2022 World Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres explained

The men's 1500 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene from 16 to 19 July 2022.^[1] The winning margin was 0.24 seconds.

Summary

Right from the start, Abel Kipsang went to the front to keep the pace honest. Josh Thompson moved in to follow until Stewart McSweyn took the second position. They completed the first lap in 55.5. When defending champion Timothy Cheruiyot moved up to join his Kenyan teammate, Olympic Champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen took that seriously and followed. The second time down the home stretch, Ingebrigtsen cruised past the Kenyans into the lead. Cheruiyot marked Ingebrigtsen, with British runners Jake Wightman and Josh Kerr moving toward the front.^[2] By the bell the two Spaniards Mohamed Katir and Mario García Romo had come up to behind the Brits. Three teams cued up behind Ingebrigtsen. On the rail, Wightman traded elbows with Kipsang boxing him to the outside. With 300 to go, Wightman accelerated past Cheruiyot to Ingebrigtsen's shoulder. With 200 to go, Wightman went for it, passing Ingebrigtsen at the start of the turn. It opened into little more than a metre gap, but all the way down the homestretch, Ingebrigtsen was unable to close it. Behind them, Katir came through on the rail, also trading elbows with Cheruiyot before breaking free, drifting to the outside. Wightman beat Ingebrigtsen to the line to complete the upset. Katir trailed them by 3 metres in for bronze.^[3]

Wightman's victory was called for the fans in attendance as usual by the stadium commentator. Uniquely, on this occasion that also happened to be the gold medalist's coach and father, Geoff Wightman.

Records

Before the competition records were as follows:^[4]

width=25% align=center	Record	width=25% align=center	Athlete &	width=10% align=center		width=25% align=center	Location	width=15% align=center	Date
World record		3:26.00	Rome, Italy	14 July 1998
Championship record		3:27.65	Seville, Spain	24 August 1999
World Leading		3:31.01	Nairobi, Kenya	7 May 2022
African Record		3:26.00	Rome, Italy	14 July 1998
Asian Record		3:29.14	Rome, Italy	14 July 2006
North, Central American and Caribbean record		3:29.30	Rieti, Italy	28 August 2005
South American Record		3:33.25	Rieti, Italy	28 August 2005
European Record		3:28.32	Tokyo, Japan	6 August 2021
Oceanian record		3:29.51	Monte Carlo, Monaco	9 July 2021

The following records were set at the competition:

Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 3:35.00.^[5]

Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC−7), was as follows:

Date	Time	Round
16 July	18:30	Heats
17 July	19:00	Semi-finals
19 July	19:30	Final

Results

The first six in each heat (Q) and the next six fastest (q) qualify for the semi-finals.^[6]

Heats

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	2			3:34.91	Q,
2	2			3:35.02	Q,
3	2			3:35.12	Q
4	2			3:35.31	Q
5	2			3:35.43	Q,
6	2			3:35.65	Q
7	2			3:35.86	q,
8	1			3:36.17	Q
9	2			3:36.24	q
10	1			3:36.35	Q
11	1			3:36.36	Q,
12	1			3:36.41	Q
13	2			3:36.47	q
14	1			3:36.51	Q
15	1			3:36.54	Q
16	1			3:36.69	q
17	1			3:36.76	q
18	1			3:37.43	q
19	1			3:37.57
20	2			3:37.66
21	1			3:37.76
22	2			3:38.60
23	3			3:38.94	Q
24	3			3:39.10	Q
25	1			3:39.17
26	3			3:39.21	Q
27	3			3:39.21	Q
28	3			3:39.33	Q
29	3			3:39.45	Q
30	3			3:39.46
31	3			3:39.47
32	3			3:39.83
33	3			3:39.92
34	2			3:39.96
35	3			3:39.98
36	3			3:40.77
37	3			3:40.87
38	1			3:41.15
39	3			3:42.37
40	2			3:42.81
41	1			3:43.47
	2

Semi-finals

The first five in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualify for the final.^[7]

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	2			3:33.68	Q
2	2			3:34.45	Q,
3	2			3:34.48	Q
4	2			3:35.04	Q
5	2			3:35.07	Q
6	2			3:35.27	q,
7	2			3:35.55	q,
8	2			3:36.32
9	1			3:36.92	Q
10	1			3:37.01	Q
11	1			3:37.02	Q
12	1			3:37.04	Q
13	1			3:37.21	Q
14	1			3:37.22
15	1			3:37.29
16	1			3:37.35
17	1			3:37.71
18	1			3:38.36
19	2			3:38.83
20	2			3:40.16
21	1			3:40.41
21	2			3:40.41
23	1			3:44.66
24	2			3:50.15

Final

The final took place on 19 July at 19:30.^{[8] [9]}

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
			3:29.23
			3:29.47
			3:29.90
4			3:30.20
5			3:30.60
6			3:30.69
7			3:31.21
8			3:32.98
9			3:33.24
10	Michał Rozmys		3:34.58
11			3:34.71
12	Joshua Thompson		3:35.57

Notes and References

1. https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/oregon22/timetable/bydiscipline/men/800-metres Timetable
2. Web site: ‘That’s My Son’: Jake Wightman Runs Race of His Life, With His Dad on the Mic. 20 July 2022. New York Times. 21 December 2022.
3. Web site: Jake Wightman stuns 1500m field to claim world title as dad commentates. 20 July 2022. Guardian. 21 December 2022.
4. Web site: 1500 Metres Men − Records. IAAF. 9 July 2022.
5. News: Competitions Entry Standards 2022 – IAAF World Championships – PDF title, Qualification Standards for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Oregon 2022. iaaf.org. 9 July 2022.
6. https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/7137279/AT-1500-M-h----.RS4.pdf Heats summary
7. https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/7137279/AT-1500-M-sf----.RS4.pdf Semifinals summary
8. https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/7137279/AT-1500-M-f----.SL2.pdf Final Start List
9. Web site: 1500 Metres Men - Final results. World Athletics. 2022-07-19. 2022-07-28.