World Rankings — Men’s 1500/Mile WR holder Hicham El Guerrouj ran off 7 straight No. 1s between 1997 and 2003. © GIANCARLO COLOMBO/PHOTO RUN 1947 1948 1 ......................Lennart Strand (Sweden) 1 .....................Henry Eriksson (Sweden) 2 .....................Henry Eriksson (Sweden) 2 ................... Marcel Hansenne (France) 3 ....................Gösta Bergkvist (Sweden) 3 .................Wim Slijkhuis (Netherlands) 4 ................... Marcel Hansenne (France) 4 ......................Lennart Strand (Sweden) 5 ......................... Gaston Reiff (Belgium) 5 ....................Gösta Bergkvist (Sweden) 6 .......................................Gil Dodds (US) 6 .......................................Gil Dodds (US) 7 ................... Erik Jörgensen (Denmark) 7 .........Václav Cevona (Czechoslovakia) 8 .................Wim Slijkhuis (Netherlands) 8 ....................... Rune Persson (Sweden) 9 .............................Olle Åberg (Sweden) 9 .................. Denis Johansson (Finland) 10 ................ Denis Johansson (Finland) 10 ...............Ingvar Bengtsson (Sweden) © Track & Field News 2020 — 1 — World Rankings — Men’s 1500/Mile 1949 1953 1 .................Wim Slijkhuis (Netherlands) 1 ......................... John Landy (Australia) 2 ......................Lennart Strand (Sweden) 2 ....................................Wes Santee (US) 3 ......................... Gaston Reiff (Belgium) 3 ........... Roger Bannister (Great Britain) 4 .................... Sture Landqvist (Sweden) 4 ...................... Sune Karlsson (Sweden) 5 .................Patrick El Mabrouk (France) 5 .................. Denis Johansson (Finland) 6 ................... Marcel Hansenne (France) 6 ...Stanislav Jungwirth (Czechoslovakia) 7 .............................Olle Åberg (Sweden) 7 ..............Werner Lueg (West Germany) 8 ....................Gösta Bergkvist (Sweden) 8 .................... Ingvar Ericsson (Sweden) 9 ............................Jean Vernier (France) 9 ................. Gordon Pirie (Great Britain) 10 ...................Henry Eriksson (Sweden) 10 .................Gunnar Nielsen (Denmark) 1950 1954 1 ......................... Gaston Reiff (Belgium) 1 ........... Roger Bannister (Great Britain) 2 .................Wim Slijkhuis (Netherlands) 2 ......................... John Landy (Australia) 3 .................Patrick El Mabrouk (France) 3 ....................................Wes Santee (US) 4 ......................Lennart Strand (Sweden) 4 ...................Gunnar Nielsen (Denmark) 5 ...............Bill Nankeville (Great Britain) 5 ...Stanislav Jungwirth (Czechoslovakia) 6 .................... Ingvar Ericsson (Sweden) 6 .................... Ingvar Ericsson (Sweden) 7 ..............................Don Gehrmann (US) 7 ...................... Sándor Iharos (Hungary) 8 ......................... Ilmari Taipale (Finland) 8 .......................Audun Boysen (Norway) 9 ................ Leonard Eyre (Great Britain) 9 ............ Chris Chataway (Great Britain) 10 .............................. John Twomey (US) 10 ............Werner Lueg (West Germany) 1951 1955 1 ........... Roger Bannister (Great Britain) 1 ....................... László Tábori (Hungary) 2 .................Patrick El Mabrouk (France) 2 ...................... Sándor Iharos (Hungary) 3 .............................Olle Åberg (Sweden) 3 ..............István Rózsavölgyi (Hungary) 4 .................... Sture Landqvist (Sweden) 4 ...................Gunnar Nielsen (Denmark) 5 ...............Bill Nankeville (Great Britain) 5 ............ Chris Chataway (Great Britain) 6 .........Andrija Otenheimer (Yugoslavia) 6 ............... Brian Hewson (Great Britain) 7 ......................... Gaston Reiff (Belgium) 7 ....................................Wes Santee (US) 8 ...Stanislav Jungwirth (Czechoslovakia) 8 .....Siegfried Hermann (East Germany) 9 ......................... Ilmari Taipale (Finland) 9 ..................... Ken Wood (Great Britain) 10 .......Václav Cevona (Czechoslovakia) 10 ............Werner Lueg (West Germany) 1952 1956 1 ..................Josy Barthel (Luxembourg) 1 ............................. Ron Delany (Ireland) 2 ..............Werner Lueg (West Germany) 2 ......................... John Landy (Australia) 3 ................................ Bob McMillen (US) 3 ........................... Jim Bailey (Australia) 4 ......................... Gaston Reiff (Belgium) 4 ..............István Rózsavölgyi (Hungary) 5 ........... Roger Bannister (Great Britain) 5 ....Klaus Richtzenhain (East Germany) 6 .................Patrick El Mabrouk (France) 6 ....................... László Tábori (Hungary) 7 .............................Olle Åberg (Sweden) 7 ...Stanislav Jungwirth (Czechoslovakia) 8 .................... Ingvar Ericsson (Sweden) 8 ............... Brian Hewson (Great Britain) 9 ........Günther Dohrow (West Germany) 9 .....Siegfried Hermann (East Germany) 10 .................Gunnar Nielsen (Denmark) 10 ...........Derek Ibbotson (Great Britain) © Track & Field News 2020 — 2 — World Rankings — Men’s 1500/Mile 1957 1961 1 .............Derek Ibbotson (Great Britain) 1 ..............................Dyrol Burleson (US) 2 ............................. Ron Delany (Ireland) 2 ..................................... Jim Beatty (US) 3 ...Stanislav Jungwirth (Czechoslovakia) 3 .............................Dan Waern (Sweden) 4 ......................Olavi Vuorisalo (Finland) 4 .......Siegfried Valentin (East Germany) 5 .............................Dan Waern (Sweden) 5 ...........................Witold Baran (Poland) 6 .......................... Herb Elliott (Australia) 6 ........................ Olavi Salonen (Finland) 7 ....................... Merv Lincoln (Australia) 7 .............................Michel Jazy (France) 8 ..........................Olavi Salsola (Finland) 8 ....................... Michel Bernard (France) 9 ........................Roger Moens (Belgium) 9 ................... Roger Verheuen (Belgium) 10 ................... Ken Wood (Great Britain) 10 ............... Gordon Pirie (Great Britain) 1958 1962 1 .......................... Herb Elliott (Australia) 1 .................... Peter Snell (New Zealand) 2 ....................... Merv Lincoln (Australia) 2 ..................................... Jim Beatty (US) 3 .............Murray Halberg (New Zealand) 3 .............................Michel Jazy (France) 4 ............... Brian Hewson (Great Britain) 4 ...................................... Jim Grelle (US) 5 .............................Dan Waern (Sweden) 5 ..............................Dyrol Burleson (US) 6 ............................. Ron Delany (Ireland) 6 ................................Cary Weisiger (US) 7 ......................Olavi Vuorisalo (Finland) 7 ...........................Witold Baran (Poland) 8 ..............István Rózsavölgyi (Hungary) 8 ..........Harald Norpoth (West Germany) 9 .....Siegfried Hermann (East Germany) 9 .....................................Bill Dotson (US) 10 .. Stanislav Jungwirth (Czechoslovakia) 10 .............................. Keith Forman (US) 1959 1963 1 ..............István Rózsavölgyi (Hungary) 1 .................... Peter Snell (New Zealand) 2 .............................Dan Waern (Sweden) 2 ..............................Dyrol Burleson (US) 3 .......Siegfried Valentin (East Germany) 3 .............................Michel Jazy (France) 4 ..............Stefan Lewandowski (Poland) 4 ....................................Tom O’Hara (US) 5 .....Siegfried Hermann (East Germany) 5 ................................Cary Weisiger (US) 6 .......................... Herb Elliott (Australia) 6 ..................................... Jim Beatty (US) 7 .............................Michel Jazy (France) 7 ...................................... Jim Grelle (US) 8 ....................... Michel Bernard (France) 8 ....................... Michel Bernard (France) 9 ...Stanislav Jungwirth (Czechoslovakia) 9 .......Siegfried Valentin (East Germany) 10 .................... Zoltan Vamos (Romania) 10 ...Siegfried Hermann (East Germany) 1960 1964 1 .......................... Herb Elliott (Australia) 1 .................... Peter Snell (New Zealand) 2 .............................Michel Jazy (France) 2 ............Josef Odložil (Czechoslovakia) 3 .............................Dan Waern (Sweden) 3 ..................John Davies (New Zealand) 4 ..............István Rózsavölgyi (Hungary) 4 ............... Alan Simpson (Great Britain) 5 ...................... Zoltan Vamos (Romania) 5 ..............................Dyrol Burleson (US) 6 ..............................Dyrol Burleson (US) 6 ...........................Witold Baran (Poland) 7 .......Siegfried Valentin (East Germany) 7 ....................................Tom O’Hara (US) 8 ....................... Michel Bernard (France) 8 ...................................... Jim Grelle (US) 9 ....................Terry Sullivan (Zimbabwe) 9 .............................Michel Jazy (France) 10 ..................... László Tábori (Hungary) 10 ..................... Michel Bernard (France) © Track & Field News 2020 — 3 — World Rankings — Men’s 1500/Mile 1965 1969 1 .................Jürgen May (East Germany) 1 .................................Marty Liquori (US) 2 ................................. Kip Keino (Kenya) 2 ................................. Kip Keino (Kenya) 3 .............................Michel Jazy (France) 3 ............Henryk Szordykowski (Poland) 4 ....................................... Jim Ryun (US) 4 .........................Francesco Arese (Italy) 5 ...................................... Jim