Why has the Men's 1500m Become so Much Faster in 2023?

Why has the Men’s 1500m Become so Much Faster in 2023?

Time Stamp: July 22, 2023 11:39 AM
Source Node: 2778268

The men’s 1500 meters has become much quicker over the past few years. 2023 is the fastest year yet as eleven athletes have broken 3:30, and thirty athletes have broken 3:33. Although many may believe that shoe technology is the leading cause of this success, there may be other more prevalent reasons that are causing athletes to run so much faster.

Historical Context

In order to best understand the current state of the 1500m, it is necessary to do a case study on a different year. 2013 is a good year to compare. 2013 was a similar set up to this year as there was a World Championships, like there is this year. This means that the athletes would have followed a similar preparation as they do now.

The following are some specific statistics on the men’s 1500m from 2013:

  • The world lead was 3:27.72
  • Three athletes broke 3:30
  • Tenth in the world was 3:31.94
  • Forty athletes had broken 3:35

Now, take a look at these statistics from 2023 so far (As of July 20):

  • The world lead is 3:27.14
  • Eleven athletes have broken 3:30
  • Tenth in the world is 3:29.51
  • Sixty-three athletes have broken 3:35

Clearly, there are some noticeable improvements over the last decade. Most notably, the depth of the top ten has improved dramatically. There are eight more men that have broken 3:30 so far this year than there were in all of 2013.

A dramatic improvement in performance over the last decade has to have some reasoning beyond athletes ‘just running faster’ or ‘shoe technology’. So, multiple perspectives need to be analyzed as to why that is.

World Standards

The biggest structural difference over the past ten years is the much quicker world & Olympic standards being set.

In order to qualify for a World Championships or Olympic Games in track and field, an athlete must hit the time standard or be ranked high enough in the world. A majority of athletes qualify through the time standard.

Currently, the Budapest World Championships 1500m standard is 3:34.20. The standard for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 1500m is 3:33.50 (note that the Olympic qualifying window has already opened).

A full list of the 2023 World Championship standards.

These standards are both the fastest that they have ever been set at. For reference, the 2013 World Championships 1500m A standard was set at 3.35.0, with the B standard set at 3:37.0. The 2016 Olympic standard was set at 3:36.0.

The standards have gotten substantially faster over recent years, and that may be one of the biggest contributors to an improvement in performance.

Athletes race to hit those standards in order to enter Championships. Being one second under the standard or eight seconds under the standard makes no difference in qualification. So, with the faster standards athletes now need to run much faster in order to secure qualification. More races are set up to hit these standards, giving athletes more opportunities to run quick times.

These quicker standards are the best explanation for the many more athletes that have broken 3:35. That time range of just under 3:34 is very close to the world standard of 3:34.20. So, a large portion of these athletes are running just to break that standard and qualify for the World Championships.

New Tactics

In the past, ‘sit and kick’ races were the way of the times. The 2013 World Championships 1500m was won in 3:36, which is a fairly manageable pace for most of those top-end athletes. This era was most well defined with the 2016 Olympic final, which was won in 3:50. That race went out at a near jog, with a blazing last lap.

The sit and kick era seems to be over, as the last few championship 1500m finals have both been blazing fast. In the Tokyo Olympics, the race was won in an Olympic record time, in 3:28.32. At last year’s World Championships, the race was won in a fast 3:29.23.

The styles of championship races are important to understand, because that is what athletes prepare for.

If a race is slow with a big wind-up kick, athletes have less of an incentive to run super fast races in the regular season. But now, athletes need to prepare for the fast championship races by running hard in the regular season.

By running very fast in the regular season, athletes in today’s era are prepared to compete in the championship final. It explains why so many more athletes are running fast in the regular season, as it is a necessary tool to have in order to contend for medals.

Given the fast paces that athletes are preparing for, it makes sense as to why so many more have broken 3:30 for 1500m. It seems that being able to run 3:30 in a championship setting is the minimum to be a medal contender.

Simply ‘Going for it’

To put it simply, athletes are now going for it in the 1500m.

In a majority of these Diamond League meets, the pace has been very aggressive from the gun. The pacemakers typically have clicked off 56 second laps or faster.

With strong paces being set, athletes are now coming to races with the expectation of running fast. It is making the results inherently faster as it seems almost every race has the potential for a PB for most in the field.

In addition to going for it, the best athletes are constantly racing each other. Almost all of the world and Olympic medalists from the past few years have already raced each other this season. Anytime that a collection of stars like that are put into a race together, fireworks are almost guaranteed.

One man in particular has led this charge, Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Ingebrigtsen has been the best in the world all year long as he looks to pursue revenge for his silver medal from the World Championships last year.

He tends to take the race as soon as the pacer steps off, and he does not let the pace slow. His world lead of 3:27.14 puts him as the fourth fastest all-time in the event.

Ingebrigtsen pushing the pace like this allows for other athletes to get pulled along to faster times. This was on full display in the Oslo Diamond League 1500m, where Ingebrigtsen won in 3:27.95 while seven other athletes broke 3:30. He was the one who pushed that pace from 500 meters out all the way to the finish.

Competition

When great athletes race frequently with a commitment to running fast every time that they go out, special times tend to follow. Many people have claimed that new shoe technology is the sole reason as to why athletes are running so much faster, when there are actually quite a few more that have contributed.

In all, times are only a metric that enables more analysis into the competition itself. Clearly, some incredible athletes are competing currently that continually push track and field forward.

Tune into the World Championships in Budapest this August to see these incredible athletes compete for a World Championship.

Stay tuned for further professional Track & Field content, including meet previews, race analysis, and season projections. 

Featured image courtesy of Matthew Quine.

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