| | Event type

1,500 metres, Men

Date	1 – 2 August 1928
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam
Participants	44 from 19 countries
Olympic Record	3:53.6 / Paavo Nurmi FIN / 10 July 1924 / Details

Oddly, the 1928 1,500 metres saw many top runners opt for other distances, either moving down to the 800 or up the 5,000. The three remaining favorites were France’s Jules Ladoumègue, and Finland’s Eino Purje and his countryman Harri Larva.

The pace in the final was somewhat slow, with Purje leading at 800 metres in 2:04, with Larva on his shoulder. On the last lap, Ladoumègue took the lead on the backstretch, and Purje fell behind. On the final straight, Larva pulled up to Ladoumègue’s shoulder and pulled ahead only 20 metres from the tape. Purje did hang on to get the bronze medal. In 1930, Ladoumègue would become the first man to better 3:50 for the 1,500, and in 1931 he was the first runner under 4:10 for the mile.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	788	Harri Larva	FIN	4:02.0 (2 h4)	3:53.2 (1)	Gold	OR
2	91	Jules Ladoumègue	FRA	– (2 h3)	3:53.8 (2)	Silver
3	799	Eino Purje	FIN	4:00.8 (1 h3)	3:56.4 (3)	Bronze
4	747	Hans Wichmann	GER	4:03.0 (1 h1)	3:56.8 (4)
5	451	Cyril Ellis	GBR	4:01.8 (1 h6)	3:57.6 (5)
6	272	Paul Martin	SUI	4:00.8 (1 h4)	3:58.4 (6)
7	723	Helmut Krause	GER	– (2 h6)	3:59.0 (7)
8	384	Adolf Kittel	TCH	– (2 h1)	4:00.4 (8)
9	602	William Whyte	AUS	3:59.9 (2 h2)	4:00.4 (9)
10	511	Ray Conger	USA	4:02.6 (1 h5)	– (10)
11	78	Jean Keller	FRA	4:02.7 (2 h5)	– (11)
AC	703	Herbert Böcher	GER	3:59.6 (1 h2)	– (DNF)
3 h1 r1/2	30	József Marton	HUN	– (3 h1)	–
3 h2 r1/2	780	Armas Kinnunen	FIN	4:01.5 (3 h2)	–
3 h3 r1/2	438	Stan Ashby	GBR	– (3 h3)	–
3 h4 r1/2	481	Reg Thomas	GBR	– (3 h4)	–
3 h5 r1/2	866	Edvin Wide	SWE	– (3 h5)	–
3 h6 r1/2	516	Nick Carter	USA	– (3 h6)	–
4 h1 r1/2	220	Luigi Beccali	ITA	– (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r1/2	694	Albert Larsen	DEN	4:01.5 (4 h2)	–
4 h3 r1/2	390	Vilém Šindler	TCH	– (4 h3)	–
4 h4 r1/2	653	David Griffin	CAN	– (4 h4)	–
4 h5 r1/2	733	Otto Peltzer	GER	– (4 h5)	–
4 h6 r1/2	773	Leo Helgas	FIN	4:06.0 (4 h6)	–
5 h1 r1/2	337	Guus Zeegers	NED	– (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r1/2	189	Reidar Jørgensen	NOR	4:01.6 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r1/2	591	Serafín Dengra	ARG	– (5 h3)	–
5 h4 r1/2	593	Leopoldo Ledesma	ARG	– (5 h4)	–
5 h5 r1/2	649	Alex Docherty	CAN	– (5 h5)	–
5 h6 r1/2	285	Danie Jacobs	RSA	– (5 h6)	–
6 h1 r1/2	599	George Hyde	AUS	– (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r1/2	670	Jack Walter	CAN	– (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r1/2	831	Luka Predanić	YUG	4:27.0 (6 h3)	–
6 h5 r1/2	440	Reggie Bell	GBR	– (6 h5)	–
6 h6 r1/2	419	Czesław Foryś	POL	4:11.5 (6 h6)	–
7 h1 r1/2	420	Józef Jaworski	POL	4:14.0 (7 h1)	–
7 h3 r1/2	671	Pete Walter	CAN	– (7 h3)	–
7 h6 r1/2	301	Wilhelm Effern	NED	– (7 h6)	–
8 h1 r1/2	85	Séra Martin	FRA	– (8 h1)	–
8 h3 r1/2	338	Jan Zeegers	NED	– (8 h3)	–
AC h2 r1/2	5	Gyula Belloni	HUN	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	300	Frédéric du Hen	NED	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	532	Lloyd Hahn	USA	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h4 r1/2	555	Sid Robinson	USA	– (DNF h4)	–
DNS	214	Gerry Coughlan	IRL	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	373	Joaquín Miquel	ESP	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	142	Andreas Paouris	GRE	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	135	Grigorios Georgakopoulos	GRE	– (DNS h3)	–
DNS	12	Gábor Gyulay	HUN	– (DNS h3)	–
DNS	138	Antonios Mangos	GRE	– (DNS h4)	–
DNS	54	Georges Baraton	FRA	– (DNS h4)	–
DNS	396	Ömer Besim Koşalay	TUR	– (DNS h4)	–
DNS	179	Robert Masino	MON	– (DNS h4)	–
DNS	143	Vasilios Stavrinos	GRE	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	168	Ciro Chapa	MEX	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	609	Philippe Coenjaerts	BEL	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	254	Juichi Nagatani	JPN	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	376	Jesús Oyarbide	ESP	– (DNS h6)	–
DNS	209	Gurbachan Singh	IND	– (DNS h6)	–

Round One

Date	1 August 1928 — 16:15
Format	Top 2 in each heat advanced to the final round.

Heat #1

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	747	Hans Wichmann	GER	4:03.0	Q
2	384	Adolf Kittel	TCH	–	Q
3	30	József Marton	HUN	–
4	220	Luigi Beccali	ITA	–
5	337	Guus Zeegers	NED	–
6	599	George Hyde	AUS	–
7	420	Józef Jaworski	POL	4:14.0
8	85	Séra Martin	FRA	–
DNS	214	Gerry Coughlan	IRL	–
DNS	373	Joaquín Miquel	ESP	–

Heat #2

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	703	Herbert Böcher	GER	3:59.6	Q
2	602	William Whyte	AUS	3:59.9	Q
3	780	Armas Kinnunen	FIN	4:01.5
4	694	Albert Larsen	DEN	4:01.5
5	189	Reidar Jørgensen	NOR	4:01.6
6	670	Jack Walter	CAN	–
DNF	300	Frédéric du Hen	NED	–
DNF	5	Gyula Belloni	HUN	–
DNF	532	Lloyd Hahn	USA	–
DNS	142	Andreas Paouris	GRE	–

Heat #3

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	799	Eino Purje	FIN	4:00.8	Q
2	91	Jules Ladoumègue	FRA	–	Q
3	438	Stan Ashby	GBR	–
4	390	Vilém Šindler	TCH	–
5	591	Serafín Dengra	ARG	–
6	831	Luka Predanić	YUG	4:27.0
7	671	Pete Walter	CAN	–
8	338	Jan Zeegers	NED	–
DNS	135	Grigorios Georgakopoulos	GRE	–
DNS	12	Gábor Gyulay	HUN	–

Heat #4

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	272	Paul Martin	SUI	4:00.8	Q
2	788	Harri Larva	FIN	4:02.0	Q
3	481	Reg Thomas	GBR	–
4	653	David Griffin	CAN	–
5	593	Leopoldo Ledesma	ARG	–
DNF	555	Sid Robinson	USA	–
DNS	138	Antonios Mangos	GRE	–
DNS	54	Georges Baraton	FRA	–
DNS	396	Ömer Besim Koşalay	TUR	–
DNS	179	Robert Masino	MON	–

Heat #5

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	511	Ray Conger	USA	4:02.6	Q
2	78	Jean Keller	FRA	4:02.7	Q
3	866	Edvin Wide	SWE	–
4	733	Otto Peltzer	GER	–
5	649	Alex Docherty	CAN	–
6	440	Reggie Bell	GBR	–
DNS	143	Vasilios Stavrinos	GRE	–
DNS	168	Ciro Chapa	MEX	–
DNS	609	Philippe Coenjaerts	BEL	–
DNS	254	Juichi Nagatani	JPN	–

Heat #6

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	451	Cyril Ellis	GBR	4:01.8	Q
2	723	Helmut Krause	GER	–	Q
3	516	Nick Carter	USA	–
4	773	Leo Helgas	FIN	4:06.0
5	285	Danie Jacobs	RSA	–
6	419	Czesław Foryś	POL	4:11.5
7	301	Wilhelm Effern	NED	–
DNS	376	Jesús Oyarbide	ESP	–
DNS	209	Gurbachan Singh	IND	–

Final Round

Date	2 August 1928 — 15:30

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	788	Harri Larva	FIN	3:53.2	OR
2	91	Jules Ladoumègue	FRA	3:53.8
3	799	Eino Purje	FIN	3:56.4
4	747	Hans Wichmann	GER	3:56.8
5	451	Cyril Ellis	GBR	3:57.6
6	272	Paul Martin	SUI	3:58.4
7	723	Helmut Krause	GER	3:59.0
8	384	Adolf Kittel	TCH	4:00.4
9	602	William Whyte	AUS	4:00.4
10	511	Ray Conger	USA	–
11	78	Jean Keller	FRA	–
DNF	703	Herbert Böcher	GER	–

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Eino Purje
800 m	Eino Purje		2:04