Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres


These are the official results of the Men's 1.500 metres at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, with the final held on Saturday, December 1, 1956. There were a total number of 37 participants from 22 nations. Among the non-qualifiers for the final were defending champion Josy Barthel, future silver medalist Michel Jazy and eventual marathon champion Mamo Wolde.
The final had twelve men toe the line. Uniquely, Murray Halberg used a sprinter's crouched start in lane 1 and sprinted into the lead from the gun. In future years, this kind of start would become forbidden in a long race. Halberg held that lead until there were two laps to go where he was passed in a rush by Mervyn Lincoln running in front of a home crowd. Lincoln held the lead until just after the bell when he was swallowed up by a rush led by Brian Hewson. Ten men went around Lincoln and he was cooked. Klaus Richtzenhain was the next to follow with Halberg making one more rush down the backstretch before he too was cooked. From tenth place, Ron Delany began picking off runners on the backstretch, as Halberg slowed, Delany used the traffic to step into fifth place at the start of the final turn. Passing in lane 2, Delany ran around the field, catching Hewson at the head of the straightaway. Hewson looked helplessly at Delany as he passed. Fighting out of the group Delany passed at the start of the turn, another home town favorite John Landy chased from behind, still in sixth at the head of the straight. With a stiff, upright sprinting style, Delany pulled away from the field. Hewson struggled down the final straight, watching Richtzenhain run past on the outside. Landy made a late final charge in lane 3 but just came up short in trying to catch Richtzenhain for silver.

Final classification