| Final | time | | 1. Mel Sheppard |  United States | 4:03.4 EOR | | 2. Harold Wilson |  Great Britain | 4:03.6 e | | 3. Norman Hallows | Great Britain | 4:04.0 e | | 4. John Tait |  Canada | 4:06.8 e | | 5. Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford | Great Britain | 4:07.6 e | | 6. Joe Deakin | Great Britain | 4:07.9 e | | -. Vincent Loney | Great Britain | DNF | | -. James Sullivan | United States | DNF |
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| | | Venue: White City Stadium - track of 536.45 metres=1⁄3 mile. | | Competitors: 44; Countries: 15 | | _ Semi-Finals 8 |
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A truly international field for the first time was made to run just one
preliminary round, with the result that only the winners of eight heats
would qualify. Emilio Lunghi ran an excellent 4:03.8 in heat 3 - the
second best time in the heats, but finished behind Hallows, whose time
of 4:03.4 was an Olympic record. The unfortunate Italian thus failed to
qualify. Sheppard had set an Olympic record of 4:05.0 in the preceding
heat, just beating his countryman John Halstead (4:05.2e), another vic-
tim of the rigorous qualification procedures.
In the final, Fairbairn-Crawford set the pace for 500m, and then
Loney took over, but slowed the tempo down. The rhythm was little
changed after Hallows took the lead, and only increased with 300m to
go when Wilson made his big effort. Into the finishing straight Wilson
led from Hallows, with Sheppard third, but the US 800m champion
was too quick for the diminutive (1.63/52kg) Briton and won by one
and a half metres. Deakin, the fourth Briton home, was still running
cross-country in his eighties.
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| Semi-Finals. | | Winners from each of 8 Semifinals advanced to the Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | | 1. James Sullivan | United States | 4:07.6 Q | | 2. James Lightbody | United States | 4:08.6 | | 3. Frederick Meadows | Canada | 4:12.2 | | 4. Francis Knott | Great Britain | Unknown | | 5. Joseph M. Smith | Great Britain | Unknown | | 6. Louis de Fleurac |  France | Unknown | | 7. Nils Dahl |  Norway | Unknown | | 8. Ödön Bodor |  Hungary | Unknown | | 9. Jacques Keyser |  Netherlands | Unknown |
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|
| Semi 2 | time | | 1. Mel Sheppard | United States | 4:05.0 OR Q | | 2. John Halstead | United States | 4:05.6 | | 3. George Butterfield | Great Britain | 4:11.8 | | 4. John W. Lee | Great Britain | 4:12.4 | | 5. Joseph Lynch |  ANZ | Unknown | | 6. Kjeld Nielsen |  Denmark | Unknown | | 7. Arno Hesse |  GeR | Unknown |
|
| Semi 3 | time | | 1. Norman Hallows | Great Britain | 4:03.4 OR Q | | 2. Emilio Lunghi |  Italy | 4:03.8 | | -. Evert Björn |  Sweden | DNF | | -. Massimo Cartasegna | Italy | DNF | | -. Frank Riley | United States | DNF | | -. Charles Swain | ANZ | DNF |
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| Semi 4 | time | | 1. Vincent Loney | Great Britain | 4:08.4 Q | | 2. Harry Coe | United States | 4:09.2 | | 3. John McGough | Great Britain | 4:16.4 | | 4. Stefanos Dimitrios |  Greece | Unknown | | 5. Joseph Dreher | France | Unknown |
|
| Semi 5 | time | | 1. John Tait | Canada | 4:12.2 Q | | 2. József Nagy | Hungary | 4:19.6 | | 3. Fredrik Svanström |  Finland | 4:25.2 | | -. Gaston Ragueneau | France | DNF |
|
|
| Semi 6 | time | | 1. Joe Deakin | Great Britain | 4:13.6 Q | | 2. Andreas Breynck | GeR | 4:30.0 | | 3. Arie Vosbergen | Netherlands | 4:38.6 |
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| Semi 7 | time | | 1. Harold Wilson | Great Britain | 4:11.4 Q | | 2. Jean Bouin | France | 4:17.0 | | 3. William Galbraith | Canada | 4:20.2 |
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| Semi 8 | time | | 1. Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford | Great Britain | 4:09.2 Q | | 2. Edward Dahl | Sweden | 4:10.4 | | 3. Hanns Braun | GeR | 4:18.2 | | 4. Oscar Larsen | Norway | Unknown | | 5. François Delloye |  Belgium | Unknown | | 6. Axel Andersson | Sweden | Unknown | | 7. John E. Fitzgerald |  Canada | Unknown |
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