Towards the end of the first lap, Werner Lueg began to move up to take the lead, with Rolf Lamers on his shoulder to place a wall to control the pack.

On the third lap Lamers was unable to maintain the pace as Josy Barthel and Roger Bannister exchanging elbows with El Mabrouk lined up behind Leug.

Bob McMillen moved up from eighth place to catch the group of leaders at the head of the final straight.

Leug maintained his gap on Bannister and El Mabrouk, but looked helplessly as McMillen sprinted past, but he didn't have enough race left to catch Barthel, finishing half a metre behind but also being credited with the same time, a new Olympic record.

Six of the finalists from the 1948 Games returned: bronze medalist Willem Slijkhuis of the Netherlands, fourth-place finisher Václav Čevona of Czechoslovakia, fifth-place finisher Bill Nankeville of Great Britain, and later places (the 1948 final's places after sixth are disputed) Sándor Garay of Hungary, Josy Barthel of Luxembourg, and Denis Johansson of Finland.

The United States made its 12th appearance, the only nation to have competed in the men's 1500 metres at each Games to that point.