Athletics at the 2004 Athina Summer Games:

The top 1,500 runner since the late 90s had been Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj, but he had fallen in the Olympic final in 1996 and been upset in 2000 by Kenya’s Noah Ngeny. El Guerrouj won the World Championship in 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003, but he had only known Olympic disappointment. His leading opposition in 2004 was felt to be Kenya’s Bernard Lagat, who now lived and trained in the United States. Lagat had finished second at the 2001 World Championship, behind El Guerrouj, and had defeated him a few weeks before the Olympics in Zürich. In the final, the pace started out slowly and then slowed down even more on the second lap. El Guerrouj began to push the pace after 700 metres, and strung the field out. He was chased by Lagat, but he could never get past, as El Guerrouj ran his third lap in 54.8. Over the last lap, El G continued his sustained pace, holding on to win the gold medal, with Lagat getting the silver. Portugal’s Rui Silva closed quickly for the bronze medal. All three medalists ran the last 800 between 1:46.3 and 1:46.7. El Guerrouj finally had his Olympic gold medal. Four days later, he would contest the 5,000 metre final, and the runners refused to set a fast pace, setting it up for El G’s kick, and he won his second gold medal comfortably.

In March 2005, Bernard Lagat announced he had become an American citizen in May 2004 but competed for his native Kenya in Athens. Kenya does not allow dual citizenship so when this was revealed his silver medal was at stake, but he was allowed to retain it; however, he was banned from international competition for 2 years. He returned in 2007, competing for the United States at the World Championships in Osaka, and won the 1,500 metres and 5,000 metres.