World record: 3:54.7 John Zander, Sweden Stockholm, Sweden 5 August 1917
Olympic record: 3:56.8 Arnold Jackson, Great Britain Stockholm, Sweden 10 July 1912
Joie Ray, US Trials winner, was the favourite until he pulled a calf mus-
cle 10 days before the Games. However, he was able to win his heat,
albeit the slowest of four, in 4:13.4. Vohralík won the quickest heat in
4:02.2 ahead of Hill (4:03.2) and Audinet (4:03.7) with Sweden’s
Edwin Wide (4:03.8) just edged out of the final. His countrymen
Lundgren (4:07.0) and veteran John Zander (4:08.1) were the other
heat winners.
Ray attempted to control the final, leading to the bell, but could not
respond when Hill and Baker kicked on the penultimate curve. Shields,
the IC4A champion, tried to pass Baker but was repulsed, and Hill
moved away from Baker in the finishing straight to win by 3m on the
rainsoaked track. Zander, who had been the world’s best in 1915-18,
dropped out at the halfway point. Baker, who had first emerged in
1907, later added his wife’s maiden name and became Philip Noel-
Baker. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959 for his work in
international disarmament. Hill remained the only Briton to have won
the 800/1500m Olympic double until Kelly Holmes’s wins of 2004
where she ran the 1500m four seconds faster than Hill in Antwerp.
First 3 from each of 4 Heats advanced to Final. René Leray from Heat 4 was advanced to the final after being interfered with by Villemson on the final lap.
Great Britain
United States
Czechoslovakia
Sweden
France
Italy
Belgium
Canada
Norway
Japan
Spain
Estonia
