# 2019 World Athletics Championships – Women's 1500 metres

The women's 1500 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, from 2 to 5 October 2019.

## Summary

Like the men, championship level women's 1500s also typically turn into strategic, sit and kick affairs. In 2017, strategic worked for Faith Kipyegon to leave the world record holder Genzebe Dibaba behind. Sifan Hassan was also left behind by that tactic. In 2019, she set the world record in the mile and had already won the 10,000 metres at these championships.
The final started inauspiciously enough, Gabriela DeBues-Stafford eventually found herself in the lead, Hassan dropped to the back of the pack. After 200 metres, Hassan moved out to lane 2 and moved forward around everyone into the lead. Kipyegon and Gudaf Tsegay moved in behind her to watch. Even with the slow start the first lap was 1:03.51. None of the chasing runners looked relaxed, most were working hard to stay up. Laura Muir and Jenny Simpson moved up toward the front. The second lap was 1:02.44. During the third lap, Muir positioned herself for the final lap, getting onto Kipyegon's shoulder coming onto the home stretch, then up to Hassan's just before the bell at 2:52.59. Muir stayed in position through the turn, Kipyegon and Tsegay behind her a gap forming behind. Hassan ran the third lap in 1:01.46, then looked back at Muir and took off sprinting. A big gap formed quickly, Kipyegon going around Muir in chase. Hassan kept looking back like a hunted animal being chased, but the gap continued to grow as did Kipyegon's separation from the next group of four; Muir, Tsegay, Shelby Houlihan with DeBues-Stafford trying to hold on. As Kipyegon saw hope was lost, she began to slow back toward the chasers. Houlihan moved to lane 2 to try to sprint past Tsegay, instead Tsegay pulled away gaining on Kipyegon. Hassan won by close to 15 metres. Kipyegon glided across the line for silver barely ahead of a rapidly closing Tsegay.
Hassan's time of 3:51.95, places her as the #6 runner in history behind Dibaba and two infamous races in China in the 1990s. Well beaten, Kipyegon, Tsegay and Houlihan moved to #11, #13 and #15 on that list respectively. Even sixth place DeBues-Stafford ranks as #21. Hassan set the European record that had been held by Soviet Tatyana Kazankina for 39 years, Houlihan the North American record, Kipyegon the Kenyan record and DeBues-Stafford the Canadian record.

## Records

Before the competition records were as follows:
| Record | Perf. | Athlete | Nat. | Date | Location |
| World | 3:50.07 | Genzebe Dibaba | ETH | 17 Jul 2015 | Monaco |
| Championship | 3:58.52 | Tatyana Tomashova | RUS | 31 Aug 2003 | Paris, France |
| World leading | 3:55.30 | Sifan Hassan | NED | 12 Jul 2019 | Monaco |
| African | 3:50.07 | Genzebe Dibaba | ETH | 17 Jul 2015 | Monaco |
| Asian | 3:50.46 | Qu Yunxia | CHN | 11 Sep 1993 | Beijing, China |
| NACAC | 3:56.29 | Shannon Rowbury | USA | 17 July 2015 | Monaco |
| South American | 4:05.67 | Letitia Vriesde | SUR | 31 Aug 1991 | Tokyo, Japan |
| European | 3:52.47 | Tatyana Kazankina | RUS | 31 Aug 1980 | Zürich, Switzerland |
| Oceanian | 4:00.86 | Linden Hall | AUS | 26 May 2018 | Eugene, United States |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 5 October | Final | Sifan Hassan | NED | 3:51.95 | CR, AR |

## Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+3), is as follows:
| Date | Time | Round |
| 2 October | 17:35 | Heats |
| 3 October | 23:00 | Semi-finals |
| 5 October | 20:55 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The first six in each heat (Q) and the next six fastest (q) qualified for the semi-finals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands (NED) | 4:03.88 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya (KEN) | 4:03.93 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Nikki Hiltz | United States (USA) | 4:04.00 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Winnie Nanyondo | Uganda (UGA) | 4:04.04 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Ciara Mageean | Ireland (IRL) | 4:04.18 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Sarah McDonald | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:04.42 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Lemlem Hailu | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:05.61 | q |
| 8 | 1 | Kristiina Mäki | Czech Republic (CZE) | 4:06.61 | q, PB |
| 9 | 1 | Esther Guerrero | Spain (ESP) | 4:06.99 | q |
| 10 | 3 | Jenny Simpson | United States (USA) | 4:07.27 | Q |
| 11 | 3 | Gabriela DeBues-Stafford | Canada (CAN) | 4:07.28 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | Laura Muir | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:07.37 | Q |
| 13 | 3 | Marta Pérez | Spain (ESP) | 4:07.48 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Georgia Griffith | Australia (AUS) | 4:07.73 | q |
| 15 | 3 | Claudia Bobocea | Romania (ROM) | 4:07.76 | Q |
| 16 | 3 | Malika Akkaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 4:08.05 | Q |
| 17 | 3 | Linden Hall | Australia (AUS) | 4:08.12 | q |
| 18 | 3 | Daryia Barysevich | Belarus (BLR) | 4:08.19 | q |
| 19 | 2 | Rababe Arafi | Morocco (MAR) | 4:08.32 | Q |
| 20 | 2 | Winny Chebet | Kenya (KEN) | 4:08.36 | Q |
| 21 | 2 | Gudaf Tsegay | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:08.39 | Q |
| 22 | 2 | Shelby Houlihan | United States (USA) | 4:08.51 | Q |
| 23 | 3 | Axumawit Embaye | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:08.56 | |
| 24 | 2 | Jessica Hull | Australia (AUS) | 4:08.71 | Q |
| 25 | 1 | Sara Kuivisto | Finland (FIN) | 4:08.85 | PB |
| 26 | 3 | Esther Chebet | Uganda (UGA) | 4:08.89 | |
| 27 | 2 | Yolanda Ngarambe | Sweden (SWE) | 4:09.22 | Q |
| 28 | 3 | María Pía Fernández | Uruguay (URU) | 4:09.45 | NR |
| 29 | 2 | Aisha Praught-Leer | Jamaica (JAM) | 4:09.81 | |
| 30 | 2 | P. U. Chitra | India (IND) | 4:11.10 | PB |
| 31 | 2 | Caterina Granz | Germany (GER) | 4:12.36 | |
| 32 | 2 | Jemma Reekie | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:12.51 | |
| 33 | 2 | Maruša Mišmaš | Slovenia (SLO) | 4:14.94 | |
| 34 | 2 | Carla Mendes | Cape Verde (CPV) | 4:23.56 | |
| 35 | 3 | Neide Dias | Angola (ANG) | 4:28.27 | |

### Semi-finals

The first 5 in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualified for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Jenny Simpson | United States (USA) | 4:00.99 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Gabriela DeBues-Stafford | Canada (CAN) | 4:01.04 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Laura Muir | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:01.05 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Gudaf Tsegay | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:01.12 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Winny Chebet | Kenya (KEN) | 4:01.14 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Winnie Nanyondo | Uganda (UGA) | 4:01.30 | q |
| 7 | 2 | Nikki Hiltz | United States (USA) | 4:01.52 | q, PB |
| 8 | 2 | Jessica Hull | Australia (AUS) | 4:01.80 | PB |
| 9 | 2 | Yolanda Ngarambe | Sweden (SWE) | 4:03.43 | PB |
| 10 | 2 | Linden Hall | Australia (AUS) | 4:06.39 | |
| 11 | 2 | Marta Pérez | Spain (ESP) | 4:10.45 | |
| 12 | 1 | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands (NED) | 4:14.69 | Q |
| 13 | 1 | Shelby Houlihan | United States (USA) | 4:14.91 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Rababe Arafi | Morocco (MAR) | 4:14.94 | Q |
| 15 | 1 | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya (KEN) | 4:14.98 | Q |
| 16 | 1 | Ciara Mageean | Ireland (IRL) | 4:15.49 | Q |
| 17 | 1 | Sarah McDonald | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:15.73 | |
| 18 | 1 | Lemlem Hailu | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:16.56 | |
| 19 | 1 | Esther Guerrero | Spain (ESP) | 4:16.66 | |
| 20 | 2 | Malika Akkaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 4:16.83 | |
| 21 | 1 | Daryia Barysevich | Belarus (BLR) | 4:17.04 | |
| 22 | 1 | Georgia Griffith | Australia (AUS) | 4:17.15 | |
| 23 | 1 | Kristiina Mäki | Czech Republic (CZE) | 4:17.65 | |
| 24 | 1 | Claudia Bobocea | Romania (ROM) | 4:18.25 | |

### Final

The final was started on 5 October at 20:55.
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands (NED) | 3:51.95 | CR, AR |
| | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya (KEN) | 3:54.22 | NR |
| | Gudaf Tsegay | Ethiopia (ETH) | 3:54.38 | PB |
| 4 | Shelby Houlihan | United States (USA) | 3:54.99 | AR |
| 5 | Laura Muir | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 3:55.76 | SB |
| 6 | Gabriela DeBues-Stafford | Canada (CAN) | 3:56.12 | NR |
| 7 | Winny Chebet | Kenya (KEN) | 3:58.20 | PB |
| 8 | Jenny Simpson | United States (USA) | 3:58.42 | SB |
| 9 | Rababe Arafi | Morocco (MAR) | 3:59.93 | |
| 10 | Ciara Mageean | Ireland (IRL) | 4:00.15 | PB |
| 11 | Winnie Nanyondo | Uganda (UGA) | 4:00.63 | |
| 12 | Nikki Hiltz | United States (USA) | 4:06.68 | |