# Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Women's 1500 metres

The Women's 1500 metres competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada was held at the Olympic Stadium on 26–30 July.

## Competition format

The Women's 1500m competition consisted of heats (Round 1), Semifinals and a Final. The three fastest competitors from each race in the heats plus the next two fastest overall qualified for the Semifinals. The four fastest competitors from each of the Semifinal races plus the next fastest overall advanced to the Final.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Tatyana Kazankina (URS) | 3:56.0 | Podolsk, Soviet Union | 28 June 1976 |
| Olympic record | Lyudmila Bragina (URS) | 4:01.4 | Munich, West Germany | 9 September 1972 |

## Results
### Round 1

Qual. rule: first 4 of each heat (Q) plus the next two fastest times (q) qualified.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gabriella Dorio | Italy | 4:10.84 | Q |
| 2 | Raisa Smekhnova | Soviet Union | 4:10.88 | Q |
| 3 | Jan Merrill | United States | 4:10.92 | Q |
| 4 | Mary Stewart | Great Britain | 4:11.10 | Q |
| 5 | Maricica Puică | Romania | 4:12.62 | |
| 6 | Rositsa Pekhlivanova | Bulgaria | 4:13.11 | |
| 7 | Judy Amoore | Australia | 4:14.22 | |
| 8 | Bernadette Van Roy | Belgium | 4:16.27 | |
| 9 | Magdolna Lázár | Hungary | 4:23.30 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Lyudmila Bragina | Soviet Union | 4:07.11 | Q |
| 2 | Christiane Wartenberg | East Germany | 4:07.13 | Q |
| 3 | Nina Holmén | Finland | 4:07.14 | Q |
| 4 | Grete Waitz | Norway | 4:07.20 | Q |
| 5 | Ellen Wellmann | West Germany | 4:07.20 | q |
| 6 | Francie Larrieu Smith | United States | 4:07.21 | q |
| 7 | Dianne Rodger | New Zealand | 4:12.81 | |
| 8 | Thelma Wright | Canada | 4:15.23 | |
| 9 | Ndew Niang | Senegal | 4:44.64 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ulrike Bruns | East Germany | 4:11.62 | Q |
| 2 | Tatyana Kazankina | Soviet Union | 4:12.10 | Q |
| 3 | Vesela Yatsinska | Bulgaria | 4:12.72 | Q |
| 4 | Sonja Castelein | Belgium | 4:12.95 | Q |
| 5 | Penny Yule | Great Britain | 4:13.36 | |
| 6 | Ileana Silai | Romania | 4:13.61 | |
| 7 | Margherita Gargano | Italy | 4:15.94 | |
| 8 | Carmen Valero | Spain | 4:17.65 | |
| 9 | Penny Werthner | Canada | 4:18.19 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Brigitte Kraus | West Germany | 4:07.79 | Q |
| 2 | Gunhild Hoffmeister | East Germany | 4:08.23 | Q |
| 3 | Natalia Mărăşescu | Romania | 4:08.31 | Q |
| 4 | Nikolina Shtereva | Bulgaria | 4:08.38 | Q |
| 5 | Mary Tracey-Purcell | Ireland | 4:08.63 | |
| 6 | Cyndy Poor | United States | 4:08.89 | |
| 7 | Anne Audain | New Zealand | 4:10.68 | |
| 8 | Silvana Cruciata | Italy | 4:16.78 | |
| 9 | Lilja Guðmundsdóttir | Iceland | 4:20.27 | |

### Semifinals
#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ulrike Bruns | East Germany | 4:02.13 | Q |
| 2 | Nikolina Shtereva | Bulgaria | 4:02.33 | Q |
| 3 | Lyudmila Bragina | Soviet Union | 4:02.41 | Q |
| 4 | Gunhild Hoffmeister | East Germany | 4:02.45 | Q |
| 5 | Jan Merrill | United States | 4:02.61 | q |
| 6 | Raisa Smekhnova | Soviet Union | 4:03.20 | |
| 7 | Brigitte Kraus | West Germany | 4:04.21 | |
| 8 | Grete Waitz | Norway | 4:04.80 | |
| 9 | Sonja Castelein | Belgium | 4:13.46 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Tatyana Kazankina | Soviet Union | 4:07.37 | Q |
| 2 | Nina Holmén | Finland | 4:07.53 | Q |
| 3 | Ellen Wellmann | West Germany | 4:07.54 | Q |
| 4 | Gabriella Dorio | Italy | 4:07.61 | Q |
| 5 | Mary Stewart | Great Britain | 4:07.65 | |
| 6 | Vesela Yatsinska | Bulgaria | 4:07.89 | |
| 7 | Natalia Mărăşescu | Romania | 4:07.92 | |
| 8 | Christiane Wartenberg | East Germany | 4:08.28 | |
| 9 | Francie Larrieu Smith | United States | 4:09.07 | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| | Tatyana Kazankina | Soviet Union | 4:05.48 |
| | Gunhild Hoffmeister | East Germany | 4:06.02 |
| | Ulrike Bruns | East Germany | 4:06.09 |
| 4 | Nikolina Shtereva | Bulgaria | 4:06.57 |
| 5 | Lyudmila Bragina | Soviet Union | 4:07.20 |
| 6 | Gabriella Dorio | Italy | 4:07.27 |
| 7 | Ellen Wellmann | West Germany | 4:07.91 |
| 8 | Jan Merrill | United States | 4:08.54 |
| 9 | Nina Holmén | Finland | 4:09.55 |