2003 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres

None thumb|110px|u1iskst_ckw Official video These are the official results of the Men's 1500 metres event at the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Paris, France. There were a total number of 29 participating athletes, with three qualifying heats, two semi-finals and the final held on Wednesday 27 August 2003 at 21:00h. The winning margin was 0.54 seconds. With all eyes on the world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj, the final started with home team favorite Mehdi Baala taking the lead off the line though he was Reyes Estévez uncharacteristically took the lead and began pushing the pace a half lap into the race. As soon as Estévez began to create some daylight, El Guerrouj covered the move through a 57.70 first lap, but after letting Estévez lead a whole lap El Guerrouj edged ahead. It was 1:56.29 (58.59) after 2 laps with Baala the first to follow El Guerrouj, with Paul Korir and Estévez in such close order drill that Korir stumbled from catching Estévez' legs and losing ground. At the bell in 2:37.87, Fouad Chouki joined what was becoming a breakaway by El Guerrouj, Baala and Estévez. 2:51.28 (54.99) after 3 laps and El Guerrouj accelerated. In the final turn, Chouki accelerated past Estévez, but only Baala had managed to stay close to El Guerrouj. Bala was in perfect position to run around El Guerrouj coming off the turn, instead El Guerrouj accelerated again and got enough of a gap that it was clear he was going to win. Coming off the turn Ivan Heshko was in sixth place. He moved out to lane 3 and began sprinting, challenged by Korir. 50 meters from the finish, Chouki began to run out of gas. Estévez passed him but his hold on the bronze medal position was short-lived as Heshko, Korir and Rui Silva all ran past him before the line. A month after the race, Chouki was disqualified and suspended for having Erythropoietin in his system. Final RANKFINALTIMEImage:Med 1.pngHicham El Guerrouj MAR3:31.77 Image:Med 2.pngMehdi Baala FRA3:32.31Image:Med 3.pngIvan Heshko UKR3:33.174.Paul Korir KEN3:33.475.Rui Silva POR3:33.686.Reyes Estévez ESP3:33.847.Gert-Jan Liefers NED3:33.998.Vyacheslav Shabunin RUS3:34.379.Isaac Kiprono Songok KEN3:34.3910.Roberto Parra ESP3:35.0211.Juan Carlos Higuero ESP3:38.49—Fouad Chouki FRADQ Semi-final Held on Monday 25 August 2003 RANKHEAT 1TIME1.Hicham El Guerrouj MAR3:38.252.Rui Silva POR3:38.373.Ivan Heshko UKR3:38.434.Roberto Parra ESP3:38.515.Vyacheslav Shabunin RUS3:38.606.Gert-Jan Liefers NED3:38.617.Isaac Kiprono Songok KEN3:39.848.Youcef Abdi AUS3:40.139.Christian Obrist ITA3:41.8810.Gareth Turnbull IRL3:42.0111.Kevin Sullivan CAN3:42.33—Valery Pisarev KGZDNS RANKHEAT 2TIME1.Mehdi Baala FRA3:39.732.Paul Korir KEN3:40.083.Juan Carlos Higuero ESP3:40.294.Reyes Estévez ESP3:40.755.Michael East GBR3:40.876.Hudson de Souza BRA3:41.127.Tarek Boukensa ALG3:41.338.Adrian Blincoe NZL3:41.539.Jason Lunn USA3:41.7110.Michal Šneberger CZE3:42.2511.Bert Leenaerts BEL3:43.02—Fouad Chouki FRADQ Heats Held on Saturday 23 August 2003 RANKHEAT 1TIME1.Adrian Blincoe NZL3:47.262.Mehdi Baala FRA3:47.263.Reyes Estévez ESP3:47.564.Jason Lunn USA3:47.625.Gert-Jan Liefers NED3:47.816.Tarek Boukensa ALG3:47.887.Youcef Abdi AUS3:48.658.Valery Pisarev KGZ3:50.899.Francis Munthali MAW 19643:51.61—Bernard Lagat KENDNS RANKHEAT 2TIME1.Hicham El Guerrouj MAR3:42.242.Hudson de Souza BRA3:42.513.Paul Korir KEN3:42.554.Ivan Heshko UKR3:42.965.Christian Obrist ITA3:43.016.Juan Carlos Higuero ESP3:43.017.Kevin Sullivan CAN3:43.278.Michal Šneberger CZE3:43.279.Atta Atta Miran PAK3:51.34 RANKHEAT 3TIME1.Rui Silva POR3:41.352.Isaac Kiprono Songok KEN3:41.553.Roberto Parra ESP3:41.574.Michael East GBR3:41.615.Vyacheslav Shabunin RUS3:41.636.Gareth Turnbull IRL3:41.847.Bert Leenaerts BEL3:42.718.Neil Weare GUM3:56.649.Yahye Abdi Gurre SOM4:10.42—Fouad Chouki FRADQ See also Athletics at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 1500 metres References H Category:1500 metres at the World Athletics Championships