8 h
7	3.51.72		Stanislav Jungwirth	Czechoslovakia	TCH	21		3.51.0 h
8	3.53.56		Vilmos Tölgyesi	Hungary	HUN	21		3.53.2 h
9	3.54.04		Frans Herman	Belgium	BEL	25		3.53.8 h
10	3.55.27		Günter Dohrow	Germany	GER	24		3.55.2 h
11	3.55.49		Mykola Belokurov	Soviet Union	URS	25		3.55.6 h
12	4.00.6		John Ross	Canada	CAN	20
*1500 m*	Men		Round One Heat One	24 July

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.51.75	Q	Josy Barthel	Luxembourg	LUX	25		3.51.6 h
2	3.51.90	Q	Günter Dohrow	Germany	GER	24		3.51.8 h
3	3.52.14	Q	Ingvar Ericsson	Sweden	SWE	24		3.52.0 h
4	3.52.30	Q	Don MacMillan	Australia	AUS	24		3.52.0 h
5	3.56.85		Sándor Iharos	Hungary	HUN	22		3.56.0 h
6	3.57.70		Mieczysław Długoborski	Poland	POL	21		3.57.8 h
7	4.18.0		Filemón Camacho	Venezuela	VEN	25
8	4.26.6		Pierre Gillet	France	FRA	22
AC	DNF		Hans Harting	Netherlands	NED	26
*1500 m*	Men		Round One Heat Two	24 July

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.51.66	Q	Warren Druetzler	United States	USA	23		3.51.4 h
2	3.52.31	Q	Sture Landqvist	Sweden	SWE	27		3.52.2 h
3	3.52.58	Q	Stanislav Jungwirth	Czechoslovakia	TCH	21		3.52.4 h
4	3.52.72	Q	Mihail Velsvebel	Soviet Union	URS	25		3.52.6 h
5	3.53.33		Aulis Pystynen	Finland	FIN	24		3.53.0 h
6	3.53.34		Len Eyre	Great Britain	GBR	26		3.53.2 h
7	3.56.52		Fred Lüthi	Switzerland	SUI	22		3.56.4 h
8	4.01.02		Turhan Göker	Turkey	TUR	22		4.00.6 h
*1500 m*	Men		Round One Heat Three	24 July

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.51.14	Q	Olle Åberg	Sweden	SWE	27		3.51.0 h
2	3.51.22	Q	Denis Johansson	Finland	FIN	24		3.51.2 h
3	3.52.72	Q	Rolf Lamers	Germany	GER	25		3.52.4 h
4	3.53.75	Q	Bill Parnell	Canada	CAN	24		3.53.4 h
5	3.54.76		Fritz Prossinagg	Austria	AUT	21		3.54.2 h
6	3.55.69		Athol Jennings	South Africa	RSA	21		3.55.4 h
7	3.55.98		Daniel Janssens	Belgium	BEL	26		3.55.8 h
8	3.58.42		Cahit Önel	Turkey	TUR	24		3.58.4 h
AC	DNF		Wim Slijkhuis	Netherlands	NED	29
*1500 m*	Men		Round One Heat Four	24 July

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.55.77	Q	Patrick El Mabrouk	France	FRA	23		3.55.8 h
2	3.55.82	Q	Bob McMillen	United States	USA	24		3.55.8 h
3	3.56.13	Q	Roger Bannister	Great Britain	GBR	23		3.56.0 h
4	3.56.20	Q	Vilmos Tölgyesi	Hungary	HUN	21		3.56.0 h
5	3.57.14		John Landy	Australia	AUS	22		3.57.0 h
6	3.58.20		Andrija Otenhajmer	Yugoslavia	YUG	25		3.57.8 h
7	4.01.03		Maurice Marshall	New Zealand	NZL	25		4.01.0 h
8	4.01.80		Nikolay Kuchurin	Soviet Union	URS	24		4.03.6 h
9	4.07.8		Vasilios Mavroidis	Greece	GRE	25
*1500 m*	Men		Round One Heat Five	24 July

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.56.33	Q	George Hoskins	New Zealand	NZL	23		3.56.2 h
2	3.56.37	Q	Frans Herman	Belgium	BEL	25		3.56.2 h
3	3.56.48	Q	Bill Nankeville	Great Britain	GBR	27		3.56.4 h
4	3.56.47	Q	Mykola Belokurov	Soviet Union	URS	25		3.56.4 h
5	3.56.85		Urpo Vähäranta	Finland	FIN	26		3.56.8 h
6	3.58.10		Javier Montez	United States	USA	22		3.58.2 h
7	4.00.87		Stefan Lewandowski	Poland	POL	22		4.00.8 h
*1500 m*	Men		Round One Heat Six	24 July

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.52.31	Q	Werner Lueg	Germany	GER	20		3.52.0 h
2	3.53.45	Q	Václav Čevona	Czechoslovakia	TCH	30		3.53.4 h
3	3.55.15	Q	Audun Boysen	Norway	NOR	23		3.55.0 h
4	3.55.60	Q	John Ross	Canada	CAN	20		3.55.2 h
5	3.56.61		Jean Vernier	France	FRA	28		3.56.8 h
6	3.56.91		Edmund Potrzebowski	Poland	POL	26		3.56.8 h
7	4.01.53		Sándor Garay	Hungary	HUN	32		4.01.2 h
8	4.01.77		Ekrem Koçak	Turkey	TUR	21		4.01.4 h
9	4.11.2		William Fahmy Hanna	Egypt	EGY	24
10	4.32.6		Satid Leangtanom	Thailand	THA	23