Matt Centrowitz wins first American gold in 1500m since 1908
Matthew Centrowitz won the first gold medal in the men’s 1,500 meters since 1908 when Mel Shappard won for the U.S. with a time of 4:03.4 at the London games.
Centrowitz captured the win with a time of 3:50.00 leading the race from wire to wire and edging out reigning Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria who was unable to reel Centrowitz in over the last 100m and settled for silver with a time of 3:50.11
New Zealand’s Nick Willis, who owns an Olympic silver medal from the 2008 Olympics, took bronze in 3:50.24.
2008 Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya may have been favored to win the race given his 3:26.69 personal best but he fell 650-meters into the race, re-joined the lead pack but was unable to kick down the field for a medal. He finished last in the 1,500-meter final at the 2012 Olympics.
Centrowitz finished the race with a 50.62 second final lap to a gold medal to his world championship bronze in 2011 and silver in 2013 in the 1500m.
