1,500 metres, Men

All the top runners from 1932 were back, led by Jack Lovelock, Glenn Cunningham, and the defending champion Luigi Beccali. Cunningham was the top American but barely, as Gene Venzke and Bill Bonthron had pushed him in 1934-35 and formed a formidable American triumvirate. The other top miler present was Britain’s diminutive Sydney Wooderson. The top race in the year before Berlin was the Princeton Invitational mile, where Lovelock defeated Bonthron and Cunningham.

At the Olympics, most of the favorites made it thru to the final, which also included the silver and bronze medalists from Los Angeles, John “Jerry” Cornes and Phil Edwards, as well as the USA runner Archie San Romani, who had beaten out Bonthron at the Olympic Trials. Wooderson was the only favorite who did not come thru the heats. Cunningham went into the lead early, passing 400 metres in 61.5. The pace was slow and Cunningham led thru 800 in 2:05.2, with the field bunched. Sweden’s Eric Ny passed Cunningham on the third lap, and Lovelock moved to his shoulder at the bell. On the curve just past the line, he shot into a four-yard lead and continued to push the pace down the backstretch. Cunningham kept after him, but made up no ground until Lovelock eased a bit near the finish, as he won in the world record time of 3:47.8