1,500 metres, Men

In 1964 the favorite for the 1,500 was the man who had won the 1960 Olympic 800 in a major upset, New Zealander Peter Snell. At Tokyo, Snell planned to defend his 800 gold medal in attempting the 800/1,500 double. In January 1962, on a grass track in Wanganui, New Zealand, Snell had broken Herb Elliott’s world mile record by 1/10th second, posting 3:54.4.

At Tokyo Snell ran three rounds of the 800 on 14-16 October and comfortably defended his gold medal. He later said that he had held something back for the 1,500. The 1,500 also had three rounds – on the 17th, 19th, and the final on the 21st. Michel Bernard led the final on the first lap, as he had in Roma, but the pace of the final was not fast. The leader at 1,200 was Snell’s teammate, John Davies, who passed the start in 2:59.3. Suddenly Snell shot ahead with a startling burst of speed on the backstretch, and the race was over. He ran the next two 100 metre splits in 12.3 and 12.7, distancing the field. Slowing slightly coming home, he won by almost 15 metres in 3:38.1. He ran his last 300 in 38.6, and last 400 in 52.7. Czechoslovakia’s Josef Odložil finished second and Davies got the bronze medal. Later in November 1964, Snell again broke the world record with 3:54.1 in a race in Auckland.