World and Olympic record: 4:06.2 Charles Bennett, Great Britain Paris, France 15 July 1900
Jim Lightbody set a new Olympic record and a new unofficial world record at 4:05.4.
Cohn set the pace, with Deer and Verner his closest followers. As Deer
fell back, Lightbody came up, and was in third place with a lap to go.
The 800m winner’s long stride took him past the field with 300m
remaining, and he won comfortably by six yards, Hearn finished fast to
beat Munson, the pre-race favourite, for third.