The event was won by 0.50 seconds by Fermín Cacho of Spain, the nation's first title in the men's 1500 metres.

Qatar won its first Olympic medal in any event with Mohamed Suleiman's bronze.

Most of the eyes were on reigning world champion Noureddine Morceli, who hovered in the middle of the pack, while Joseph Chesire led most of the race, marked by Jens-Peter Herold through a slow race of 62.25 and 64.58 for the first two laps, setting up a fast finish.

Mohamed Suleiman edged past a fading Chesire and a final sprint around the outside from eighth place netted Rachid El Basir the silver.

The favorite was Noureddine Morceli of Algeria, who had recently won the first of what would be three consecutive world championships.

[2] Belize, the Central African Republic, Croatia, Guinea, Laos, Lebanon, Swaziland, Vanuatu, unified Yemen (North Yemen had competed previously), and Zaire each made their first appearance in the event; the Unified Team of some former Soviet republics competed in this event in the team's only Summer Games appearance.