Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

Men's 1500 metres at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Venue	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City
Date	18 October 1968 to 20 October 1968
Medalists
Kip Keino  Kenya Jim Ryun  United States Bodo Tümmler  West Germany

Official Video Highlights

Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men
5000 m		men
10,000 m		men
80 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men
Road events
Marathon		men
20 km walk		men
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men
Combined events
Pentathlon				women
Decathlon		men

These are the official results of the Men's 1500 metres event at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. The competition was held on 18 to the 20 of October. The Gold was won by Kenyan Kip Keino, who beat World record holder Jim Ryun, who struggled to adapt to the altitude of Mexico City.

First round

Top 5 in each heat advance to semifinal.

Heat one *

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Kip Keino	Kenya	3:46.96
2	Bodo Tümmler	West Germany	3:51.59
3	John Boulter	Great Britain	3:51.63
4	Jorge Grosser	Chile	3:51.79
5	Franco Arese	Italy	3:51.86
6	Dave Bailey	Canada	3:52.11
7	Róbert Honti	Hungary	3:54.95
8	Rudolf Klaban	Austria	3:59.11
9	Julio Quevedo	Guatemala	4:03.13
10	Édouard Sagna	Senegal	4:04.12
11	Emilio Barahona	23x15px Honduras	4:56.08

Heat two *

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Tom Von Ruden	United States	3:59.15
2	André Dehertoghe	Belgium	3:59.33
3	Henryk Szordykowski	Poland	3;59.34
4	Claude Nicolas	France	3:59.35
5	Arnd Krüger	West Germany	3:59.40
6	Renzo Finelli	Italy	3:59.51
7	Ove Berg	Sweden	4:00.42
8	Tom Hansen	Denmark	4:01.47
9	Ramasamy Subramaniam	Malaysia	4:06.49
10	Miguel Núñez	Dominican Republic	4:23.67

Heat three *

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Ben Jipcho	Kenya	3:46.51
2	Oleg Rayko	Soviet Union	3:46.84
3	Harald Norpoth	West Germany	3:47.00
4	Josef Odložil	Czechoslovakia	3:47.49
5	Jacky Boxberger	France	3:47.55
6	José Neri	Mexico	3:47.88
7	Jorge González	23x15px Spain	3:50.49
8	Ioannis Virvilis	Greece	3:55.57
9	Xaver Frick, Jr.	23x15px Liechtenstein	4:15.38
10	Alfredo Cubías	El Salvador	4:32.58

Heat four *

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Jim Ryun	United States	3:45.80
2	Hamadi Haddou	Morocco	3:47.01
3	Edgard Salvé	Belgium	3:47.17
4	Arne Kvalheim	Norway	3:47.50
5	Norm Trerise	Canada	3:47.67
6	Gianni Del Buono	Italy	3:48.41
7	Peter Watson	Australia	3:55.41
8	Maurice Benn	Great Britain	3:56.43
9	Pekka Vasala	Finland	4:08.51
10	Willie Ríos	Puerto Rico	4:14.47
11	Jeff Payne	23x15px Bermuda	4:18.92

Heat five *

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Marty Liquori	United States	3:52.78
2	Hansrüedi Knill	Switzerland	3:52.87
3	John Whetton	Great Britain	3:53.04
4	Ahmed Issa	Chad	3:53.13
5	Mikhail Zhelobovsky	Soviet Union	3:53.23
6	Matias Habtemichael	23x15px Ethiopia	3:53.27
7	Anders Gärderud	Sweden	3:54.28
8	Byron Dyce	Jamaica	3:54.65
9	Jerzy Maluśki	Poland	3:54.83
10	Frank Murphy	Ireland	3:54.85
11	Rudi Simon	Belgium	4:06.97
12	Arturo Córdoba	23x15px Honduras	5:18.92

Semifinal

Top six in each heat advance to final.

Heat one *

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Bodo Tümmler	West Germany	3:53.66
2	Jacky Boxberger	France	3:54.00
3	Tom Von Ruden	United States	3:54.12
4	Henryk Szordykowski	Poland	3:54.24
5	Harald Norpoth	West Germany	3:54.34
6	Ben Jipcho	Kenya	3:54.69
7	Franco Arese	Italy	3:54.85
8	Arne Kvalheim	Norway	3:55.32
9	John Boulter	Great Britain	3:56.13
10	Edgard Salvé	Belgium	3:58.16
11	Mikhail Zhelobovsky	Soviet Union	3:59.08
12	Hamadi Haddou	Morocco	4:01.70

Heat two *

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Jim Ryun	United States	3:51.25
2	Kip Keino	Kenya	3:51.50
3	John Whetton	Great Britain	3:52.05
4	Marty Liquori	United States	3:52.17
5	Josef Odložil	Czechoslovakia	3:52.53
6	André Dehertoghe	Belgium	3:52.57
7	Oleg Rayko	Soviet Union	3:52.73
8	Ahmed Issa	Chad	3:53.26
9	Hansrüedi Knill	Switzerland	3:53.65
10	Norm Trerise	Canada	3:57.30
11	Claude Nicolas	France	4:04.47
12	Arnd Krüger	West Germany	4:05.40
	Jorge Grosser	Chile		DNF

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Kip Keino	Kenya	3:34.91	OR
	Jim Ryun	United States	3:37.89
	Bodo Tümmler	West Germany	3:39.08
4	Harald Norpoth	West Germany	3:42.57
5	John Whetton	Great Britain	3:43.90
6	Jacky Boxberger	France	3:46.65
7	Henryk Szordykowski	Poland	3:46.69
8	Josef Odložil	Czechoslovakia	3:48.69
9	Tom Von Ruden	United States	3:49.27
10	Ben Jipcho	Kenya	3:51.22
11	André Dehertoghe	Belgium	3:53.63
12	Marty Liquori	United States	4:18.22