Men · World record
1500 Metres
The current record and its documented progression: 37 ratified records from 1912 to 1998, plus 13 earlier marks recorded before the IAAF began ratifying records.
3:26.00
Hicham El GuerroujMARRome · 14 Jul 1998
28 years standing1.37 s improvementAll-time top 25 →
Record progression
Each step is a documented record; red marks the fully automatic timing era
Documented records
37 ratified · most recent first · Wikipedia (EN) revision 1371398916, imported 2 Sep 2026
| Mark | Athlete | Nation | Venue | Date | Stood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3:26.00 | Hicham El Guerrouj | MAR | Rome, Italy | 14 Jul 1998 | 28 yrs |
| 3:27.37 | Noureddine Morceli | ALG | Nice, France | 12 Jul 1995 | 3 yrs |
| 3:28.86 | Noureddine Morceli | ALG | Rieti, Italy | 6 Sep 1992 | 2 yrs |
| 3:29.46 | Saïd Aouita | MAR | Berlin, Germany | 23 Aug 1985 | 7 yrs |
| 3:29.67 | Steve Cram | GBR | Nice, France | 16 Jul 1985 | 38 d |
| 3:30.77 | Steve Ovett | GBR | Rieti, Italy | 4 Sep 1983 | 1 yr |
| 3:31.24 | Sydney Maree | USA | Cologne, West Germany | 28 Aug 1983 | 7 d |
| 3:31.4 | Steve Ovett | GBR | Koblenz, West Germany | 27 Aug 1980 | 3 yrs |
| 3:32.1 | Steve Ovett | GBR | Oslo, Norway | 15 Jul 1980 | 43 d |
| 3:32.1 | Sebastian Coe | GBR | Zürich, Switzerland | 15 Aug 1979 | 335 d |
| 3:32.2 | Filbert Bayi | TAN | Christchurch, New Zealand | 2 Feb 1974 | 5 yrs |
| 3:33.1 | Jim Ryun | USA | Los Angeles, United States | 8 Jul 1967 | 6 yrs |
| 3:35.6 | Herb Elliott | AUS | Rome, Italy | 6 Sep 1960 | 6 yrs |
| 3:36.0 | Herb Elliott | AUS | Gothenburg, Sweden | 28 Aug 1958 | 2 yrs |
| 3:38.1 | Stanislav Jungwirth | TCH | Stará Boleslav, Czechoslovakia | 12 Jul 1957 | 1 yr |
| 3:40.2 | Olavi Salsola | FIN | Turku, Finland | 11 Jul 1957 | 1 d |
| 3:40.6 | István Rózsavölgyi | HUN | Tata, Hungary | 3 Aug 1956 | 342 d |
| 3:40.8 | Gunnar Nielsen | DEN | Oslo, Norway | 6 Sep 1955 | 332 d |
| 3:40.8 | László Tábori | HUN | Oslo, Norway | 6 Sep 1955 | 0 d |
| 3:40.8 | Sándor Iharos | HUN | Helsinki, Finland | 28 Jul 1955 | 40 d |
Showing 20 of 37 · Show all · Rows link to a profile only where the athlete appears on a published list. Struck marks were rescinded or never ratified, and A marks a performance at altitude; both come from the source article's own key and markers, and eras are kept as it lists them. Nothing is inferred.
Before official ratification
13 entries · not ratified · marks from before the IAAF (now World Athletics) began ratifying records, or never ratified, shown for context only