# Athletics at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Men's 1500 metres

The men's 1500 metres event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place on 30 and 31 July at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. Michael East won the gold medal in a personal best time of 3:37.35 and became the sixth Englishman to win the event. The 1998 world junior champion in the 800 metres, Kenyan William Chirchir placed second, taking the silver medal in 3:37.70. He finished ahead of Youcef Abdi of Australia who won the bronze. Abdi who formerly represented Algeria, switched allegiance to Australia in 2000.
This was the ninth running of the 1500 metres event at the Commonwealth Games after converting to metric at the 1970 Edinburgh Games. A 1 mile event was contested between 1930 and 1966. 18 competitors from 14 nations entered the event. Bernard Lagat, the Olympic bronze and world championship silver medallist chose not participate in the Games but rather contest the event at African Championships which he went on to win. His Kenyan compatriot, Olympic champion Noah Ngeny, sustained an injury to his back and pelvis as a result of a car accident in November 2001 which impacted his 2002 season which saw him not selected for these Games.
The defending champion from Kuala Lumpur, fellow Kenyan Laban Rotich also didn't compete at these Games, but finished second behind Lagat at the African Championships. Whilst the silver medallist, John Mayock, missed the English trials in June due to blisters. As a result he was not selected for his preferred distance but rather for the 5,000 metres where he narrowly missed the medals finishing fourth. Fellow English runner, Anthony Whiteman, narrowly missed out on securing back to back bronze finishing fourth in the final.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing records were as follows:
Records before the 2002 Commonwealth Games :
| Record | Time (s) | Athlete (nation) | Meet | Location | Date |
| World record | 3:26.00 | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | Golden Gala | Rome, Italy | 14 July 1998 |
| Commonwealth record | 3:26.34 | Bernard Lagat (KEN) | Memorial Van Damme | Brussels, Belgium | 24 August 2001 |
| Games record | 3:32.16 | Filbert Bayi (TAN) | Commonwealth Games | Christchurch, New Zealand | 2 February 1974 |

## Results
### Heats

The heats were held on 30 July, starting at 18:45 in the evening.
Qualification Rules: First 4 in each heat (Q) and the best 4 of remaining athletes (q) advance to the final.

#### Heat 1

Results of heat 1 :
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | William Chirchir | Kenya | 3:46.75 | Q |
| 2 | Youcef Abdi | Australia | 3:46.79 | Q |
| 3 | Michael East | England | 3:46.90 | Q |
| 4 | Kevin Sullivan | Canada | 3:47.21 | Q |
| 5 | Jon McCallum | Scotland | 3:47.37 | q |
| 6 | Matthew Shone | Wales | 3:47.83 | |
| 7 | Nickie Peters | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 3:53.09 | PB |
| 8 | Michael Tomlin | Jamaica | 3:54.50 | |
| 9 | Jimmy Sandy Sam | Vanuatu | 4:13.15 | |

#### Heat 2

Results of heat 2 :
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Anthony Whiteman | England | 3:43.25 | Q, SB |
| 2 | Julius Achon | Uganda | 3:43.32 | Q |
| 3 | David Kiplak | Kenya | 3:43.56 | Q |
| 4 | Graham Hood | Canada | 3:44.88 | Q |
| 5 | Thomas Mayo | England | 3:45.56 | q |
| 6 | Colm McLean | Northern Ireland | 3:45.72 | q |
| 7 | Francis Munthali | Malawi | 3:45.81 | q, NR |
| 8 | Lee Merrien | Guernsey | 3:47.68 | |
| 9 | Henry Foufaka | Solomon Islands | 4:18.39 | |

### Final

The final was held at 20:10 on 31 July.
Results of the final :
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | Michael East | England | 3:37.35 | PB |
| | William Chirchir | Kenya | 3:37.70 | |
| | Youcef Abdi | Australia | 3:37.77 | |
| 4 | Anthony Whiteman | England | 3:38.04 | SB |
| 5 | Graham Hood | Canada | 3:38.08 | SB |
| 6 | Julius Achon | Uganda | 3:38.33 | SB |
| 7 | Kevin Sullivan | Canada | 3:40.95 | SB |
| 8 | Thomas Mayo | England | 3:41.70 | |
| 9 | David Kiplak | Kenya | 3:42.87 | |
| 10 | Francis Munthali | Malawi | 3:43.50 | NR |
| 11 | Jon McCallum | Scotland | 3:48.02 | |
| 12 | Colm McLean | Northern Ireland | 3:51.90 | |