1,500 metres Wheelchair, Men

This was the third time wheelchair racing was held as a demonstration event on the athletics program at the Olympics, after 1984 and 1988. The men raced 1,500 metres on the track with eight competitors. The event was won by Frenchman Claude Issorat in a world record 3:13.92, followed by Switzerland’s Franz Nietlispach. Issorat would repeat in 1996, with Nietlispach placing third. Between 1992 and 2004 Issorat won seven gold medals and 13 medals at the Paralympics. Nietlispach had a much longer career, competing at the Paralympics between 1976 and 2008, winning 14 gold medals and 22 medals in all. He also won the Boston Marathon five times.