- 1896:
Edwin Flack (4:33.2)
- 1900:
Charles Bennett (4:06.2, OR)
- 1904:
James Lightbody (4:05.4, OR)
- 1908:
Mel Sheppard (4:03.4, OR)
- 1912:
Arnold Jackson (3:56.8, OR)
- 1920:
Albert Hill (4:01.8)
- 1924:
Paavo Nurmi (3:53.6, OR)
- 1928:
Harri Larva (3:53.2, OR)
- 1932:
Luigi Beccali (3:51.2, OR)
- 1936:
Jack Lovelock (3:47.8, SR)
- 1948:
Henry Eriksson (3:49.8)
- 1952:
Josy Barthel (3:45.2, OR)
- 1956:
Ron Delany (3:41.2)
- 1960:
Herb Elliott (3:35.6, SR)
- 1964:
Peter Snell (3:38.1)
- 1968:
Kipchoge Keino (3:34.91, OR)
- 1972:
Pekka Vasala (3:36.3)
- 1976:
John Walker (3:39.17)
- 1980:
Sebastian Coe (3:38.4)
- 1984:
Sebastian Coe (3:32.53, OR)
- 1988:
Peter Rono (3:35.96)
- 1992:
Fermín Cacho (3:40.12)
- 1996:
Noureddine Morceli (3:35.78)
- 2000:
Noah Ngeny (3:32.07, OR)
- 2004:
Hicham El Guerrouj (3:34.19)
- 2008:
Asbel Kiprop (3:33.11)
- 2012:
Taoufik Makhloufi (3:34.08)
- 2016:
Matthew Centrowitz Jr. (3:50.00)
- 2020:
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:28.32, OR)
- 2024:
Cole Hocker (3:27.65, OR)
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