The time, which bettered his semi-final time by nearly a second, would have won a gold medal in every other men's 1500m final in Olympic history.

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Speaking to Channel 7 post-race, McSweyn acknowledged the quick pace of the decider.

"I definitely felt that first lap we were out quick," he said.

"I put myself in the spot, I felt good in third through two laps to go and I thought I was right in the hunt.

"Probably 500 to go, I started to feel the wind up a bit, I gritted my teeth as much as I could but I just didn't quite have it."

The former Eureka Athletic Club member was slow out of the blocks but worked his way into the middle tier of runners with three laps to run.

With two-and-a-half laps to go he found himself in third and sat there for the next 600 metres, looking primed to make a play at the gold medal in the last lap.

Race leaders Timothy Cheruiyot and Jakob Ingebrigtsen began to push away with 350 metres to run and a gap started to open up, the chasing pack able to make up ground on McSweyn.

It was a gap too big to make up from there, the 26-year-old crossing the line in seventh.

"When you get to an Olympic final you just give it 100 per cent and whatever happens, happens, I can live with that," McSweyn said.

"Seventh in an Olympic Games is nothing to be too angry about."

Ingebrigtsen, the eventual winner, finished with an Olympic record time of 3:28.32, highlighting the quick pace of the final.

Fellow Australian Oliver Hoare managed to finish in 11th position with a time of 3:35.79.

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