Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres
The men's 1500 metres was a middle-distance running event on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 15, 1900. The race was held on a track of 500 metres in circumference. Nine athletes from six nations competed. The event was won by Charles Bennett of Great Britain, the nation's first medal in the brief history of the event. Background. This was the second appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at  every Summer Olympics. None of the runners from 1896 returned. John Bray of the United States was the unofficial world record holder, but the field was otherwise undistinguished. John Cregan, Alexander Grant, and George Orton were among the top runners at the distance and competed in the 1900 Games in other events, but did not run the 1500 metres (possibly due to the event being held on a Sunday.) Austria, Bohemia, Denmark, and Great Britain made their first appearance in the event. France and the United States were the only two countries to have previously competed in 1896 and return  in 1900. Competition format. The competition consisted of a single round, with one three-lap race around the 500-metre stadium. Records. These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics. Charles Bennett set a new Olympic record and a new unofficial world record at 4:06.2. Results. Bennett, who had led the entire distance by a small margin over Deloge, broke off in the final lap, and ran last 500 metres in a time of 1:10.2 to set an unofficial world record, finishing five yards ahead of Deloge. John Bray edged out David  Hall by two yards.