| | Event type

1,500 metres, Men

Date	29 July – 3 August 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	57 from 37 countries

Noureddine Morceli was the co-favorite, along with the Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj. Another challenger was Burundian Vénuste Niyongabo, but he opted only to run the 5K. The final was very slow, with the first two laps both run in over 60 seconds. At 900 metres, Morceli moved to an outside lane to escape a box set up by the Kenyan trio of runners. He easily moved to the lead and atoned for his disappointing loss in 1992 by winning comfortably, with Spain’s defending champion, Fermín Cacho, finishing strongly for the silver medal. El Guerrouj fell just before the bell lap and, although he finished, he placed last in the final. After the 1996 Olympics, El Guerrouj replaced Morceli as the top miler in the world.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	1012	Noureddine Morceli	ALG	3:41.95 (1 h2)	3:32.88 (1 h1)	3:35.78 (1)	Gold
2	1335	Fermín Cacho	ESP	3:39.84 (1 h5)	3:33.12 (2 h1)	3:36.40 (2)	Silver
3	1802	Stephen Kipkorir	KEN	3:36.70 (2 h3)	3:35.29 (2 h2)	3:36.72 (3)	Bronze
4	1815	Laban Rotich	KEN	3:35.88 (1 h1)	3:33.73 (5 h1)	3:37.39 (4)
5	1817	William Tanui	KEN	3:37.72 (2 h4)	3:33.57 (4 h1)	3:37.42 (5)
6	2208	Abdi Bile	SOM	3:42.32 (3 h2)	3:33.30 (3 h1)	3:38.03 (6)
7	1966	Marko Koers	NED	3:36.18 (2 h1)	3:36.06 (5 h2)	3:38.18 (7)
8	2294	Ali Hakimi	TUN	3:36.58 (1 h3)	3:35.91 (3 h2)	3:38.19 (8)
9	2099	Mohamed Suleiman	QAT	3:37.70 (7 h3)	3:36.01 (4 h2)	3:38.26 (9)
10	1911	Driss Maazouzi	MAR	3:37.08 (4 h3)	3:34.35 (6 h1)	3:39.65 (10)
11	1498	John Mayock	GBR	3:42.31 (2 h2)	3:34.55 (7 h1)	3:40.18 (11)
12	1904	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	3:37.66 (1 h4)	3:35.29 (1 h2)	3:40.75 (12)
6 h2 r2/3	1375	Isaac Viciosa	ESP	3:37.93 (4 h4)	3:36.11 (6 h2)	–
7 h2 r2/3	1516	Tony Whiteman	GBR	3:40.74 (4 h5)	3:36.11 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r2/3	1428	Kader Chékhémani	FRA	3:37.81 (3 h4)	3:34.84 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	1108	Christophe Impens	BEL	3:40.16 (3 h5)	3:37.64 (8 h2)	–
9 h1 r2/3	1265	Branko Zorko	CRO	3:37.35 (6 h3)	3:35.14 (9 h1)	–
9 h2 r2/3	2378	Paul McMullen	USA	3:39.94 (2 h5)	3:37.81 (9 h2)	–
10 h1 r2/3	1657	Balázs Tölgyesi	HUN	3:36.71 (3 h3)	3:35.57 (10 h1)	–
10 h2 r2/3	1342	Reyes Estévez	ESP	3:42.48 (4 h2)	3:39.44 (10 h2)	–
11 h1 r2/3	2066	Luís Feiteira	POR	3:38.09 (5 h4)	3:40.31 (11 h1)	–
11 h2 r2/3	1670	Shane Healy	IRL	3:37.28 (5 h3)	3:39.81 (11 h2)	–
12 h1 r2/3	1665	Niall Bruton	IRL	3:37.42 (3 h1)	3:42.88 (12 h1)	–
12 h2 r2/3	1499	Kevin McKay	GBR	3:38.02 (4 h1)	3:43.61 (12 h2)	–
5 h1 r1/3	2105	Ovidiu Olteanu	ROU	3:38.33 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	1903	Rachid El-Basir	MAR	3:42.85 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	2141	Andrey Loginov	RUS	3:40.99 (5 h5)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	2157	Vyacheslav Shabunin	RUS	3:38.56 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	2299	Julius Achon	UGA	3:43.08 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	1678	Marcus O'Sullivan	IRL	3:38.16 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	2479	Dieudonné Kwizéra	BDI	3:41.45 (6 h5)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	1158	Edgard de Oliveira	BRA	3:40.70 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	2070	Luís Jesus	POR	3:44.65 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	2225	Peter Philipp	SUI	3:41.60 (7 h4)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	1011	Ahmed Krama	ALG	3:42.09 (7 h5)	–	–
8 h1 r1/3	1321	Steve Agar	DMA	3:43.02 (8 h1)	–	–
8 h2 r1/3	1152	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	3:45.32 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h3 r1/3	1431	Mickaël Damian	FRA	3:39.21 (8 h3)	–	–
8 h4 r1/3	1068	Werner Edler-Muhr	AUT	3:45.02 (8 h4)	–	–
8 h5 r1/3	1661	Bahadur Prasad	IND	3:46.16 (8 h5)	–	–
9 h1 r1/3	2365	Brian Hyde	USA	3:48.20 (9 h1)	–	–
9 h2 r1/3	1014	João N'Tyamba	ANG	3:46.41 (9 h2)	–	–
9 h3 r1/3	2391	Jason Pyrah	USA	3:39.91 (9 h3)	–	–
9 h4 r1/3	2477	Alexis Sharangabo	RWA	3:46.42 (9 h4)	–	–
9 h5 r1/3	1432	Éric Dubus	FRA	3:47.01 (9 h5)	–	–
10 h1 r1/3	2305	Andriy Bulkovskyi	UKR	3:53.30 (10 h1)	–	–
10 h2 r1/3	1318	Ali Ibrahim	DJI	3:46.62 (10 h2)	–	–
10 h3 r1/3	2080	António Travassos	POR	3:42.01 (10 h3)	–	–
10 h4 r1/3	1871	Ali Mabrouk El-Zaidi	LBA	3:51.49 (10 h4)	–	–
10 h5 r1/3	1067	Thomas Ebner	AUT	3:48.38 (10 h5)	–	–
11 h1 r1/3	2420	Tawai Keiruan	VAN	4:02.78 (11 h1)	–	–
11 h2 r1/3	1547	Michael Gottschalk	GER	3:56.46 (11 h2)	–	–
11 h3 r1/3	2017	Martin Johns	NZL	3:44.91 (11 h3)	–	–
11 h5 r1/3	1038	Paul Cleary	AUS	3:52.85 (11 h5)	–	–
12 h3 r1/3	1926	Hussain Riyaz	MDV	4:15.14 (12 h3)	–	–
12 h5 r1/3	2205	Selwyn Kole	SOL	4:03.44 (12 h5)	–	–
AC h4 r1/3	1202	Graham Hood	CAN	– (DNF h4)	–	–

Round One

Date	29 July 1996
Format	Top 4 in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)
1	1815	Laban Rotich	KEN	3:35.88	Q
2	1966	Marko Koers	NED	3:36.18	Q
3	2294	Ali Hakimi	TUN	3:36.58	Q
4	1802	Stephen Kipkorir	KEN	3:36.70	Q
5	1657	Balázs Tölgyesi	HUN	3:36.71	Q
6	1911	Driss Maazouzi	MAR	3:37.08	Q
7	1670	Shane Healy	IRL	3:37.28	q
8	1265	Branko Zorko	CRO	3:37.35	q
9	1665	Niall Bruton	IRL	3:37.42	Q
10	1904	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	3:37.66	Q
11	2099	Mohamed Suleiman	QAT	3:37.70	q
12	1817	William Tanui	KEN	3:37.72	Q
13	1428	Kader Chékhémani	FRA	3:37.81	Q
14	1375	Isaac Viciosa	ESP	3:37.93	Q
15	1499	Kevin McKay	GBR	3:38.02	Q
16	2066	Luís Feiteira	POR	3:38.09	q
17	1678	Marcus O'Sullivan	IRL	3:38.16
18	2105	Ovidiu Olteanu	ROU	3:38.33
19	2157	Vyacheslav Shabunin	RUS	3:38.56
20	1431	Mickaël Damian	FRA	3:39.21
21	1335	Fermín Cacho	ESP	3:39.84	Q
22	2391	Jason Pyrah	USA	3:39.91
23	2378	Paul McMullen	USA	3:39.94	Q
24	1108	Christophe Impens	BEL	3:40.16	Q
25	1158	Edgard de Oliveira	BRA	3:40.70
26	1516	Tony Whiteman	GBR	3:40.74	Q
27	2141	Andrey Loginov	RUS	3:40.99
28	2479	Dieudonné Kwizéra	BDI	3:41.45
29	2225	Peter Philipp	SUI	3:41.60
30	1012	Noureddine Morceli	ALG	3:41.95	Q
31	2080	António Travassos	POR	3:42.01
32	1011	Ahmed Krama	ALG	3:42.09
33	1498	John Mayock	GBR	3:42.31	Q
34	2208	Abdi Bile	SOM	3:42.32	Q
35	1342	Reyes Estévez	ESP	3:42.48	Q
36	1903	Rachid El-Basir	MAR	3:42.85
37	1321	Steve Agar	DMA	3:43.02
38	2299	Julius Achon	UGA	3:43.08
39	2070	Luís Jesus	POR	3:44.65
40	2017	Martin Johns	NZL	3:44.91
41	1068	Werner Edler-Muhr	AUT	3:45.02
42	1152	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	3:45.32
43	1661	Bahadur Prasad	IND	3:46.16
44	1014	João N'Tyamba	ANG	3:46.41
45	2477	Alexis Sharangabo	RWA	3:46.42
46	1318	Ali Ibrahim	DJI	3:46.62
47	1432	Éric Dubus	FRA	3:47.01
48	2365	Brian Hyde	USA	3:48.20
49	1067	Thomas Ebner	AUT	3:48.38
50	1871	Ali Mabrouk El-Zaidi	LBA	3:51.49
51	1038	Paul Cleary	AUS	3:52.85
52	2305	Andriy Bulkovskyi	UKR	3:53.30
53	1547	Michael Gottschalk	GER	3:56.46
54	2420	Tawai Keiruan	VAN	4:02.78
55	2205	Selwyn Kole	SOL	4:03.44
56	1926	Hussain Riyaz	MDV	4:15.14
DNF	1202	Graham Hood	CAN	–

Heat #1

Time	10:45

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	1	Laban Rotich	KEN	3:35.88	Q
2	10	Marko Koers	NED	3:36.18	Q
3	3	Niall Bruton	IRL	3:37.42	Q
4	11	Kevin McKay	GBR	3:38.02	Q
5	8	Ovidiu Olteanu	ROU	3:38.33
6	7	Vyacheslav Shabunin	RUS	3:38.56
7	6	Edgard de Oliveira	BRA	3:40.70
8	4	Steve Agar	DMA	3:43.02
9	5	Brian Hyde	USA	3:48.20
10	9	Andriy Bulkovskyi	UKR	3:53.30
11	2	Tawai Keiruan	VAN	4:02.78

Heat #2

Time	10:55

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	7	Noureddine Morceli	ALG	3:41.95	Q
2	9	John Mayock	GBR	3:42.31	Q
3	3	Abdi Bile	SOM	3:42.32	Q
4	4	Reyes Estévez	ESP	3:42.48	Q
5	5	Rachid El-Basir	MAR	3:42.85
6	2	Julius Achon	UGA	3:43.08
7	8	Luís Jesus	POR	3:44.65
8	1	Joaquim Cruz	BRA	3:45.32
9	6	João N'Tyamba	ANG	3:46.41
10	10	Ali Ibrahim	DJI	3:46.62
11	11	Michael Gottschalk	GER	3:56.46

Heat #3

Time	11:05

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	11	Ali Hakimi	TUN	3:36.58	Q
2	2	Stephen Kipkorir	KEN	3:36.70	Q
3	1	Balázs Tölgyesi	HUN	3:36.71	Q
4	10	Driss Maazouzi	MAR	3:37.08	Q
5	8	Shane Healy	IRL	3:37.28	q
6	12	Branko Zorko	CRO	3:37.35	q
7	6	Mohamed Suleiman	QAT	3:37.70	q
8	7	Mickaël Damian	FRA	3:39.21
9	4	Jason Pyrah	USA	3:39.91
10	5	António Travassos	POR	3:42.01
11	3	Martin Johns	NZL	3:44.91
12	9	Hussain Riyaz	MDV	4:15.14

Heat #4

Time	11:15

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	11	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	3:37.66	Q
2	6	William Tanui	KEN	3:37.72	Q
3	4	Kader Chékhémani	FRA	3:37.81	Q
4	10	Isaac Viciosa	ESP	3:37.93	Q
5	8	Luís Feiteira	POR	3:38.09	q
6	2	Marcus O'Sullivan	IRL	3:38.16
7	9	Peter Philipp	SUI	3:41.60
8	7	Werner Edler-Muhr	AUT	3:45.02
9	5	Alexis Sharangabo	RWA	3:46.42
10	3	Ali Mabrouk El-Zaidi	LBA	3:51.49
DNF	1	Graham Hood	CAN	–

Heat #5

Time	11:25

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	12	Fermín Cacho	ESP	3:39.84	Q
2	9	Paul McMullen	USA	3:39.94	Q
3	3	Christophe Impens	BEL	3:40.16	Q
4	6	Tony Whiteman	GBR	3:40.74	Q
5	7	Andrey Loginov	RUS	3:40.99
6	1	Dieudonné Kwizéra	BDI	3:41.45
7	10	Ahmed Krama	ALG	3:42.09
8	5	Bahadur Prasad	IND	3:46.16
9	11	Éric Dubus	FRA	3:47.01
10	2	Thomas Ebner	AUT	3:48.38
11	4	Paul Cleary	AUS	3:52.85
12	8	Selwyn Kole	SOL	4:03.44

Semi-Finals

Date	31 July 1996
Format	Top 5 in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)
1	1012	Noureddine Morceli	ALG	3:32.88	Q
2	1335	Fermín Cacho	ESP	3:33.12	Q
3	2208	Abdi Bile	SOM	3:33.30	Q
4	1817	William Tanui	KEN	3:33.57	Q
5	1815	Laban Rotich	KEN	3:33.73	Q
6	1911	Driss Maazouzi	MAR	3:34.35	q
7	1498	John Mayock	GBR	3:34.55	q
8	1428	Kader Chékhémani	FRA	3:34.84
9	1265	Branko Zorko	CRO	3:35.14
10	1904	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	3:35.29	Q
11	1802	Stephen Kipkorir	KEN	3:35.29	Q
12	1657	Balázs Tölgyesi	HUN	3:35.57
13	2294	Ali Hakimi	TUN	3:35.91	Q
14	2099	Mohamed Suleiman	QAT	3:36.01	Q
15	1966	Marko Koers	NED	3:36.06	Q
16	1375	Isaac Viciosa	ESP	3:36.11
17	1516	Tony Whiteman	GBR	3:36.11
18	1108	Christophe Impens	BEL	3:37.64
19	2378	Paul McMullen	USA	3:37.81
20	1342	Reyes Estévez	ESP	3:39.44
21	1670	Shane Healy	IRL	3:39.81
22	2066	Luís Feiteira	POR	3:40.31
23	1665	Niall Bruton	IRL	3:42.88
24	1499	Kevin McKay	GBR	3:43.61

Heat #1

Time	19:55

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	10	Noureddine Morceli	ALG	3:32.88	Q
2	1	Fermín Cacho	ESP	3:33.12	Q
3	2	Abdi Bile	SOM	3:33.30	Q
4	4	William Tanui	KEN	3:33.57	Q
5	12	Laban Rotich	KEN	3:33.73	Q
6	9	Driss Maazouzi	MAR	3:34.35	q
7	6	John Mayock	GBR	3:34.55	q
8	7	Kader Chékhémani	FRA	3:34.84
9	8	Branko Zorko	CRO	3:35.14
10	3	Balázs Tölgyesi	HUN	3:35.57
11	11	Luís Feiteira	POR	3:40.31
12	5	Niall Bruton	IRL	3:42.88

Heat #2

Time	20:10

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	12	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	3:35.29	Q
2	1	Stephen Kipkorir	KEN	3:35.29	Q
3	2	Ali Hakimi	TUN	3:35.91	Q
4	5	Mohamed Suleiman	QAT	3:36.01	Q
5	8	Marko Koers	NED	3:36.06	Q
6	11	Isaac Viciosa	ESP	3:36.11
7	6	Tony Whiteman	GBR	3:36.11
8	4	Christophe Impens	BEL	3:37.64
9	10	Paul McMullen	USA	3:37.81
10	3	Reyes Estévez	ESP	3:39.44
11	7	Shane Healy	IRL	3:39.81
12	9	Kevin McKay	GBR	3:43.61

Final Round

Date	3 August 1996 — 19:50

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	2	Noureddine Morceli	ALG	3:35.78
2	3	Fermín Cacho	ESP	3:36.40
3	1	Stephen Kipkorir	KEN	3:36.72
4	11	Laban Rotich	KEN	3:37.39
5	10	William Tanui	KEN	3:37.42
6	4	Abdi Bile	SOM	3:38.03
7	6	Marko Koers	NED	3:38.18
8	9	Ali Hakimi	TUN	3:38.19
9	7	Mohamed Suleiman	QAT	3:38.26
10	5	Driss Maazouzi	MAR	3:39.65
11	12	John Mayock	GBR	3:40.18
12	8	Hicham El Guerrouj	MAR	3:40.75