It’s the turn of the men’s 1500m as we take an event-by-event look back at the IAAF World Championships

British athletes dominated the metric mile in the late Seventies to mid Eighties. They won at the 1978, 1982 and 1986 European Championships, the 1978, 1982 and 1986 Commonwealth Games, and the 1977 and 1981 World Cup and most importantly the 1980 and 1984 Olympics.

In the inaugural World Championships 1500m, they were without Olympic champion and world record holder Seb Coe but did have European champion Steve Cram and Olympic 800m winner Steve Ovett. Cram wasn’t thought to be at his very best after injury and Ovett was easing back to his best after a serious collision with railings the previous winter, which had pretty much wiped out his 1982 season.

Cram and Ovett were the fastest in the semi-finals. Forewarned that Said Aouita, a relative unknown who would eventually break the world record, would make a move 500m out, Cram was perfectly placed after a slow first 800m of 2:07.73. The Moroccan kicked in at the expected point and Cram followed and then overtook Aouita 200m out and then repelled a late challenge from the other joint favourite Steve Scott and won by three metres. Aouita held off a late challenge from Ovett, who finished the quickest but ran a terrible tactical race for fourth. Ovett broke the world record shortly afterwards and should have challenged for gold.

Cram was second to Coe in the 1984 Olympics and then dominated the event in 1985 and 1986, setting numerous world records. In 1987 in Rome, with Aouita focusing on the 5000m, after another slow opening (63.46 at 400m), Cram kicked ahead 450m out and, despite a great burst, could not shake off Abdi Bile, who effortlessly floated past Cram on the final bend for an easy victory. The Somalian ran an incredible 1:46.6 last 800m and 2:16.6 last kilometre. Cram gave up a little in the straight and finished eighth more than four seconds behind the winner.

By the time of Tokyo in 1991, all eyes were on the unbeaten Noureddine Morceli. The pace was much faster than in the previous two finals but the Algerian nevertheless produced a stunning 51.55 last lap to win by exactly two seconds in 3:32.84. Cram went out in the semi-finals and Aouita was only 11th, a place behind Matthew Yates.

Two years later in Stuttgart, Morceli was world record-holder but had only finished seventh in the Olympics. He made no mistake this time and a 50.64 final circuit gave him a second victory over his Olympic conqueror, Fermin Cacho, with Bile third. As Cram exited in the semi-finals again, Yates progressed to sixth and no Briton has made the top eight since.

Africans dominated the 1995 final in Gothenburg, taking the first four places, but it was another easy win for Morceli, who blasted a 25.0 penultimate 200m and eased back down the straight to run a 51.28 last lap. The young Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj finished a distant second, beating another eventual Olympic champion – at 5000m – Venuste Niyongabo of Burundi. Gary Lough, now better known as Paula Radcliffe’s husband and coach, excelled to make the final and finish ninth.

Morceli won the 1996 Olympics with El Guerrouj falling but this time the Moroccan controlled the race and a fast burst over the final 600 metres gave him a five-metre lead at the bell, which he stretched courtesy of a 52.48 last lap. Cacho finished strongly for second, with Morceli fading to fourth.

Two years later in Seville saw one of the greatest championships 1500m races in history and certainly the fastest. Adil Kaouch was El Guerrouj’s sacrificial lamb and he flew through 400m in 54.31 and 800m in 1:52.15. As Kaouch faded, El Guerrouj accelerated to pass the bell in an exciting 2:33.78. He completed the third lap in 54.4 to pass 1200m in 2:46.79 and, though he completed the final lap in 53.87, he eased back and blew kisses to the crowd. No one had previously beaten 3:32 in a championship race and the winner clocked 3:27.65 – the fifth quickest ever.

Noah Ngeny, who went on to deny El Guerrouj Olympic gold in Sydney in 2000, ran a sparkling 3:28.73 Commonwealth record in second while Reyes Estevez led a Spanish trio to three of the first five places in front of an excited, mostly Spanish crowd.

Kaouch repeated his sacrifice in Edmonton in 2001, but not quite as aggressively. After passing 800m in 1:53.69, El Guerrouj took over to comfortably defend his title in 3:30.68 with Kenyan Bernard Lagat winning the battle for silver.

In Paris in 2003, there was no Kaouch so El Guerrouj controlled it himself to win a fourth title. From 700m onwards, he gradually got faster and faster, but he was put under some pressure from the local favourite Mehdi Baala. However, he proved strong enough in the straight to win in 3:31.77 with a 53.90 last lap.

The Moroccan had retired by 2005 but Moroccan-born athletes nevertheless took the first two places in Helsinki. Estevez, in his fifth final, led at 800m in a slow 2:03.78 before American Alan Webb burst into the lead with a 12.3 100m along the back straight. Rashid Ramzi passed him at 1200m to complete the third lap in 53.5. While he
slowed to just 13.9 for his last 100m, he held on to win by a metre from Kaouch, who showed what he could do when not forced to pace.

Ramzi returned to run in Osaka in 2007 and, despite not having raced at all that year, placed second as Lagat, by then in USA colours, took his new nation’s first global 1500m title for 99 years.

Six Kenyan-born athletes were involved in the 2009 final in Berlin and it was the son of 1987 and 1991 800m champion Billy Konchellah, Yusuf Saad Kamel who won the title for Bahrain with a 51.8 last lap. Lagat completed the full set of medals with a bronze.

Asbel Kiprop, who led the 2007 final as a 17-year-old, was favourite in 2009, but ran a terrible tactical race and finished fourth despite the fastest last lap of 51.6. However, Kiprop made no mistake in Daegu in 2011 with a last lap of 51.45 but, controlling from of the front and ahead for all the last 400m, he won by 0.23 seconds from team-mate Silas Kiplagat.

In Moscow in 2013, Kiprop defended his title after compatriot Nixon Chepseba led through 800m in 1:59.24. American Matt Centrowitz, who was third in 2011, advanced to second in the Russian capital.

1500m

Year | Winner | Time | Top Brit
1983 Steve Cram (GBR) 3:41.59 Cram (3:35.77 sf)
1987 Abdi Bile (SOM) 3:36.80 8th Steve Cram 3:41.59 (3:35.78 sf)
1991 Noureddine Morceli (ALG) 3:32.84 10th Matthew Yates 3:38.71
1993 Noureddine Morceli (ALG) 3:34.24 6th Matthew Yates 3:37.61
1995 Noureddine Morceli (ALG) 3:33.73 9th Gary Lough 3:37.59
1997 Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) 3:35.83 9th John Mayock 3:38.67 (3:37.37 ht)
1999 Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) 3:27.65 dnf sf John Mayock (3:37.29 ht)
2001 Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) 3:30.68 7th sf Anthony Whiteman 3:36.77
2003 Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) 3:31.77 5th sf Michael East 3:40.87
2005 Rashid Ramzi (BRN) 3:37.88 11th sf Michael East 3:40.27 (3:36.84 ht)
2007 Bernard Lagat (KEN) 3:34.77 9th Andrew Baddeley 3:35.95
2009 Yusuf Saad Kamel (BRN) 3:35.93 7th sf James Brewer 3:37.27
2011 Asbel Kiprop (KEN) 3:35.69 10th ht James Shane 3:41.17
2013 Asbel Kiprop (KEN) 3:36.28 12th Chris O’Hare 3:46.04 (3:38.86 ht)

Top on points (8 for 1st etc)
1. KEN 96
2. ESP 75
3. MAR 71
4. USA 46
5. ALG 37
6. BRN 23
7. GER 20
8. FRA 19
9. GBR 17
10. POR 15

» Find other event-by-event history features here