Venue: Bois de Boulogne. 9 competitors from 6 nations.
World record: 4:09.0> (u) John Bray, United Stats Bayonne, France 30 May 1900
Olympic record: 4:33.2 Edwin Flack, Australia Athens, Greece 7 April 1896
The best milers in Paris were George Orton (CAN), John Cregan and
Alex Grant (both USA), but none was entered in the 1500m. Bennett,
the AAA champion, set the pace, clocking 1:21.2 for the first 500m lap.
The pace slowed up to 2:56 at 1000m, with Deloge on Bennett’s shoulder.
The two duelled for most of the last lap, with Bennett only edging
away in the final stages to win by five yards. Photographic evidence
shows that the time of 4:06.6 generally credited to Deloge was too generous.