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1956 Olympic Games Melbourne, Australia - Men's 1500 m

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1956 Olympic Games Melbourne, Australia - (Athletics); Last Updated: 04 August 2016; Hits: 1130

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Host City: Melbourne, Australia

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

Date Started: November 29, 1956

Date Finished: December 1, 1956

(Competitors: 37; Countries: 23; Finalists: 12)

Venue(s): Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria

Overview by IAAF

The first heat was won by GDR star Richtzenhain in 3:46.75, and saw two Olympic Champions (Barthel and 1968 marathon winner Wolde) and the world record holder (István Rózsavölgyi), fail to qualify. The other heats could not rival this in terms of failure, though Sweden’s excellent Dan Waern missed the final by 0.05 in the last heat. New Zealander Murray Halberg set the pace in the final, passing 200m in 28.3 and 400m in 58.4, with Delany and Landy lagging at the back of the field. Lincoln took over at 700m, passing 800m in 2:00.1. The field began to bunch, with 7m covering the field at the bell (2:46.5). Hewson attacked, unconvincingly, at 1200m. Boyd and Richtzenhain easily went with him. With 250m to go Delany began a startling kick, gaining five yards on the field before the curve, to move into fourth place. He flew into second on the final bend and burst past Hewson at the beginning of the straight. He went on to win by 6m, with Richtzenhain just holding off the fast-finishing Landy for the silver medal. The top eight plus Ken Wood (GBR) – 3:44.75 – all beat the existing Olympic record.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

In 1954, Britain’s Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier for the mile, and won the Commonwealth Games and European Championships. But he was a medical student and elected not to continue competing thru the 1956 Olympics. By the time of the Melbourne Olympics, four other runners had broken four minutes for the mile – Hungary’s László Tábori, two Britons, Chris Chataway and Brian Hewson, and Australian John Landy. Landy hoped to win the 1,500 in front of his countrymen, and he had the best record of any of the contenders. Unlike 1952, there were only two rounds, which qualified 12 for the final, among them Landy, Tábori, Hewson, and Ireland’s Ron Delany. The final was led out by Landy’s teammate, Merv Lincoln. The field was closely bunched with Delany running at the rear. Hewson took the lead on the third lap and led thru 1,200 metres in 3:01.3. Delany was still near the rear but on the backstretch he moved up and passed Hewson at the head of the final straight, pulling away to win the gold medal in a major upset. Germany’s Klaus Richtzenhain was second, while John Landy, who had run an indifferent race, finished strongly for the bronze medal.

1,500

The Melbourne stadium was packed with over 104,000 for this race. All Australian eyes were on the Mile WR holder, hometown favorite John Landy. Expectations of him were high, even though he had been struggling for months with an injury. He was hoping that his team mate Merv Lincoln would make the pace fast if he could. He also had been promised the support of the New Zealander Halberg.

Delany outsprints the field for a clear win. Richtzenhain and

Landy (156) take the other medals.

Running in only his fourth 1,500, 23-year-old Murray Halberg led from the gun. He clocked 58.6 for the first lap. Merv Lincoln, Landy’s team-mate, who had needed a painkilling injection before the race, took the lead before 600 and passed 800 in 2:00. The third lap was where Landy usually made his move, but this time he was well back. Lincoln still led at the bell (2:46.8). At 1200, Hewson of Great Britain, who had been running beside Lincoln round the bend, made his move. “The rest of the field came after me like a pack of hounds in full cry,” Hewson wrote later. “The advantage I had expected to gain through my surprise move never materialized.” (Flying Feet, p.85) Nevertheless, he led till almost home straight from team-mate Boyd and Ritzenheim. Landy was moving up, dogged by Delany, but he wasn’t willing to run too wide on the bends. In the final straight, a lucky Delany found a gap to come through on the inside. He burst into the lead on the final straight as if from nowhere to win gold. His last lap was 53.4. Landy, clear at last, finished with a 54 lap that brought him from last to third behind Ritzenheim. “I thought I had no chance at all before the race,” Landy said after. “Only in the last straight did I begin to hope…. I lost confidence because I couldn’t train regularly [before the Games] and how I got up to win the bronze medal was a bit of a miracle.” (Keith Donald and Don Selth, Olympic Saga, p.107)

Roger Bannister, reporting on the games for Sports Illustrated, had an interesting view on this race. “To say that Delany was lucky to win does not detract from the brilliance of the young Irishman’s running. He succeeded in a crowded field in getting to the right position at the right time with enough energy left to make the most of it.” (SI, 7 Jan. 57) Bannister also talked perceptively of the pressure on the hometown favorite John Landy. “I believe Landy could have won this race. But he ran as though he knew he could not win; he ran for a place and not for a gold medal. Had he regained his confidence before the race and by chance or good planning held Delany’s position on the last bend, I think the story might have ended differently. (SI, 7 Jan. 57)

1. Delany IRE 3:41.2; 2. Richtzenhain GER 3:42.0; 3. Landy AUS 3:42.0; 4. Tabori HUN 3:42.4; 5. Hewson GBR 3:42.6; 6. Jungwirth CZE 3:42.6.

			Results

*1500 m*	Men		Final	1 December

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.41.49		Ronnie Delany	Ireland	IRL	21	OR	3.41.2 h
2	3.42.02		Klaus Richtzenhain	Germany	GER	22		3.42.0 h
3	3.42.03		John Landy	Australia	AUS	26		3.42.0 h
4	3.42.55		László Tábori	Hungary	HUN	25		3.42.4 h
5	3.42.69		Brian Hewson	Great Britain	GBR	23		3.42.6 h
6	3.42.80		Stanislav Jungwirth	Czechoslovakia	TCH	26		3.42.6 h
7	3.42.87		Neville Scott	New Zealand	NZL	21		3.42.8 h
8	3.42.94		Ian Boyd	Great Britain	GBR	22		3.43.0 h
9	3.44.76		Ken Wood	Great Britain	GBR	26		3.44.3 h
10	3.45.58		Gunnar Nielsen	Denmark	DEN	28		3.45.0 h
11	3.46.09		Murray Halberg	New Zealand	NZL	23		3.45.2 h
12	3.51.9		Merv Lincoln	Australia	AUS	23
*1500 m*	Men		Round One Heat One	29 November

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.46.76	Q	Klaus Richtzenhain	Germany	GER	22		3.46.6 h
2	3.46.79	Q	Stanislav Jungwirth	Czechoslovakia	TCH	26		3.46.6 h
3	3.47.13	Q	Ian Boyd	Great Britain	GBR	22		3.47.0 h
4	3.47.39	Q	Murray Halberg	New Zealand	NZL	23		3.47.2 h
5	3.49.54		István Rózsavölgyi	Hungary	HUN	27		3.49.4 h
6	3.49.94		André Ballieux	Belgium	BEL	23		3.49.8 h
7	3.49.95		Michel Jazy	France	FRA	20		3.50.0 h
8	3.50.02		Ted Wheeler	United States	USA	25		3.50.1 h
9	3.50.86		Jonas Pipynė	Soviet Union	URS	20		3.50.6 h
10	3.50.64		Josy Barthel	Luxembourg	LUX	29		3.50.6 h
11	3.51.0		Mamo Wolde	Ethiopia	ETH	24
*1500 m*	Men		Round One Heat Two	29 November

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.45.63	Q	Merv Lincoln	Australia	AUS	23		3.45.4 h
2	3.46.90	Q	Ken Wood	Great Britain	GBR	26		3.46.6 h
3	3.47.48	Q	Ronnie Delany	Ireland	IRL	21		3.47.4 h
4	3.48.21	Q	László Tábori	Hungary	HUN	25		3.48.0 h
5	3.49.20		Ingvar Ericsson	Sweden	SWE	29		3.49.0 h
6	3.49.27		Yevgeny Sokolov	Soviet Union	URS	25		3.49.2 h
7	3.51.79		Evangelos Depastas	Greece	GRE	24		3.52.0 h
8	3.55.0		Olavi Salsola	Finland	FIN	22
9	3.58.0		Günter Dohrow	Germany	GER	29
10	3.58.1		Ramón Sandoval	Chile	CHI	25
11	3.59.7		Don Bowden	United States	USA	20
12	4.06.0		Émile Leva	Belgium	BEL	24
13	4.09.0		Sim Sang-Ok	South Korea	KOR	23
14	4.15.0		Mahmoud Jan	Pakistan	PAK
15	4.30.0		Somnuek Srisombat	Thailand	THA	24
*1500 m*	Men		Round One Heat Three	29 November

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	3.48.09	Q	Neville Scott	New Zealand	NZL	21		3.48.0 h
2	3.48.10	Q	Brian Hewson	Great Britain	GBR	23		3.48.0 h
3	3.48.67	Q	John Landy	Australia	AUS	26		3.48.6 h
4	3.48.80	Q	Gunnar Nielsen	Denmark	DEN	28		3.48.6 h
5	3.48.84		Dan Waern	Sweden	SWE	23		3.48.8 h
6	3.52.20		Gianfranco Baraldi	Italy	ITA	21		3.52.0 h
7	3.52.96		Sergey Sukhanov	Soviet Union	URS	25		3.53.0 h
8	3.55.60		Jerome Walters	United States	USA	26		3.55.7 h
9	3.57.57		Georgios Papavasileiou	Greece	GRE	25		3.57.0 h
10	3.58.45		Eduardo Fontecilla	Chile	CHI	27		3.58.6 h
AC	DNF		Siegfried Herrmann	Germany	GER	24