# 1500 metres at the World Athletics Championships

The 1500 metres has been contested at the World Championships in Athletics by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 1500 metres at the Olympics. The competition format typically has two qualifying rounds leading to a final between twelve athletes. It is one of two middle-distance running events on the programme, alongside the World Championship 800 metres.
The championship records for the event are 3:27.65 minute for men, set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999, and 3:51.95 minutes for women, set by Sifan Hassan in 2019. The world record has never been broken or equalled at the competition by either men or women, reflecting the lack of pacemaking and athletes' more tactical approach to championship races.
Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco is the most successful athlete of the event through his four straight wins from 1997 to 2003, as well as a silver in 1995. The next most successful athlete is Faith Kipyegon, who, in additional to three golds, also has won two silvers between 2015 in 2023, making her the most decorated athlete in terms of overall medals.
Rashid Ramzi is the only athlete to have won both middle-distance titles, having done an 800 m/1500 m double at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. The first two women's champions Mary Decker and Tatyana Dorovskikh both completed 1500 m/3000 m World Championships doubles, while Bernard Lagat and Faith Kipyegon completed a 1500 m/5000 metres double at respectively the 2007 World Championships and 2023 World Championships. Sifan Hassan is the only athlete to win the 1500 m and the 10000 m in a single championships, doing so in 2019.
British runners Steve Cram, the inaugural men's winner, 2022 champion Jake Wightman and 2023 champion Josh Kerr are the only non-African-born men to win the World Championship event.
Kenya is the most successful nation in the discipline, having won ten gold medals across the men's and women's event. Algeria is next, with five gold medals across the men's and women's event. Morocco and Bahrain each have won four gold medals, while Russia and the United States each have three. The United States has the highest total of medals in the events at twelve, with six in both in the men's and women's divisions. Kenya has the highest number of medals in the men's event, with a total of seven.
Two medallists have been stripped of their honours in the event due to doping: 1987 bronze medallist Sandra Gasser and 2007 silver medallist Yelena Soboleva.

## Age records

* All information from World Athletics.
| Distinction | Male | Male | Male | Female | Female | Female |
| Distinction | Athlete | Age | Date | Athlete | Age | Date |
| Youngest champion | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | 21 years, 185 days | 1 Sep 1991 | Liu Dong (CHN) | 19 years, 241 days | 22 Aug 1993 |
| Youngest medalist | Noah Ngeny (KEN) | 20 years, 295 days | 24 Aug 1999 | Anita Weyermann (SUI) | 19 years, 240 days | 5 Aug 1997 |
| Youngest finalist | Asbel Kiprop (KEN) | 18 years, 60 days | 29 Aug 2007 | Mary Cain (USA) | 18 years, 224 days | 15 Aug 2013 |
| Youngest participant | Yahye Abdi Gurre (SOM) | 16 years, 234 days | 23 Aug 2003 | Lamberte Nyabamikazi (BDI) | 14 years, 217 days | 4 Aug 2001 |
| Oldest champion | Bernard Lagat (USA) | 32 years, 260 days | 4 Sep 2007 | Svetlana Masterkova (RUS) | 31 years, 224 days | 29 Aug 1999 |
| Oldest medalist | Bernard Lagat (USA) | 34 years, 250 days | 19 Aug 2009 | Violeta Szekely (ROU) | 36 years, 134 days | 7 Aug 2001 |
| Oldest finalist | Bernard Lagat (USA) | 34 years, 250 days | 19 Aug 2009 | Tatyana Tomashova (RUS) | 40 years, 55 days | 25 Aug 2015 |
| Oldest participant | Joseph Chesire (KEN) | 35 years, 281 days | 20 Aug 1993 | Tatyana Tomashova (RUS) | 40 years, 55 days | 25 Aug 2015 |
$^{nb}$ The exact date of birth of the youngest male participant, Yahye Abdi Gurre, is unknown but he remains the youngest given his known year of birth and calculating from 1 January of that year.

## Doping

The 1500 m was the event that first saw the disqualification of a World Championships medallist on the grounds of doping. The 1987 women's bronze medallist Sandra Gasser gave a positive test for anabolic steroids at the competition and received a two-year ban from the sport later that month. Twelve years passed without incident in the event, until the disqualification of the first male 1500 m athlete in 1999: Ibrahim Mohamed Aden was disqualified and given a public warning for ephedrine usage due to failing his post-race test after the semi-finals.
The 2003 men's finalist Fouad Chouki was banned for two-years after a positive test for EPO. Chouki lost an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in which he claimed that an unknown person had injected him with EPO in the aftermath of the race. Regina Jacobs (a two-time silver medallist) had her 2003 semi-final performance annulled retrospectively following the BALCO scandal, as later analysis of her sample at the 2003 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships showed usage of the novel steroid THG.
The women's World Championships 1500 m was affected by doping for three straight editions starting from 2007. Russia's Yelena Soboleva became the second athlete to be stripped of a 1500 m medal after she was banned for her involvement in a doping test manipulation scheme, alongside 2007 finalist Yuliya Fomenko and two-time world champion Tatyana Tomashova (who did not compete in 2007 and whose gold medals from 2003 and 2005 still stand). In 2009 Mariem Alaoui Selsouli withdrew from the final after a sample given earlier that year tested positive for EPO while heats runner Alemitu Bekele Degfa was banned due to biological passport abnormalities. Ukrainian duo Anzhelika Shevchenko and Nataliya Tobias had their 2011 results annulled while Olesya Syreva became the third Russian 1500 m to be disqualified for doping.
Bernard Lagat, the men's gold medallist in 2007, had a positive "A" sample test for EPO prior to the 2003 World Championships which was disregarded after the "B" sample (taken at the same time) returned a negative result. He was temporarily banned in the interim period of testing and missed the world championships as a result, having been runner-up two years earlier. Lagat and medical advisor Hans Heid were critical of the testing procedure for EPO and advocated the dropping of the technique until more reliable methods were found.
Outside of the competition, the 2005 men's champion Rashid Ramzi was banned for doping after winning at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Inaugural women's champion Mary Decker was banned for doping later in her career, as were 2003 and 2005 runners-up Süreyya Ayhan and Olga Yegorova.

## Medalists
### Men

| Championships | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1983 Helsinki details | Steve Cram (GBR) | Steve Scott (USA) | Saïd Aouita (MAR) |
| 1987 Rome details | Abdi Bile (SOM) | José Luis González (ESP) | Jim Spivey (USA) |
| 1991 Tokyo details | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | Wilfred Kirochi (KEN) | Hauke Fuhlbrügge (GER) |
| 1993 Stuttgart details | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | Fermín Cacho (ESP) | Abdi Bile (SOM) |
| 1995 Gothenburg details | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | Vénuste Niyongabo (BDI) |
| 1997 Athens details | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | Fermín Cacho (ESP) | Reyes Estévez (ESP) |
| 1999 Seville details | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | Noah Ngeny (KEN) | Reyes Estévez (ESP) |
| 2001 Edmonton details | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | Bernard Lagat (KEN) | Driss Maazouzi (FRA) |
| 2003 Saint-Denis details | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | Mehdi Baala (FRA) | Ivan Heshko (UKR) |
| 2005 Helsinki details | Rashid Ramzi (BHR) | Adil Kaouch (MAR) | Rui Silva (POR) |
| 2007 Osaka details | Bernard Lagat (USA) | Rashid Ramzi (BHR) | Shedrack Kibet Korir (KEN) |
| 2009 Berlin details | Yusuf Saad Kamel (BHR) | Deresse Mekonnen (ETH) | Bernard Lagat (USA) |
| 2011 Daegu details | Asbel Kiprop (KEN) | Silas Kiplagat (KEN) | Matthew Centrowitz (USA) |
| 2013 Moscow details | Asbel Kiprop (KEN) | Matthew Centrowitz (USA) | Johan Cronje (RSA) |
| 2015 Beijing details | Asbel Kiprop (KEN) | Elijah Manangoi (KEN) | Abdalaati Iguider (MAR) |
| 2017 London details | Elijah Manangoi (KEN) | Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN) | Filip Ingebrigtsen (NOR) |
| 2019 Doha details | Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN) | Taoufik Makhloufi (ALG) | Marcin Lewandowski (POL) |
| 2022 Eugene details | Jake Wightman (GBR) | Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) | Mohamed Katir (ESP) |
| 2023 Budapest details | Josh Kerr (GBR) | Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) | Narve Gilje Nordås (NOR) |

#### Medalists by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Kenya (KEN) | 5 | 6 | 1 | 12 |
| 2 | Morocco (MAR) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | Algeria (ALG) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Great Britain (GBR) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Bahrain (BHR) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | United States (USA) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Somalia (SOM) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | Norway (NOR) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 11 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Ethiopia (ETH) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Burundi (BDI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Poland (POL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Portugal (POR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | South Africa (RSA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

#### Multiple medalists

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Period | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Hicham El Guerrouj | Morocco (MAR) | 1995–2003 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | Noureddine Morceli | Algeria (ALG) | 1991–1995 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Asbel Kiprop | Kenya (KEN) | 2011–2015 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Bernard Lagat | Kenya (KEN) (2001 only) United States (USA) | 2001–2009 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Rashid Ramzi | Bahrain (BHR) | 2005–2007 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Elijah Manangoi | Kenya (KEN) | 2015-2017 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Timothy Cheruiyot | Kenya (KEN) | 2017-2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Abdi Bile | Somalia (SOM) | 1987–1993 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen | Norway (NOR) | 2022-2023 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Fermín Cacho | Spain (ESP) | 1993–1997 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Matthew Centrowitz, Jr. | United States (USA) | 2011–2013 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Reyes Estévez | Spain (ESP) | 1997–1999 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

### Women

| Championships | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1983 Helsinki details | Mary Decker (USA) | Zamira Zaytseva (URS) | Yekaterina Podkopayeva (URS) |
| 1987 Rome details | Tetyana Samolenko (URS) | Hildegard Körner (GDR) | Doina Melinte (ROU) |
| 1991 Tokyo details | Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) | Tetyana Dorovskikh (URS) | Lyudmila Rogachova (URS) |
| 1993 Stuttgart details | Liu Dong (CHN) | Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) | Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) |
| 1995 Gothenburg details | Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) | Kelly Holmes (GBR) | Carla Sacramento (POR) |
| 1997 Athens details | Carla Sacramento (POR) | Regina Jacobs (USA) | Anita Weyermann (SUI) |
| 1999 Seville details | Svetlana Masterkova (RUS) | Regina Jacobs (USA) | Kutre Dulecha (ETH) |
| 2001 Edmonton details | Gabriela Szabo (ROU) | Violeta Szekely (ROU) | Natalya Gorelova (RUS) |
| 2003 Saint-Denis details | Tatyana Tomashova (RUS) | Süreyya Ayhan (TUR) | Hayley Tullett (GBR) |
| 2005 Helsinki details | Tatyana Tomashova (RUS) | Olga Yegorova (RUS) | Bouchra Ghezielle (FRA) |
| 2007 Osaka details | Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR) | Iryna Lishchynska (UKR) | Daniela Yordanova (BUL) |
| 2009 Berlin details | Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR) | Lisa Dobriskey (GBR) | Shannon Rowbury (USA) |
| 2011 Daegu details | Jennifer Simpson (USA) | Hannah England (GBR) | Natalia Rodríguez (ESP) |
| 2013 Moscow details | Abeba Aregawi (SWE) | Jennifer Simpson (USA) | Hellen Obiri (KEN) |
| 2015 Beijing details | Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | Sifan Hassan (NED) |
| 2017 London details | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | Jennifer Simpson (USA) | Caster Semenya (RSA) |
| 2019 Doha details | Sifan Hassan (NED) | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) |
| 2022 Eugene details | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) | Laura Muir (GBR) |
| 2023 Budapest details | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | Diribe Welteji (ETH) | Sifan Hassan (NED) |

#### Medalists by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Kenya (KEN) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Russia (RUS) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | United States (USA) | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 4 | Algeria (ALG) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Bahrain (BHR) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 7 | Soviet Union (URS) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 9 | Romania (ROU) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | Netherlands (NED) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 11 | Portugal (POR) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | China (CHN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 15 | East Germany (GDR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Ireland (IRL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Turkey (TUR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | France (FRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

#### Multiple medalists

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Period | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya (KEN) | 2015–2023 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | Hassiba Boulmerka | Algeria (ALG) | 1991–1995 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Tatyana Tomashova | Russia (RUS) | 2003–2005 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Maryam Yusuf Jamal | Bahrain (BHR) | 2007–2009 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Jennifer Simpson | United States (USA) | 2011–2017 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Tatyana Dorovskikh | Soviet Union (URS) | 1987–1991 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands (NED) | 2015-2023 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | Carla Sacramento | Portugal (POR) | 1995–1997 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Regina Jacobs | United States (USA) | 1997–1999 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Gudaf Tsegay | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2019-2022 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |

## Championship record progression
### Men

Men's 1500 metres World Championships record progression :
| Time | Athlete | Nation | Year | Round | Date |
| 3:42.28 | Pierre Délèze | Switzerland (SUI) | 1983 | First round | 12 August |
| 3:40.17 | Steve Cram | Great Britain (GBR) | 1983 | First round | 12 August |
| 3:38.65 | Andreas Busse | East Germany (GDR) | 1983 | First round | 12 August |
| 3:37.87 | Steve Scott | United States (USA) | 1983 | First round | 12 August |
| 3:36.43 | Steve Scott | United States (USA) | 1983 | Semi-final | 13 August |
| 3:35.77 | Steve Cram | Great Britain (GBR) | 1983 | Semi-final | 13 August |
| 3:35.67 | Abdi Bile | Somalia (SOM) | 1987 | Semi-final | 6 September |
| 3:32.84 | Noureddine Morceli | Algeria (ALG) | 1991 | Final | 1 September |
| 3:27.65 | Hicham El Guerrouj | Morocco (MAR) | 1999 | Final | 24 August |

### Women

Women's 1500 metres World Championships record progression :
| Time | Athlete | Nation | Year | Round | Date |
| 4:10.71 | Ravilya Agletdinova | Soviet Union (URS) | 1983 | First round | 12 August |
| 4:07.47 | Mary Decker | United States (USA) | 1983 | First round | 12 August |
| 4:00.90 | Mary Decker | United States (USA) | 1983 | Final | 14 August |
| 3:58.56 | Tatyana Samolenko | Soviet Union (URS) | 1987 | Final | 5 September |
| 3:58.52 | Tatyana Tomashova | Russia (RUS) | 2003 | Final | 31 August |
| 3:51.95 | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands (NED) | 2019 | Final | 5 October |

## Finishing times
### Top ten fastest World Championship times

Fastest men's times at the World Championships :
| Rank | Time (sec) | Athlete | Nation | Year | Date |
| 1 | 3:27.65 | Hicham El Guerrouj | Morocco | 1999 | 1999-08-24 |
| 2 | 3:28.73 | Noah Ngeny | Kenya | 1999 | 1999-08-24 |
| 3 | 3:29.23 | Jake Wightman | United Kingdom | 2022 | 2022-07-19 |
| 4 | 3:29.26 | Timothy Cheruiyot | Kenya | 2019 | 2019-10-06 |
| 5 | 3:29.38 | Josh Kerr | United Kingdom | 2023 | 2023-08-23 |
| 6 | 3:29.47 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen | Norway | 2022 | 2022-07-19 |
| 7 | 3:29.65 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen | Norway | 2023 | 2023-08-23 |
| 8 | 3:29.68 | Narve Gilje Nordås | Norway | 2023 | 2023-08-23 |
| 9 | 3:29.89 | Abel Kipsang | Kenya | 2023 | 2023-08-23 |
| 10 | 3:29.90 | Mohamed Katir | Spain | 2022 | 2022-07-19 |
Fastest women's times at the World Championships :
| Rank | Time (sec) | Athlete | Nation | Year | Date |
| 1 | 3:51.95 | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands | 2019 | 2019-10-05 |
| 2 | 3:52.96 | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya | 2022 | 2022-07-18 |
| 3 | 3:54.22 | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya | 2019 | 2019-10-05 |
| 4 | 3:54.38 | Gudaf Tsegay | Ethiopia | 2019 | 2019-10-05 |
| 5 | 3:54.52 | Gudaf Tsegay | Ethiopia | 2022 | 2022-07-18 |
| 6 | 3:54.87 | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya | 2023 | 2023-08-22 |
| 7 | 3:54.99 | Shelby Houlihan | United States | 2019 | 2019-10-05 |
| 8 | 3:55.14 | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya | 2023$^{SF}$ | 2023-08-20 |
| 9 | 3:55.18 | Diribe Welteji | Ethiopia | 2023$^{SF}$ | 2023-08-20 |
| 10 | 3:55.28 | Laura Muir | United Kingdom | 2022 | 2022-07-18 |