| Event: | Men's 1500 metres |
| Competition: | European Athletics Championships |
The men's 1500 metres at the 1971 European Athletics Championships was held in Helsinki, Finland, at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 13 and 15 August 1971.
| Gold | Francesco Arese | |
| Silver | Henryk Szordykowski | |
| Bronze | Brendan Foster |
15 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | align=left | | 3:38.43 | CR | |||
| align=left | align=left | | 3:38.73 | ||||
| align=left | align=left | | 3:39.24 | ||||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 3:39.48 | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left |  | 3:39.57 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 3:40.68 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 3:40.78 | ||||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 3:40.92 | ||||
| 9 | align=left | align=left |  | 3:41.49 | |||
| 10 | align=left | align=left | 3:42.90 | ||||
| 11 | align=left | align=left | 3:44.18 | ||||
| 12 | align=left | align=left | 3:45.68 |
13 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 3:42.2 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 3:42.3 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 3:42.5 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 3:42.8 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 3:43.2 | ||||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 3:43.3 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 3:43.7 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | | 3:43.9 | |||
| 9 | align=left | align=left |  | 3:45.0 | |||
| 10 | align=left | align=left | 3:46.3 | ||||
| 11 | align=left | align=left | 3:49.3 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | | 3:43.6 | Q | ||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 3:43.6 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 3:43.7 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 3:43.7 | Q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 3:43.7 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 3:44.0 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | | 3:45.0 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 3:48.9 | ||||
| 9 | align=left | align=left | | 3:53.7 | |||
| 10 | align=left | align=left |  | 4:01.3 | NR | ||
| 11 | align=left | align=left | | 4:01.8 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 3:51.8 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 3:52.1 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 3:52.6 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 3:52.7 | Q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 3:52.8 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 3:53.3 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 3:54.2 | ||||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 3:55.2 | ||||
| 9 | align=left | align=left | 3:55.6 | ||||
| 10 | align=left | align=left |  | 3:57.4 |
According to an unofficial count, 32 athletes from 19 countries participated in the event.
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