2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres

The men's 1500 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium between 15–19 August. The winning margin was 0.08 seconds, which as of 2024 is the narrowest winning margin in the history of this event. Among the favoured athletes in the event were defending champion Bernard Lagat, European champion Mehdi Baala, and the Kenyan season leaders Asbel Kiprop, Haron Keitany and Augustine Choge.[1]

All the favoured athletes progressed through a series of tactically-run heats on the first day of competition, with Baala, Kiprop, Choge and Deresse Mekonnen the four race winners.[2] Moroccan Amine Laalou won the first semi-final, followed by Americans Lopez Lomong and Lagat, while Kiprop and Leonel Manzano both finished quickly to take the top two qualifying spots in the second race. The only high-profile athlete to be eliminated in the semi-finals was Keitany, who did not start, putting an end to any hopes of a Kenyan medal sweep.[3]

The final race began slowly and, as the athletes reached the last lap, they remained in a tight pack led by Mekonnen. Choge and Mohamed Moustaoui closely followed as he approached the final straight, but the race remained open.[4] Yusuf Saad Kamel took the lead in the final straight, scoring a surprise gold medal.[5] Mekonnen maintained his pace to take the silver medal and defending champion Lagat had a quick burst near the finish to win the bronze. Kiprop, one of the pre-race favourites, left himself too much ground to cover, eventually ending up fourth, with Choge and Baala alongside him.[4]

Bahrain's Kamel, born in Kenya as Gregory Konchellah, followed in the footsteps of his father Billy Konchellah, who won the 800 m at the 1987 and 1991 World Championships.[5] Mekonnen's silver was Ethiopia's first ever World Championship medal in the 1500 m.[4] Lagat's bronze was his third in the 1500 m, after his silver in 2001 and a gold in 2007.[5]

Medalists

edit
Gold Silver Bronze
Yusuf Saad Kamel
  Bahrain (BHR)
Deresse Mekonnen
  Ethiopia (ETH)
Bernard Lagat
  United States (USA)

Records

edit
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   Augustine Choge (KEN) 3:29.47 Berlin, Germany 14 June 2009
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 American 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   Simon Doyle (AUS) 3:31.96 Stockholm, Sweden 3 July 1991

Qualification standards

edit
A time B time
3:36.20 3:39.30

Schedule

edit
Date Time Round
August 15, 2009 18:15 Heats
August 17, 2009 20:10 Semifinals
August 19, 2009 20:25 Final

Results

edit

Heats

edit

Qualification: First 5 in each heat(Q) and the next 4 fastest(q) advance to the semifinal.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Deresse Mekonnen   Ethiopia (ETH) 3:37.04 Q
2 4 Haron Keitany   Kenya (KEN) 3:37.13 Q
3 4 James Brewer   Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 3:37.17 Q, PB
4 4 Mohamed Moustaoui   Morocco (MAR) 3:37.34 Q
5 4 Yusuf Saad Kamel   Bahrain (BHR) 3:37.59 Q
6 4 Reyes Estévez   Spain (ESP) 3:38.23 q, SB
7 4 Nathan Brannen   Canada (CAN) 3:38.35 q
8 4 Dorian Ulrey   United States (USA) 3:38.86 q
9 4 Taoufik Makhloufi   Algeria (ALG) 3:40.04 q
10 4 Stefan Eberhardt   Germany (GER) 3:40.05
11 2 Asbel Kiprop   Kenya (KEN) 3:41.42 Q
12 2 Bernard Lagat   United States (USA) 3:41.60 Q
13 2 Juan Carlos Higuero   Spain (ESP) 3:41.77 Q
14 2 Rui Silva   Portugal (POR) 3:41.98 Q
15 4 Mounir Yemmouni   France (FRA) 3:42.06
16 2 Peter van der Westhuizen   South Africa (RSA) 3:42.33 Q
17 2 Antar Zerguelaïne   Algeria (ALG) 3:42.37
18 2 Thomas Chamney   Ireland (IRL) 3:42.54
19 2 Thomas Lancashire   Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 3:42.68
20 1 Mehdi Baala   France (FRA) 3:42.77 Q
21 1 Leonel Manzano   United States (USA) 3:42.87 Q
22 1 Abdalaati Iguider   Morocco (MAR) 3:42.88 Q
23 1 Jeffrey Riseley   Australia (AUS) 3:43.03 Q
24 1 Belal Mansoor Ali   Bahrain (BHR) 3:43.06 Q
25 1 Arturo Casado   Spain (ESP) 3:43.21
26 1 Mekonnen Gebremedhin   Ethiopia (ETH) 3:43.22
27 1 Christian Obrist   Italy (ITA) 3:43.41
28 4 Tiidrek Nurme   Estonia (EST) 3:43.73 SB
29 1 Hais Welday   Eritrea (ERI) 3:43.84
30 2 Carsten Schlangen   Germany (GER) 3:44.00
31 1 Goran Nava   Serbia (SRB) 3:44.13
32 3 Augustine Kiprono Choge   Kenya (KEN) 3:44.73 Q
33 3 Amine Laâlou   Morocco (MAR) 3:44.75 Q
34 2 Ryan Gregson   Australia (AUS) 3:44.79
35 3 Lopez Lomong   United States (USA) 3:44.89 Q
36 3 Andrew Baddeley   Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 3:45.23 Q
37 3 Henok Legesse   Ethiopia (ETH) 3:45.63 Q
38 3 Tarek Boukensa   Algeria (ALG) 3:45.65
39 3 Kristof van Malderen   Belgium (BEL) 3:46.03
40 3 Yoann Kowal   France (FRA) 3:46.42
41 3 Johan Cronje   South Africa (RSA) 3:46.45
42 3 Jeremy Roff   Australia (AUS) 3:47.08
43 2 Abdalla Abdelgadir   Sudan (SUD) 3:47.78
44 1 Mohammed Othman Shaween   Saudi Arabia (KSA) 3:49.03
45 2 Byron Piedra   Ecuador (ECU) 3:49.60
46 3 Mohamad Al-Garni   Qatar (QAT) 3:50.55
47 1 Chauncy Master   Malawi (MAW) 3:50.73
48 3 Álvaro Vásquez   Nicaragua (NCA) 3:55.06 PB
49 4 Víctor Martínez   Andorra (AND) 4:02.10 SB
50 2 Hem Bunting   Cambodia (CAM) 4:08.64 SB
51 1 Abdallahi Nanou   Mauritania (MTN) 4:09.77 PB
52 2 Benjamín Enzema   Equatorial Guinea (GEQ) 4:13.17 PB
53 3 Antoine Berlin   Monaco (MON) 4:27.52
1 Boampouguini Djigban   Togo (TOG) DNF

Key: PB = Personal best, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best

Semifinals

edit

Qualification: First 5 in each semifinal(Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the final.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes
1 2 Asbel Kiprop   Kenya (KEN) 3:36.24 Q
2 2 Leonel Manzano   United States (USA) 3:36.29 Q
3 2 Augustine Kiprono Choge   Kenya (KEN) 3:36.43 Q
4 1 Amine Laâlou   Morocco (MAR) 3:36.68 Q
5 1 Lopez Lomong   United States (USA) 3:36.75 Q
6 1 Bernard Lagat   United States (USA) 3:36.86 Q
6 2 Deresse Mekonnen   Ethiopia (ETH) 3:36.86 Q
8 1 Yusuf Saad Kamel   Bahrain (BHR) 3:36.87 Q
8 2 Belal Mansoor Ali   Bahrain (BHR) 3:36.87 Q
10 2 Mohamed Moustaoui   Morocco (MAR) 3:36.94 q
11 1 Mehdi Baala   France (FRA) 3:37.07 Q
12 2 Abdalaati Iguider   Morocco (MAR) 3:37.19 q
13 1 James Brewer   Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 3:37.27
14 1 Juan Carlos Higuero   Spain (ESP) 3:37.33
15 2 Reyes Estévez   Spain (ESP) 3:37.55 SB
16 1 Henok Legesse   Ethiopia (ETH) 3:37.79
17 2 Taoufik Makhloufi   Algeria (ALG) 3:37.87
18 2 Jeffrey Riseley   Australia (AUS) 3:38.00
19 2 Andrew Baddeley   Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 3:38.23
20 1 Nathan Brannen   Canada (CAN) 3:38.97
21 2 Dorian Ulrey   United States (USA) 3:39.33
22 1 Peter van der Westhuizen   South Africa (RSA) 3:40.00
23 1 Rui Silva   Portugal (POR) 3:41.30
1 Haron Keitany   Kenya (KEN) DNS

Final

edit
Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
  Yusuf Saad Kamel   Bahrain (BHR) 3:35.93
  Deresse Mekonnen   Ethiopia (ETH) 3:36.01
  Bernard Lagat   United States (USA) 3:36.20
4 Asbel Kiprop   Kenya (KEN) 3:36.47
5 Augustine Kiprono Choge   Kenya (KEN) 3:36.53
6 Mohamed Moustaoui   Morocco (MAR) 3:36.57
7 Mehdi Baala   France (FRA) 3:36.99
8 Lopez Lomong   United States (USA) 3:37.62
9 Belal Mansoor Ali   Bahrain (BHR) 3:37.72
10 Amine Laâlou   Morocco (MAR) 3:37.83
11 Abdalaati Iguider   Morocco (MAR) 3:38.35
12 Leonel Manzano   United States (USA) 3:40.05

References

edit
General
Specific
  1. ^ Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-09). Men's 1500m - PREVIEW Archived 2009-08-13 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.
  2. ^ Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-15). Event Report - Men's 1500m - Heats Archived 2009-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-19.
  3. ^ Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-17). Event Report - Men's 1500m - Semi-Final Archived 2012-04-07 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-19.
  4. ^ a b c Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-19). Event Report - Men's 1500m - Final Archived 2012-04-07 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-19.
  5. ^ a b c Butcher, Pat (2009-08-19). Mekonnen Berlin 2009 - Day 5 SUMMARY - 19 Aug Archived 2010-11-05 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-19.