# 1997 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 1500 metres

These are the results of the Women's 1500 metres event at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics in Athens, Greece. The event was held on 2, 3 and 5 August. The winning margin was 0.39 seconds.

## Medalists

| Gold | Carla Sacramento Portugal (POR) |
| Silver | Regina Jacobs United States (USA) |
| Bronze | Anita Weyermann Switzerland (SUI) |

## Results
### Heats

First 6 of each Heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Kutre Dulecha | Ethiopia | 4:07.70 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Regina Jacobs | United States | 4:07.90 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Maite Zúñiga | Spain | 4:08.09 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 2 | Theresia Kiesl | Austria | 4:08.13 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Joanne Pavey | Great Britain | 4:08.23 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Anita Weyermann | Switzerland | 4:08.30 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | Margarita Marusova | Russia | 4:08.45 | q |
| 8 | 2 | Kathy Butler | Canada | 4:08.87 | q |
| 9 | 1 | Sonia O'Sullivan | Ireland | 4:08.90 | Q |
| 10 | 1 | Olga Nelyubova | Russia | 4:09.02 | Q |
| 11 | 1 | Leah Pells | Canada | 4:09.25 | Q |
| 12 | 1 | Malin Ewerlöf | Sweden | 4:09.28 | Q |
| 13 | 1 | Carmen Wustenhagen | Germany | 4:09.34 | Q |
| 14 | 2 | Andrea Šuldesová | Czech Republic | 4:09.49 | q |
| 15 | 3 | Suzy Hamilton | United States | 4:10.12 | Q |
| 16 | 3 | Carla Sacramento | Portugal | 4:10.13 | Q |
| 17 | 3 | Małgorzata Rydz | Poland | 4:10.17 | Q, SB |
| 18 | 3 | Svetlana Masterkova | Russia | 4:10.22 | Q |
| 19 | 3 | Margaret Crowley | Australia | 4:10.23 | Q |
| 20 | 3 | Patricia Djaté-Taillard | France | 4:10.37 | Q |
| 21 | 3 | Robyn Meagher | Canada | 4:10.44 | q |
| 22 | 3 | Sinead Delahunty | Ireland | 4:10.45 | q |
| 23 | 3 | Natalya Ivanova | Ukraine | 4:10.79 | q |
| 24 | 1 | Frederique Quentin | France | 4:11.10 | Q |
| 25 | 3 | Sylvia Kühnemund | Germany | 4:11.21 | |
| 26 | 3 | Monika Rönnholm-Kinnunen | Finland | 4:11.71 | |
| 27 | 1 | Karolina Skourti | Greece | 4:11.88 | |
| 28 | 2 | Tatyana Belovol | Ukraine | 4:12.17 | |
| 29 | 1 | Nouria Mérah-Benida | Algeria | 4:12.21 | |
| 30 | 2 | Helena Javornik | Slovenia | 4:16.21 | |
| 31 | 1 | Sarah Thorsett | United States | 4:17.07 | |
| 32 | 1 | Samira Raïf | Morocco | 4:19.54 | |
| 33 | 3 | Shura Hotesa | Ethiopia | 4:21.27 | |
| | 1 | Kelly Holmes | Great Britain | DNF | |
| | 2 | Natalia Al Farran | Lebanon | DNS | |

### Semifinals

First 5 of each Heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Olga Nelyubova | Russia | 4:00.67 | Q, PB |
| 2 | 1 | Carla Sacramento | Portugal | 4:00.69 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 1 | Regina Jacobs | United States | 4:00.97 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Sonia O'Sullivan | Ireland | 4:05.31 | Q, SB |
| 5 | 1 | Anita Weyermann | Switzerland | 4:05.71 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Maite Zúñiga | Spain | 4:06.66 | q, SB |
| 7 | 2 | Malin Ewerlöf | Sweden | 4:06.75 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Leah Pells | Canada | 4:06.76 | Q, SB |
| 9 | 1 | Małgorzata Rydz | Poland | 4:06.86 | q, SB |
| 10 | 2 | Kutre Dulecha | Ethiopia | 4:06.90 | Q |
| 11 | 2 | Andrea Šuldesová | Czech Republic | 4:07.02 | Q, PB |
| 12 | 2 | Robyn Meagher | Canada | 4:07.06 | Q, SB |
| 13 | 2 | Suzy Hamilton | United States | 4:07.19 | |
| 14 | 2 | Sinead Delahunty | Ireland | 4:07.46 | SB |
| 15 | 1 | Kathy Butler | Canada | 4:07.68 | PB |
| 16 | 2 | Theresia Kiesl | Austria | 4:07.89 | |
| 17 | 2 | Margaret Crowley | Australia | 4:10.37 | |
| 18 | 1 | Natalya Ivanova | Ukraine | 4:10.39 | |
| 19 | 1 | Patricia Djaté-Taillard | France | 4:10.85 | |
| 20 | 1 | Joanne Pavey | Great Britain | 4:11.22 | |
| 21 | 2 | Margarita Marusova | Russia | 4:14.98 | |
| 22 | 1 | Carmen Wustenhagen | Germany | 4:15.08 | |
| 23 | 2 | Frederique Quentin | France | 4:16.15 | |
| 24 | 2 | Svetlana Masterkova | Russia | 4:22.74 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Carla Sacramento | Portugal | 4:04.24 | SB |
| | Regina Jacobs | United States | 4:04.63 | |
| | Anita Weyermann | Switzerland | 4:04.70 | SB |
| 4 | Maite Zúñiga | Spain | 4:04.80 | SB |
| 5 | Leah Pells | Canada | 4:06.18 | SB |
| 6 | Andrea Šuldesová | Czech Republic | 4:06.33 | PB |
| 7 | Olga Nelyubova | Russia | 4:07.34 | |
| 8 | Sonia O'Sullivan | Ireland | 4:07.81 | |
| 9 | Kutre Dulecha | Ethiopia | 4:08.15 | |
| 10 | Malin Ewerlöf | Sweden | 4:08.68 | |
| 11 | Robyn Meagher | Canada | 4:10.83 | |
| 12 | Małgorzata Rydz | Poland | 4:13.25 | |