| | Event type

1,500 metres, Men

Date	29 September – 1 October 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Ol-lim-pik Ju-gyeong-gi-jang, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul
Participants	59 from 46 countries

Two-time defending champion Sebastian Coe was not chosen for the British team. But Steve Cram was back and became the first runner to make the 1,500 final at three Olympics. The world record was held by Morocco’s Saïd Aouita, who had won the 5K in 1984. Aouita ran but withdrew from the semis with a hamstring injury. The 1983 World Champion Abdi Bile of Somalia had to withdraw shortly before the Olympics began, because of a tibial stress fracture. The final was run at a slow pace, with Kenya’s Peter Rono taking the lead at 700 metres, the 800 being passed in over two minutes. He was completely unheralded but held the lead to the end, never letting any of the kickers pass him. His final 800 was run in 1:50.0.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	668	Peter Rono	KEN	3:37.65 (1 h3)	3:38.25 (2 h2)	3:35.96 (1)	Gold
2	418	Peter Elliott	GBR	3:38.60 (3 h3)	3:38.56 (3 h1)	3:36.15 (2)	Silver
3	466	Jens-Peter Herold	GDR	3:40.87 (1 h4)	3:38.59 (5 h2)	3:36.21 (3)	Bronze
4	415	Steve Cram	GBR	3:40.89 (1 h1)	3:38.30 (2 h1)	3:36.24 (4)
5	1128	Steve Scott	USA	3:41.57 (2 h1)	3:38.20 (1 h2)	3:36.99 (5)
6	513	Han Kulker	NED	3:40.90 (2 h4)	3:39.06 (4 h1)	3:37.08 (6)
7	649	Kip Cheruiyot	KEN	3:39.98 (1 h2)	3:38.09 (1 h1)	3:37.94 (7)
8	555	Marcus O'Sullivan	IRL	3:42.01 (6 h1)	3:38.84 (6 h2)	3:38.39 (8)
9	877	Mário Silva	POR	3:42.24 (5 h2)	3:38.56 (4 h2)	3:38.77 (9)
10	1068	Jeff Atkinson	USA	3:38.33 (2 h3)	3:39.12 (5 h1)	3:40.80 (10)
11	650	Joseph Chesire	KEN	3:41.72 (4 h1)	3:39.17 (6 h1)	3:40.82 (11)
12	1186	Omer Khalifa	SUD	3:41.46 (5 h4)	3:38.40 (3 h2)	3:41.07 (12)
7 h1 r2/3	231	Mogens Guldberg	DEN	3:42.01 (3 h2)	3:39.86 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	939	Markus Hacksteiner	SUI	3:39.05 (4 h3)	3:39.18 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r2/3	326	Rémy Geoffroy	FRA	3:41.68 (3 h1)	3:40.96 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	1083	Mark Deady	USA	3:41.91 (2 h2)	3:39.47 (8 h2)	–
9 h1 r2/3	8	Rachid Kram	ALG	3:39.90 (6 h3)	3:41.39 (9 h1)	–
9 h2 r2/3	414	Steve Crabb	GBR	3:41.12 (3 h4)	3:39.55 (9 h2)	–
10 h1 r2/3	230	Spyros Spyrou	CYP	3:42.32 (9 h3)	3:43.49 (10 h1)	–
10 h2 r2/3	111	Mbiganyi Thee	BOT	3:41.97 (8 h3)	3:42.62 (10 h2)	–
11 h2 r2/3	584	Gennaro Di Napoli	ITA	3:41.85 (5 h1)	3:43.58 (11 h2)	–
12 h2 r2/3	735	Moustafa Lachaal	MAR	3:39.20 (5 h3)	3:45.65 (12 h2)	–
AC h1 r2/3	737	Abdel Majid Moncef	MAR	3:41.73 (6 h4)	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r2/3	947	Peter Wirz	SUI	3:41.26 (4 h4)	– (DNF h1)	–
4 h2 r1/3	733	Saïd Aouita	MAR	3:42.18 (4 h2)	– (DNS h2)	–
6 h2 r1/3	944	Marco Rapp	SUI	3:42.64 (6 h2)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	313	Ari Suhonen	FIN	3:43.61 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	147	Dave Campbell	CAN	3:42.97 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	115	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	3:40.92 (7 h3)	– (DNS h1)	–
7 h4 r1/3	1012	Mahmoud El-Kalboussi	TUN	3:43.72 (7 h4)	–	–
8 h1 r1/3	112	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	3:44.46 (8 h1)	–	–
8 h2 r1/3	891	Mohamed Suleiman	QAT	3:44.43 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h4 r1/3	23	Dale Jones	ANT	3:51.22 (8 h4)	–	–
9 h1 r1/3	1162	Branko Zorko	YUG	3:45.52 (9 h1)	–	–
9 h2 r1/3	200	Duan Xiuquan	CHN	3:44.88 (9 h2)	–	–
9 h4 r1/3	708	Mohamed Barak Al-Dosari	KSA	3:51.53 (9 h4)	–	–
10 h1 r1/3	97	Mike Watson	BER	3:46.49 (10 h1)	–	–
10 h2 r1/3	47	Pat Scammell	AUS	3:45.21 (10 h2)	–	–
10 h3 r1/3	554	Gerry O'Reilly	IRL	3:43.23 (10 h3)	–	–
10 h4 r1/3	895	Eulucane Ndagijimana	RWA	3:51.61 (10 h4)	–	–
11 h1 r1/3	1172	Melford Homela	ZIM	3:47.38 (11 h1)	–	–
11 h2 r1/3	929	Jama Aden	SOM	3:49.84 (11 h2)	–	–
11 h3 r1/3	681	Jo Jin-Saeng	KOR	3:45.63 (11 h3)	–	–
11 h4 r1/3	12	Josep Graells	AND	3:52.68 (11 h4)	–	–
12 h1 r1/3	240	Hoche Yaya Aden	DJI	3:51.56 (12 h1)	–	–
12 h2 r1/3	839	Ramón López	PAR	3:53.31 (12 h2)	–	–
12 h3 r1/3	977	Jan Kubista	TCH	3:46.41 (12 h3)	–	–
12 h4 r1/3	1014	Zeki Öztürk	TUR	3:54.26 (12 h4)	–	–
13 h1 r1/3	16	Eugénio Katombi	ANG	3:54.25 (13 h1)	–	–
13 h2 r1/3	741	Kenneth Dzekedzeke	MAW	4:02.61 (13 h2)	–	–
13 h3 r1/3	292	Moses Zarak Khan	FIJ	4:03.20 (13 h3)	–	–
13 h4 r1/3	148	Doug Consiglio	CAN	3:55.31 (13 h4)	–	–
14 h1 r1/3	917	Modupe Jonah	SLE	3:55.15 (14 h1)	–	–
14 h2 r1/3	488	Bernardo Elonga	GEQ	4:16.40 (14 h2)	–	–
14 h3 r1/3	1150	Awad Saleh Ahmed	YAR	4:03.86 (14 h3)	–	–
14 h4 r1/3	186	Seid Gayaplé	CHA	3:58.46 (14 h4)	–	–
15 h1 r1/3	780	Mohamed Ould Khayar	MTN	4:12.18 (15 h1)	–	–
15 h3 r1/3	807	John Siguria	PNG	4:07.04 (15 h3)	–	–
15 h4 r1/3	785	Hari Rokaya	NEP	4:01.17 (15 h4)	–	–
DNS	1193	Nimley Twegbe	LBR	– (DNS h2)	–	–

Round One

Date	29 September 1988
Format	Top five in each heat and next six fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)
1	668	Peter Rono	KEN	3:37.65	Q
2	1068	Jeff Atkinson	USA	3:38.33	Q
3	418	Peter Elliott	GBR	3:38.60	Q
4	939	Markus Hacksteiner	SUI	3:39.05	Q
5	735	Moustafa Lachaal	MAR	3:39.20	Q
6	8	Rachid Kram	ALG	3:39.90	q
7	649	Kip Cheruiyot	KEN	3:39.98	Q
8	466	Jens-Peter Herold	GDR	3:40.87	Q
9	415	Steve Cram	GBR	3:40.89	Q
10	513	Han Kulker	NED	3:40.90	Q
11	115	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	3:40.92	q
12	414	Steve Crabb	GBR	3:41.12	Q
13	947	Peter Wirz	SUI	3:41.26	Q
14	1186	Omer Khalifa	SUD	3:41.46	Q
15	1128	Steve Scott	USA	3:41.57	Q
16	326	Rémy Geoffroy	FRA	3:41.68	Q
17	650	Joseph Chesire	KEN	3:41.72	Q
18	737	Abdel Majid Moncef	MAR	3:41.73	q
19	584	Gennaro Di Napoli	ITA	3:41.85	Q
20	1083	Mark Deady	USA	3:41.91	Q
21	111	Mbiganyi Thee	BOT	3:41.97	q
=22	555	Marcus O'Sullivan	IRL	3:42.01	q
=22	231	Mogens Guldberg	DEN	3:42.01	Q
24	733	Saïd Aouita	MAR	3:42.18	Q
25	877	Mário Silva	POR	3:42.24	Q
26	230	Spyros Spyrou	CYP	3:42.32	q
27	944	Marco Rapp	SUI	3:42.64
28	147	Dave Campbell	CAN	3:42.97
29	554	Gerry O'Reilly	IRL	3:43.23
30	313	Ari Suhonen	FIN	3:43.61
31	1012	Mahmoud El-Kalboussi	TUN	3:43.72
32	891	Mohamed Suleiman	QAT	3:44.43
33	112	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	3:44.46
34	200	Duan Xiuquan	CHN	3:44.88
35	47	Pat Scammell	AUS	3:45.21
36	1162	Branko Zorko	YUG	3:45.52
37	681	Jo Jin-Saeng	KOR	3:45.63
38	977	Jan Kubista	TCH	3:46.41
39	97	Mike Watson	BER	3:46.49
40	1172	Melford Homela	ZIM	3:47.38
41	929	Jama Aden	SOM	3:49.84
42	23	Dale Jones	ANT	3:51.22
43	708	Mohamed Barak Al-Dosari	KSA	3:51.53
44	240	Hoche Yaya Aden	DJI	3:51.56
45	895	Eulucane Ndagijimana	RWA	3:51.61
46	12	Josep Graells	AND	3:52.68
47	839	Ramón López	PAR	3:53.31
48	16	Eugénio Katombi	ANG	3:54.25
49	1014	Zeki Öztürk	TUR	3:54.26
50	917	Modupe Jonah	SLE	3:55.15
51	148	Doug Consiglio	CAN	3:55.31
52	186	Seid Gayaplé	CHA	3:58.46
53	785	Hari Rokaya	NEP	4:01.17
54	741	Kenneth Dzekedzeke	MAW	4:02.61
55	292	Moses Zarak Khan	FIJ	4:03.20
56	1150	Awad Saleh Ahmed	YAR	4:03.86
57	807	John Siguria	PNG	4:07.04
58	780	Mohamed Ould Khayar	MTN	4:12.18
59	488	Bernardo Elonga	GEQ	4:16.40
DNS	1193	Nimley Twegbe	LBR	–

Heat #1

Time	15:15

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	415	Steve Cram	GBR	3:40.89	Q
2	1128	Steve Scott	USA	3:41.57	Q
3	326	Rémy Geoffroy	FRA	3:41.68	Q
4	650	Joseph Chesire	KEN	3:41.72	Q
5	584	Gennaro Di Napoli	ITA	3:41.85	Q
6	555	Marcus O'Sullivan	IRL	3:42.01	q
7	313	Ari Suhonen	FIN	3:43.61
8	112	Zequinha Barbosa	BRA	3:44.46
9	1162	Branko Zorko	YUG	3:45.52
10	97	Mike Watson	BER	3:46.49
11	1172	Melford Homela	ZIM	3:47.38
12	240	Hoche Yaya Aden	DJI	3:51.56
13	16	Eugénio Katombi	ANG	3:54.25
14	917	Modupe Jonah	SLE	3:55.15
15	780	Mohamed Ould Khayar	MTN	4:12.18

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	–		1:01
800 m	–		2:02

Heat #2

Time	15:20

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	649	Kip Cheruiyot	KEN	3:39.98	Q
2	1083	Mark Deady	USA	3:41.91	Q
3	231	Mogens Guldberg	DEN	3:42.01	Q
4	733	Saïd Aouita	MAR	3:42.18	Q
5	877	Mário Silva	POR	3:42.24	Q
6	944	Marco Rapp	SUI	3:42.64
7	147	Dave Campbell	CAN	3:42.97
8	891	Mohamed Suleiman	QAT	3:44.43
9	200	Duan Xiuquan	CHN	3:44.88
10	47	Pat Scammell	AUS	3:45.21
11	929	Jama Aden	SOM	3:49.84
12	839	Ramón López	PAR	3:53.31
13	741	Kenneth Dzekedzeke	MAW	4:02.61
14	488	Bernardo Elonga	GEQ	4:16.40
DNS	1193	Nimley Twegbe	LBR	–

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Mogens Guldberg		1:02.88
800 m	Mohamed Suleiman		2:05.09

Heat #3

Time	15:25

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	668	Peter Rono	KEN	3:37.65	Q
2	1068	Jeff Atkinson	USA	3:38.33	Q
3	418	Peter Elliott	GBR	3:38.60	Q
4	939	Markus Hacksteiner	SUI	3:39.05	Q
5	735	Moustafa Lachaal	MAR	3:39.20	Q
6	8	Rachid Kram	ALG	3:39.90	q
7	115	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	3:40.92	q
8	111	Mbiganyi Thee	BOT	3:41.97	q
9	230	Spyros Spyrou	CYP	3:42.32	q
10	554	Gerry O'Reilly	IRL	3:43.23
11	681	Jo Jin-Saeng	KOR	3:45.63
12	977	Jan Kubista	TCH	3:46.41
13	292	Moses Zarak Khan	FIJ	4:03.20
14	1150	Awad Saleh Ahmed	YAR	4:03.86
15	807	John Siguria	PNG	4:07.04

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	John Siguria		1:02.55
800 m	Peter Elliott		1:18.96

Heat #4

Time	15:30

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	466	Jens-Peter Herold	GDR	3:40.87	Q
2	513	Han Kulker	NED	3:40.90	Q
3	414	Steve Crabb	GBR	3:41.12	Q
4	947	Peter Wirz	SUI	3:41.26	Q
5	1186	Omer Khalifa	SUD	3:41.46	Q
6	737	Abdel Majid Moncef	MAR	3:41.73	q
7	1012	Mahmoud El-Kalboussi	TUN	3:43.72
8	23	Dale Jones	ANT	3:51.22
9	708	Mohamed Barak Al-Dosari	KSA	3:51.53
10	895	Eulucane Ndagijimana	RWA	3:51.61
11	12	Josep Graells	AND	3:52.68
12	1014	Zeki Öztürk	TUR	3:54.26
13	148	Doug Consiglio	CAN	3:55.31
14	186	Seid Gayaplé	CHA	3:58.46
15	785	Hari Rokaya	NEP	4:01.17

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	–		1:01.04
800 m	Steve Crabb		2:02.03

Semi-Finals

Date	30 September 1988
Format	Top five in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)
1	649	Kip Cheruiyot	KEN	3:38.09	Q
2	1128	Steve Scott	USA	3:38.20	Q
3	668	Peter Rono	KEN	3:38.25	Q
4	415	Steve Cram	GBR	3:38.30	Q
5	1186	Omer Khalifa	SUD	3:38.40	Q
=6	418	Peter Elliott	GBR	3:38.56	Q
=6	877	Mário Silva	POR	3:38.56	Q
8	466	Jens-Peter Herold	GDR	3:38.59	Q
9	555	Marcus O'Sullivan	IRL	3:38.84	q
10	513	Han Kulker	NED	3:39.06	Q
11	1068	Jeff Atkinson	USA	3:39.12	Q
12	650	Joseph Chesire	KEN	3:39.17	q
13	939	Markus Hacksteiner	SUI	3:39.18
14	1083	Mark Deady	USA	3:39.47
15	414	Steve Crabb	GBR	3:39.55
16	231	Mogens Guldberg	DEN	3:39.86
17	326	Rémy Geoffroy	FRA	3:40.96
18	8	Rachid Kram	ALG	3:41.39
19	111	Mbiganyi Thee	BOT	3:42.62
20	230	Spyros Spyrou	CYP	3:43.49
21	584	Gennaro Di Napoli	ITA	3:43.58
22	735	Moustafa Lachaal	MAR	3:45.65
DNF	737	Abdel Majid Moncef	MAR	–
DNF	947	Peter Wirz	SUI	–
DNS	115	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	–
DNS	733	Saïd Aouita	MAR	–

Heat #1

Time	12:40

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	649	Kip Cheruiyot	KEN	3:38.09	Q
2	415	Steve Cram	GBR	3:38.30	Q
3	418	Peter Elliott	GBR	3:38.56	Q
4	513	Han Kulker	NED	3:39.06	Q
5	1068	Jeff Atkinson	USA	3:39.12	Q
6	650	Joseph Chesire	KEN	3:39.17	q
7	231	Mogens Guldberg	DEN	3:39.86
8	326	Rémy Geoffroy	FRA	3:40.96
9	8	Rachid Kram	ALG	3:41.39
10	230	Spyros Spyrou	CYP	3:43.49
DNF	737	Abdel Majid Moncef	MAR	–
DNF	947	Peter Wirz	SUI	–
DNS	115	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	–

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Peter Wirz		1:02.55
800 m	Kip Cheruiyot		2:02.37

Heat #2

Time	12:50

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	1128	Steve Scott	USA	3:38.20	Q
2	668	Peter Rono	KEN	3:38.25	Q
3	1186	Omer Khalifa	SUD	3:38.40	Q
4	877	Mário Silva	POR	3:38.56	Q
5	466	Jens-Peter Herold	GDR	3:38.59	Q
6	555	Marcus O'Sullivan	IRL	3:38.84	q
7	939	Markus Hacksteiner	SUI	3:39.18
8	1083	Mark Deady	USA	3:39.47
9	414	Steve Crabb	GBR	3:39.55
10	111	Mbiganyi Thee	BOT	3:42.62
11	584	Gennaro Di Napoli	ITA	3:43.58
12	735	Moustafa Lachaal	MAR	3:45.65
DNS	733	Saïd Aouita	MAR	–

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Omer Khalifa		1:00.01
800 m	Peter Rono		2:00.83

Final Round

Date	1 October 1988 — 13:10

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	668	Peter Rono	KEN	3:35.96
2	418	Peter Elliott	GBR	3:36.15
3	466	Jens-Peter Herold	GDR	3:36.21
4	415	Steve Cram	GBR	3:36.24
5	1128	Steve Scott	USA	3:36.99
6	513	Han Kulker	NED	3:37.08
7	649	Kip Cheruiyot	KEN	3:37.94
8	555	Marcus O'Sullivan	IRL	3:38.39
9	877	Mário Silva	POR	3:38.77
10	1068	Jeff Atkinson	USA	3:40.80
11	650	Joseph Chesire	KEN	3:40.82
12	1186	Omer Khalifa	SUD	3:41.07

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	NOC	Result	Notes
400 m	Han Kulker		1:00.04
800 m	Peter Rono		2:00.31