1,500 metres, Men

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.