Evolution of the world record 1500 meters Men
| # | name | time | place | track type | date | |||
| 1 | Jaap Eden | NED | 2:35.0 | Paterswolde | NED | outdoor - natural | 11 Jan 1893 | |
| 2 | Peder Østlund | NOR | 2:32.6 | Hamar | NOR | outdoor - natural | 25 Feb 1893 | |
| 3 | Peder Østlund | NOR | 2:31.4 | Hamar | NOR | outdoor - natural | 24 Feb 1894 | |
| 4 | Einar Halvorsen | NOR | 2:29.6 | Hamar | NOR | outdoor - natural | 24 Feb 1894 | |
| 5 | Peder Østlund | NOR | 2:28.8 | Hamar | NOR | outdoor - natural | 25 Feb 1894 | |
| 6 | Jaap Eden | NED | 2:25.4 | Hamar | NOR | outdoor - natural | 23 Feb 1895 | |
| 7 | Peder Østlund | NOR | 2:23.6 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 7 Feb 1898 | |
| 8 | Peder Østlund | NOR | 2:22.6 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 11 Feb 1900 | |
| 9 | Oscar Mathisen | NOR | 2:20.8 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 9 Feb 1908 | |
| 10 | Oscar Mathisen | NOR | 2:20.6 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 30 Jan 1910 | |
| 11 | Oscar Mathisen | NOR | 2:19.4 | Kristiania | NOR | outdoor - natural | 11 Jan 1914 | |
| 12 | Oscar Mathisen | NOR | 2:17.4 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 18 Jan 1914 | |
| 13 | Michael Staksrud | NOR | 2:14.9 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 31 Jan 1937 | |
| 14 | Hans Engnestangen | NOR | 2:13.8 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 29 Jan 1939 | |
| 15 | Valentin Chaykin | URS | 2:12.9 | Medeo | URS | outdoor - natural | 20 Jan 1952 | |
| 16 | Yevgeny Grishin | URS | 2:09.8 | Medeo | URS | outdoor - natural | 10 Jan 1955 | |
| 17 | Yury Mikhaylov | URS | 2:09.1 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 20 Jan 1956 | |
| 18 | Yury Mikhaylov | URS | 2:08.6 | Misurina | ITA | outdoor - natural | 30 Jan 1956 | |
| 19 | Juhani Järvinen | FIN | 2:06.3 | Squaw Valley | USA | outdoor - artificial | 1 Mar 1959 | |
| 20 | Ard Schenk | NED | 2:06.2 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 26 Jan 1966 | |
| 21 | Ard Schenk | NED | 2:05.3 | Inzell | FRG | outdoor - artificial | 30 Jan 1966 | |
| 22 | Kees Verkerk | NED | 2:03.9 | Inzell | FRG | outdoor - artificial | 26 Feb 1967 | |
| 23 | Magne Thomassen | NOR | 2:02.5 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 5 Feb 1968 | |
| 24 | Kees Verkerk | NED | 2:02.0 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 9 Feb 1969 | |
| 25 | Kees Verkerk | NED | 2:01.9 | Inzell | FRG | outdoor - artificial | 8 Mar 1970 | |
| 26 | Ard Schenk | NED | 1:58.7 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 16 Jan 1971 | |
| 27 | Hans van Helden | NED | 1:55.61 | Inzell | FRG | outdoor - artificial | 13 Mar 1976 | |
| 28 | Jan Egil Storholt | NOR | 1:55.18 | Medeo | URS | outdoor - artificial | 20 Mar 1977 | |
| 29 | Eric Heiden | USA | 1:54.79 | Davos | SUI | outdoor - natural | 19 Jan 1980 | |
| 30 | Igor Zhelezovsky | URS | 1:54.26 | Medeo | URS | outdoor - artificial | 26 Mar 1983 | |
| 31 | Oleg Bozhyev | URS | 1:53.26 | Medeo | URS | outdoor - artificial | 24 Mar 1984 | |
| 32 | Nikolay Gulyayev | URS | 1:52.70 | Heerenveen | NED | indoor - artificial | 15 Feb 1987 | |
| 33 | Igor Zhelezovsky | URS | 1:52.50 | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 5 Dec 1987 | |
| 34 | André Hoffmann | GDR | 1:52.06 | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 20 Feb 1988 | |
| 35 | Rintje Ritsma | NED | 1:51.60 | Hamar | NOR | indoor - artificial | 8 Jan 1994 | |
| 36 | Johann Olav Koss | NOR | 1:51.29 | Hamar | NOR | indoor - artificial | 16 Feb 1994 | |
| 37 | Hiroyuki Noake | JPN | 1:50.61 | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 2 Mar 1996 | |
| 38 | KC Boutiette | USA | 1:50.09 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 15 Mar 1997 |
| 39 | Neal Marshall | CAN | 1:50.05 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 16 Mar 1997 |
| 40 | Ids Postma | NED | 1:49.81 | * | Berlin | GER | indoor - artificial | 29 Nov 1997 |
| 41 | Kevin Overland | CAN | 1:49.07 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 29 Nov 1997 |
| 42 | Rintje Ritsma | NED | 1:48.88 | * | Heerenveen | NED | indoor - artificial | 20 Dec 1997 |
| 43 | Ådne Søndrål | NOR | 1:47.87 | * | Nagano | JPN | indoor - artificial | 12 Feb 1998 |
| 44 | Ådne Søndrål | NOR | 1:46.43 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 28 Mar 1998 |
| 45 | Jakko Jan Leeuwangh | NED | 1:45.56 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 29 Jan 2000 |
| 46 | Lee Kyou-hyuk | KOR | 1:45.20 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 16 Mar 2001 |
| 47 | Derek Parra | USA | 1:43.95 | * | Salt Lake City | USA | indoor - artificial | 19 Feb 2002 |
| 48 | Shani Davis | USA | 1:43.33 | * | Salt Lake City | USA | indoor - artificial | 9 Jan 2005 |
| 49 | Chad Hedrick | USA | 1:42.78 | * | Salt Lake City | USA | indoor - artificial | 18 Nov 2005 |
| 50 | Shani Davis | USA | 1:42.68 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 19 Mar 2006 |
| 51 | Shani Davis | USA | 1:42.32 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 4 Mar 2007 |
| 52 | Erben Wennemars | NED | 1:42.32 | * | Salt Lake City | USA | indoor - artificial | 9 Nov 2007 |
| 53 | Denny Morrison | CAN | 1:42.01 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 14 Mar 2008 |
| 54 | Shani Davis | USA | 1:41.80 | * | Salt Lake City | USA | indoor - artificial | 6 Mar 2009 |
| 55 | Shani Davis | USA | 1:41.04 | * | Salt Lake City | USA | indoor - artificial | 11 Dec 2009 |
| 56 | Denis Yuskov | RUS | 1:41.02 | * | Salt Lake City | USA | indoor - artificial | 9 Dec 2017 |
| 57 | Kjeld Nuis | NED | 1:40.17 | * | Salt Lake City | USA | indoor - artificial | 10 Mar 2019 |
| * | = record skated on klap skates | |||||||

