We all know that in the olympics the race that is closest to the mile is the 1500m, which is somewhat shorter.
It would seem that the progression from sprints to middle distance could be 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 (not 1500)
1600m (1749.8 yards) is very close to a mile (1760 yards)
Does anyone know of any races at this distance (1600)?
They run the 1600m in high school, but the 1500m has been a standard international distance since the first modern Olympics…
In the US at least, the standard distance races in high school are the 1600 and 3200 which are roughly equivilant to 1 mile and 2 miles. Not sure if about anywhere else.
The world is Metric (not imperial) in case you missed it.
1500m is 1.5 KM. or One and One Half KM. Much tidier than “just shy of three quarters”.
Sorry, but your post is so American-centric that it has made me angry. You want the race to be changed to a mile because that is what you are used to?
Have you not noticed that every measurement in the Olympics is metric? Even the Marathon is marked in KM and not miles.
Dave
Sorry, but your post is so American-centric that it has made me angry. You want the race to be changed to a mile because that is what you are used to?
Wow - bad morning??
I think the OP was looking at the other “doubling” of the swimming distances and wondering…or at least that is what I read it as. I didn’t read it as the OP wanting to change history…
You should find more worth while things to get mad about. He makes a good point about the natural progression from 800 to 1600 - so many times they double the previous distance it would make sense. As far as the kilometer point, they’re actually using meters for the swimming - and 800 meters (not just over 3/4s of a kilometer) is just as tidy as 1600 meters.
Easy there. I’m also Canadian and very metric but he has a point. 100, 200, 400, 800, ____ . Ask anyone to fill in the blank and you know what they would write.
I’m not a running historian but I’m sort of surprised they don’t use the mile. It has significance with the whole 4 minute thing. The marathon is a stupid distance in metric so why be all tidy with 1.5 km?
So is the Olympic marathon still “Twenty six miles, 385 yards” or did they change that to some off beat metric distance like 42.25 K?
I think the OP was referencing running, but the distances in the pool are the same.
I am actually curious about this…it does seem strange - especially with a 400 metre track. 1600 would seem to be so much easier and cleaner to run.
I don’t see this as being an american centric question at all. The mile is a very important distance historically in running and it seems to have been dropped at least if they were running a 1,600 you could say they just rounded it to fit the track.
And why do they only run the 60, 600 and 1000 indoors? This one boggles me as well.
Apologies…now that I read other people’s responses I see the logic in your question and the snap response I made is harsh and unfair. I guess Monday morning is getting to me.
I just always assumed that the reason was one and one half KM, five KM and ten KM were the “distance” events. To keep it tidy they chose 1500m over four laps of the track.
Dave
Oh right, running. My burst. I still think Dave in canada is a nut. I’m picturing him about three and a half pots of coffee deep, sitting in a cubicle about 2 seconds from a Beavis “Cornholio” level freak out over the mile. He hates it.
I still think Dave in canada is a nut. I’m picturing him about three and a half pots of coffee deep, sitting in a cubicle about 2 seconds from a Beavis “Cornholio” level freak out over the mile. He hates it.
LOL…I actually gave up caffine two weeks ago (that is whay Monday’s are so bad). I don’t have a cubicle. I do hate the mile (metric is so much easier). I might not Cornholio over it…but “have you seen my stapler?”
Again I apologize to OP I missed the logic of the 1-2-4-8-16 progression. I guess I never thought of it that way.
Dave
I am actually curious about this…it does seem strange - especially with a 400 metre track. 1600 would seem to be so much easier and cleaner to run.
Read something about this not too long ago and it had to do with the French having a lot of 500 meter tracks while the english preferred 400 meters. Somehow the sprint events took on measures based on the 400 meter tracks and the distance events of 1500, 3000, 5000 and 10,000 took the more common French distances.
So probably way back when, people were complaining and saying the sprints should be 125, 250 and 500 meters!
The 110 meter hurdle folks must have been a small splinter group 
I am actually curious about this…it does seem strange - especially with a 400 metre track. 1600 would seem to be so much easier and cleaner to run.
I think the reason US high schoolers run the 1600 (and 3200) does come down to logistists rather than some intent to keep imperial measurements alive.
I always assumed that that high schools run the 1600 and not the 1500 mostly because with a 1600, you finish at the same spot on the track were all the other races finish and you start where the other full lap races start. It makes the logistics of putting on a meet a bit easier. The fact that it is close to a mile may be just a secondary benefit rather than the driving force. In college and AAU meets they run the 1500 to conform with the olympic/international distance. They also have more meet workers and the athletes are more experienced so it is easier to have different start and finish lines.
the extra yards/meters is because of the royal family who wanted a better view of the finish so the distance was adjusted in the 1908 London Olympics to finish in front of “wherever” the royal familly was sitting and it became the official distance.
Fred.
I think the OP was referencing running, but the distances in the pool are the same.
I thought it was swimming at first too!
Not quite the same - 1500m, yes. But 1650 yds
Do you or anyone else know the history of why 26.2? It used to be ~25 (24.85 miles or 39.9921 km for you metric people) but was changed… I found this to be an interesting bit of trivia!
The distance was not standardized at first. The original marathon at the 1896 Olympics was around 24 miles, and there were marathons run that were all in the range of about 25 miles. Like one of the prior posters said, the 1908 marathon course was set up so the British royal family could watch the beginning of the race from the balcony of one of their palaces and then watch the end from their royal box at the stadium. After that, subsequent marathons were set up to be the same distance that was set by chance at the 1908 Olympics.
Except it was not by chance… the distance was extended for the 1908 Olympics to cover the ground from Windsor Castle to White City Stadium, with the 2.2 miles added on so the race could finish in front of royal family’s viewing box!