# 2011 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres

The Men's 1500 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 30 and September 1 & 3. The winning margin was 0.23 seconds.
In the heats, Mehdi Baala, who has a history of this sort of incident, fell flat on his face as the final sprint began. He was eventually advanced by the referees to the semi-finals, where he qualified for the final.
The first semi-final went out slowly and was a strategic race with a bunch finish. Defending champion Yusuf Saad Kamel finished 6th in that semi and failed to make the time qualifier. The second semi went out on a decidedly faster pace bringing the time qualifiers along with the automatic qualifiers. Previous silver medalist Deresse Mekonnen was left behind in the final kick. With Bernard Lagat opting to run the 5,000 metres, no returning medalists made the final, though all current Olympic medalists did make the final.
The final went out at 4 minute mile pace, with Nick Willis leading Matthew Centrowitz and the pack through a 60-second 400, slowing to almost 2:02 by 800. Shortly after that, the Kenyans Asbel Kiprop and Silas Kiplagat moved to the front, chased by Mekonnen Gebremedhin and much of the pack swallowed the early leaders. Centrowitz stepped to the side and followed. As the pack tried to jockey for position, Kiprop refused to relinquish the lead along the rail, even as teammate Kiplagat took the lead on the outside during the backstretch. Kiprop and then Kiplagat continued that way to the finish. Abdalaati Iguider stayed a step behind Kiprop and was in third coming down the home stretch. As he faded, Centrowitz, who had come around the outside followed by Manuel Olmedo moved back up to finish third.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Asbel Kiprop Kenya (KEN) | Silas Kiplagat Kenya (KEN) | Matthew Centrowitz United States (USA) |

## Records

| World record | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | 3:26.00 | Rome, Italy | 14 July 1998 |
| Championship record | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | 3:27.65 | Seville, Spain | 14 August 1999 |
| World Leading | Silas Kiplagat (KEN) | 3:30.47 | Monaco | 22 July 2011 |
| African record | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | 3:26.00 | Rome, Italy | 14 July 1998 |
| Asian record | Rashid Ramzi (BHR) | 3:29.14 | Rome, Italy | 14 July 2006 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Bernard Lagat (USA) | 3:29.30 | Rieti, Italy | 28 August 2005 |
| South American record | Hudson de Souza (BRA) | 3:33.25 | Rieti, Italy | 28 August 2005 |
| European record | Fermín Cacho (ESP) | 3:28.95 | Zürich, Switzerland | 13 August 1997 |
| Oceanian record | Ryan Gregson (AUS) | 3:31.06 | Monaco | 22 July 2010 |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 3:35.00 | 3:38.00 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| August 30, 2011 | 11:20 | Heats |
| September 1, 2011 | 19:55 | Semifinals |
| September 3, 2011 | 20:15 | Final |

## Results

| KEY: | q | Fastest non-qualifiers | Q | Qualified | NR | National record | PB | Personal best | SB | Seasonal best |

### Heats

Qualification: First 6 in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) advance to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Daniel Kipchirchir Komen | Kenya (KEN) | 3:38.54 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Nick Willis | New Zealand (NZL) | 3:39.24 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Yoann Kowal | France (FRA) | 3:39.33 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Diego Ruiz | Spain (ESP) | 3:39.33 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Mohamed Moustaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 3:39.35 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Matthew Centrowitz | United States (USA) | 3:39.46 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Chaminda Wijekoon | Sri Lanka (SRI) | 3:39.61 | q, NR |
| 8 | 3 | Amine Laâlou | Morocco (MAR) | 3:39.86 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Ryan Gregson | Australia (AUS) | 3:40.01 | q |
| 10 | 3 | Deresse Mekonnen | Ethiopia (ETH) | 3:40.08 | Q |
| 11 | 3 | Silas Kiplagat | Kenya (KEN) | 3:40.13 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | Taoufik Makhloufi | Algeria (ALG) | 3:40.15 | Q |
| 13 | 3 | Yusuf Saad Kamel | Bahrain (BHR) | 3:40.27 | Q, SB |
| 14 | 3 | Ciaran O'Lionaird | Ireland (IRL) | 3:40.41 | Q |
| 15 | 3 | Juan Carlos Higuero | Spain (ESP) | 3:40.71 | q |
| 16 | 3 | Leonel Manzano | United States (USA) | 3:40.77 | q |
| 17 | 3 | Geoffrey Martinson | Canada (CAN) | 3:40.98 | q |
| 18 | 1 | Zebene Alemayehu | Ethiopia (ETH) | 3:41.08 | q |
| 19 | 1 | James Shane | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 3:41.17 | |
| 20 | 2 | Asbel Kiprop | Kenya (KEN) | 3:41.22 | Q |
| 21 | 2 | Mekonnen Gebremedhin | Ethiopia (ETH) | 3:41.28 | Q |
| 22 | 3 | Andreas Vojta | Austria (AUT) | 3:41.34 | |
| 23 | 2 | Abdalaati Iguider | Morocco (MAR) | 3:41.41 | Q |
| 24 | 2 | Manuel Olmedo | Spain (ESP) | 3:41.78 | Q |
| 25 | 2 | Tarek Boukensa | Algeria (ALG) | 3:41.87 | Q |
| 26 | 2 | Eduard Villanueva | Venezuela (VEN) | 3:41.89 | Q |
| 27 | 3 | Hamza Driouch | Qatar (QAT) | 3:42.09 | |
| 28 | 2 | Jeffrey Riseley | Australia (AUS) | 3:42.22 | |
| 29 | 2 | Andrew Wheating | United States (USA) | 3:42.68 | |
| 30 | 2 | Dmitrijs Jurkevičs | Latvia (LAT) | 3:42.69 | |
| 31 | 2 | Jeroen D'Hoedt | Belgium (BEL) | 3:45.54 | |
| 32 | 3 | Nabil Mohammed Al-Garbi | Yemen (YEM) | 3:50.17 | PB |
| 33 | 2 | Charles Delys | French Polynesia (PYF) | 3:51.36 | SB |
| 34 | 3 | Florian Carvalho | France (FRA) | 3:53.88 | |
| 35 | 1 | Sin Sang-min | South Korea (KOR) | 3:55.02 | |
| 36 | 2 | Mehdi Baala | France (FRA) | 4:13.10 | q by Referees |
| 37 | 2 | Ribeiro Pinto De Carvalho | East Timor (TLS) | 4:30.56 | PB |
| | 1 | Mohammed Shaween | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | DNF | |

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 5 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Asbel Kiprop | Kenya (KEN) | 3:36.75 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Tarek Boukensa | Algeria (ALG) | 3:36.84 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Mohamed Moustaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 3:36.87 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Manuel Olmedo | Spain (ESP) | 3:36.91 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Eduar Villanueva | Venezuela (VEN) | 3:36.96 | Q, NR |
| 6 | 2 | Ciaran O'Lionaird | Ireland (IRL) | 3:36.96 | q |
| 7 | 2 | Nick Willis | New Zealand (NZL) | 3:37.39 | q |
| 8 | 2 | Yoann Kowal | France (FRA) | 3:37.44 | |
| 9 | 2 | Daniel Kipchirchir Komen | Kenya (KEN) | 3:37.58 | |
| 10 | 2 | Juan Carlos Higuero | Spain (ESP) | 3:37.92 | |
| 11 | 2 | Deresse Mekonnen | Ethiopia (ETH) | 3:44.65 | |
| 12 | 2 | Chaminda Wijekoon | Sri Lanka (SRI) | 3:44.81 | |
| 13 | 1 | Matthew Centrowitz | United States (USA) | 3:46.66 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Mekonnen Gebremedhin | Ethiopia (ETH) | 3:46.71 | Q |
| 15 | 1 | Silas Kiplagat | Kenya (KEN) | 3:46.75 | Q |
| 16 | 1 | Mehdi Baala | France (FRA) | 3:46.87 | Q |
| 17 | 1 | Abdalaati Iguider | Morocco (MAR) | 3:46.89 | Q |
| 18 | 1 | Yusuf Saad Kamel | Bahrain (BHR) | 3:47.18 | |
| 19 | 1 | Amine Laâlou | Morocco (MAR) | 3:47.65 | |
| 20 | 1 | Ryan Gregson | Australia (AUS) | 3:47.89 | |
| 21 | 2 | Leonel Manzano | United States (USA) | 3:47.98 | |
| 22 | 1 | Geoffrey Martinson | Canada (CAN) | 3:48.83 | |
| 23 | 1 | Diego Ruiz | Spain (ESP) | 3:49.26 | |
| 24 | 1 | Taoufik Makhloufi | Algeria (ALG) | 3:50.86 | |
| 25 | 1 | Zebene Alemayehu | Ethiopia (ETH) | 3:51.19 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | Asbel Kiprop | Kenya (KEN) | 3:35.69 |
| | Silas Kiplagat | Kenya (KEN) | 3:35.92 |
| | Matthew Centrowitz | United States (USA) | 3:36.08 |
| 4 | Manuel Olmedo | Spain (ESP) | 3:36.33 |
| 5 | Abdalaati Iguider | Morocco (MAR) | 3:36.56 |
| 6 | Mohamed Moustaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 3:36.80 |
| 7 | Mekonnen Gebremedhin | Ethiopia (ETH) | 3:36.81 |
| 8 | Eduar Villanueva | Venezuela (VEN) | 3:37.31 |
| 9 | Mehdi Baala | France (FRA) | 3:37.46 |
| 10 | Ciaran O'Lionaird | Ireland (IRL) | 3:37.81 |
| 11 | Tarek Boukensa | Algeria (ALG) | 3:38.05 |
| 12 | Nick Willis | New Zealand (NZL) | 3:38.69 |