# Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

The men's 1500 metre event at the 1928 Olympic Games took place between August 1 & August 2. Forty-four athletes from 19 nations competed. NOCs were limited to 4 competitors each. The event was won by Harri Larva of Finland, the nation's second consecutive victory in the 1500 metres. France won its first medal in the event since 1900, with Jules Ladoumègue's silver matching the nation's best result.

## Background

This was the eighth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Sixth-place finisher Lloyd Hahn of the United States was the only finalist from the 1924 Games to return. Defending champion Paavo Nurmi of Finland was in Amsterdam, but competed only in longer distances this Games. Finland was still well-represented, however, as Eino Purje and Harri Larva were among the favorites, along with Jules Ladoumègue of France and world-record holder Otto Peltzer of Germany.
Argentina and Yugoslavia each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its eighth appearance, the only nation to have competed in the men's 1500 metres at each Games to that point.

## Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds, the format used since 1908. As in 1924, there were six semifinals, this time with anywhere between 6 and 9 runners in each, and once again the top two runners in each heat advanced to the final, for a 12-man final race.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1928 Summer Olympics.
| World record | Otto Peltzer (GER) | 3:51.0 | Berlin, Germany | 11 September 1926 |
| Olympic record | Paavo Nurmi (FIN) | 3:53.6 | Paris, France | 10 July 1924 |
In the final Harri Larva set a new Olympic record at 3:53.2.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Wednesday, 1 August 1928 | 16:15 | Semifinals |
| Thursday, 2 August 1928 | 15:30 | Final |

## Results
### Semifinals

The top two runners from each of the six heats advanced to the Final Round.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Hans Wichmann | Germany | 4:03.0 | Q |
| 2 | Adolf Kittel | Czechoslovakia | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | József Marton | Hungary | Unknown | |
| 4 | Luigi Becalli | Italy | Unknown | |
| 5 | Guus Zeegers | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| 6 | George Hyde | Australia | Unknown | |
| 7 | Józef Jaworski | Poland | 4:14.0 | |
| 8 | Séra Martin | France | Unknown | |
| — | Gerry Coughlan | Ireland | DNS | |
| — | Joquin Miquel | Spain | DNS | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Herbert Böcher | Germany | 3:59.6 | Q |
| 2 | William Whyte | Australia | 3:59.9 | Q |
| 3 | Armas Kinnunen | Finland | 4:01.5 | |
| 4 | Albert Larsen | Denmark | 4:01.5 | |
| 5 | Reidar Jørgensen | Norway | 4:01.6 | |
| 6 | Jack Walter | Canada | Unknown | |
| — | Frédéric du Hen | Netherlands | DNF | |
| — | Gyula Belloni | Hungary | DNF | |
| — | Lloyd Hahn | United States | DNF | |
| — | Andreas Paouris | Greece | DNS | |

#### Semifinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Eino Purje | Finland | 4:00.8 | Q |
| 2 | Jules Ladoumègue | France | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Stan Ashby | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 4 | Vilém Šindler | Czechoslovakia | Unknown | |
| 5 | Serafín Dengra | Argentina | Unknown | |
| 6 | Luka Predanić | Yugoslavia | 4:27.0 | |
| 7 | Pete Walter | Canada | Unknown | |
| 8 | Jan Zeegers | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| — | Grigorios Georgakopoulos | Greece | DNS | |
| — | Gábor Gyulay | Hungary | DNS | |

#### Semifinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Paul Martin | Switzerland | 4:00.8 | Q |
| 2 | Harri Larva | Finland | 4:02.0 | Q |
| 3 | Reg Thomas | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 4 | David Griffin | Canada | Unknown | |
| 5 | Leopoldo Ledesma | Argentina | Unknown | |
| — | Sid Robinson | United States | DNF | |
| — | Antonios Mangos | Greece | DNS | |
| — | Georges Baraton | France | DNS | |
| — | Ömer Besim Koşalay | Turkey | DNS | |
| — | Robert Masino | Monaco | DNS | |

#### Semifinal 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ray Conger | United States | 4:02.6 | Q |
| 2 | Jean Keller | France | 4:02.7 | Q |
| 3 | Edvin Wide | Sweden | Unknown | |
| 4 | Otto Peltzer | Germany | Unknown | |
| 5 | Alex Docherty | Canada | Unknown | |
| 6 | Reggie Bell | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| — | Vasilios Stavrinos | Greece | DNS | |
| — | Ciro Chapa | Mexico | DNS | |
| — | Philippe Coenjaerts | Belgium | DNS | |
| — | Juichi Nagatani | Japan | DNS | |

#### Semifinal 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Cyril Ellis | Great Britain | 4:01.8 | Q |
| 2 | Hans-Helmuth Krause | Germany | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Nick Carter | United States | Unknown | |
| 4 | Leo Helgas | Finland | 4:06.0 | |
| 5 | Danie Jacobs | South Africa | Unknown | |
| 6 | Czesław Foryś | Poland | 4:11.5 | |
| 7 | Wilhelm Effern | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| — | Jesús Oyarbide | Spain | DNS | |
| — | Gurbachan Singh | India | DNS | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | Harri Larva | Finland | 3:53.2 | OR |
| | Jules Ladoumègue | France | 3:53.8 | |
| | Eino Purje | Finland | 3:56.4 | |
| 4 | Hans Wichmann | Germany | 3:56.8 | |
| 5 | Cyril Ellis | Great Britain | 3:57.6 | |
| 6 | Paul Martin | Switzerland | 3:58.4 | |
| 7 | Hans-Helmuth Krause | Germany | 3:59.0 | |
| 8 | Adolf Kittel | Czechoslovakia | 4:00.4 | |
| 9 | William Whyte | Australia | 4:00.4 | |
| 10 | Ray Conger | United States | Unknown | |
| 11 | Jean Keller | France | Unknown | |
| — | Herbert Böcher | Germany | DNF | |