# 2011 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 1500 metres

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Jennifer Barringer Simpson United States (USA) | Hannah England Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | Natalia Rodríguez Spain (ESP) |
The Women's 1500 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 28 & 30, and September 1.
Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain, the gold medallist in 2009, had the two fastest times of the year prior to the competition. American Morgan Uceny entered as the Diamond League leader and her compatriot Shannon Rowbury (bronze in 2009) was also present. The 2010 World Indoor champion Kalkidan Gezahegne, Russia's Ekaterina Gorbunova and Btissam Lakhouad of Morocco completed the top four fastest runners that year. Other prominent entrants included 2008 Olympic champion Nancy Jebet Langat, 2009 runner-up Lisa Dobriskey and world indoor medallists Natalia Rodríguez and Gelete Burka.
The final was a tight pack, disrupted in the turn less than a lap and a half before the finish when Hellen Onsando Obiri fell taking out Uceny along with her. With a pack of 9 remaining, the competitors jockeyed for position on the final lap. As they entered the final straightaway Natalia Rodríguez had a slight edge on the pack almost four wide. Jennifer Barringer Simpson and Hannah England were trailing the pack but Simpson went wide and passed the field as Rodríguez started to falter. England followed Simpson in full sprint across the finish line.
Nataliya Tobias was disqualified for doping in 2012 after further analysis of a sample of hers from the Daegu Championships. Olesya Syreva, Anzhela Shevchenko and Natallia Kareiva have later had their results disqualified after they were found to be doping based on abnormalities in their biological passport profiles.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:
| World record | Yunxia Qu (CHN) | 3:50.46 | Beijing, China | 11 September 1993 |
| Championship record | Tatyana Tomashova (RUS) | 3:58.52 | Paris, France | 31 August 2003 |
| World Leading | Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR) | 4:00.33 | Hengelo, Netherlands | 29 May 2011 |
| African Record | Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) | 3:55.30 | Barcelona, Spain | 8 August 1992 |
| Asian Record | Yunxia Qu (CHN) | 3:50.46 | Beijing, China | 11 September 1993 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Mary Slaney (USA) | 3:57.12 | Stockholm, Sweden | 26 July 1983 |
| South American record | Letitia Vriesde (SUR) | 4:05.67 | Tokyo, Japan | 31 August 1991 |
| European Record | Tatyana Kazankina (URS) | 3:52.47 | Zürich, Switzerland | 13 August 1980 |
| Oceanian record | Sarah Jamieson (AUS) | 4:00.93 | Stockholm, Sweden | 25 July 2006 |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 4:05.90 | 4:08.90 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| August 28, 2011 | 10:40 | Heats |
| August 30, 2011 | 20:35 | Semifinals |
| September 1, 2011 | 20:55 | Final |

## Results

| KEY: | q | Fastest non-qualifiers | Q | Qualified | NR | National record | PB | Personal best | SB | Seasonal best |

### Heats

Qualification: First 6 in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) advance to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Maryam Yusuf Jamal | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:07.04 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Nuria Fernández | Spain (ESP) | 4:07.29 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Morgan Uceny | United States (USA) | 4:07.43 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Hellen Onsando Obiri | Kenya (KEN) | 4:07.59 | Q, PB |
| 5 | 3 | Yekaterina Martynova | Russia (RUS) | 4:07.76 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | Gelete Burka | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:07.91 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | Aslı Çakır | Turkey (TUR) | 4:08.05 | q |
| 8 | 3 | Ingvill Måkestad Bovim | Norway (NOR) | 4:08.26 | q |
| 9 | 3 | Kaila McKnight | Australia (AUS) | 4:08.74 | q |
| 10 | 3 | Renata Pliś | Poland (POL) | 4:08.83 | q |
| 11 | 3 | Anna Mishchenko | Ukraine (UKR) | 4:09.02 | q |
| 12 | 2 | Tugba Karakaya | Turkey (TUR) | 4:10.38 | Q |
| 13 | 2 | Btissam Lakhouad | Morocco (MAR) | 4:10.71 | Q |
| 14 | 2 | Viola Kibiwot | Kenya (KEN) | 4:10.74 | Q |
| 15 | 2 | Natalia Rodríguez | Spain (ESP) | 4:10.76 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | Jennifer Barringer Simpson | United States (USA) | 4:10.84 | Q |
| 17 | 2 | Nataliya Tobias | Ukraine (UKR) | 4:10.99 | Q |
| 18 | 2 | Olesya Syreva | Russia (RUS) | 4:11.24 | q |
| 19 | 2 | Natallia Kareiva | Belarus (BLR) | 4:12.03 | DQ |
| 19 | 2 | Genzeb Shumi | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:12.32 | |
| 20 | 2 | Meskerem Assefa | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:12.43 | |
| 21 | 2 | Lisa Dobriskey | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:12.70 | |
| 22 | 1 | Hannah England | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:13.45 | Q |
| 23 | 1 | Mimi Belete | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:13.50 | Q |
| 24 | 1 | Siham Hilali | Morocco (MAR) | 4:13.59 | Q |
| 25 | 1 | Natalya Yevdokimova | Russia (RUS) | 4:14.36 | Q |
| 26 | 1 | Nancy Lagat | Kenya (KEN) | 4:14.37 | Q |
| 27 | 1 | Shannon Rowbury | United States (USA) | 4:14.43 | Q |
| 28 | 1 | Kalkidan Gezahegne | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:14.45 | q * |
| 29 | 1 | Isabel Macías | Spain (ESP) | 4:14.75 | |
| 30 | 3 | Malika Akkaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 4:14.79 | |
| 31 | 1 | Anzhela Shevchenko | Ukraine (UKR) | 4:16.22 | |
| 32 | 2 | Gladys Landaverde | El Salvador (ESA) | 4:28.50 | SB |
| 33 | 1 | Tandiwe Nyathi | Zimbabwe (ZIM) | 4:32.79 | PB |
| 34 | 1 | Nikki Hamblin | New Zealand (NZL) | 4:36.70 | |
* Following a protest lodged by the Ethiopian federation, due to a crash by New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin who caused Gezahegne to stagger onto the infield.

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 5 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Natalia Rodríguez | Spain (ESP) | 4:07.88 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Jennifer Barringer Simpson | United States (USA) | 4:07.90 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Nataliya Tobias | Ukraine (UKR) | 4:07.99 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Ingvill Måkestad Bovim | Norway (NOR) | 4:08.03 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Btissam Lakhouad | Morocco (MAR) | 4:08.10 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Hannah England | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:08.31 | q |
| 7 | 2 | Mimi Belete | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:08.42 | q |
| 8 | 1 | Tugba Karakaya | Turkey (TUR) | 4:08.58 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | Viola Kibiwot | Kenya (KEN) | 4:08.64 | |
| 11 | 1 | Hellen Onsando Obiri | Kenya (KEN) | 4:08.93 | Q |
| 12 | 1 | Kalkidan Gezahegne | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:08.96 | Q |
| 13 | 1 | Maryam Yusuf Jamal | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:08.96 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Morgan Uceny | United States (USA) | 4:09.03 | Q |
| 15 | 1 | Nuria Fernández | Spain (ESP) | 4:09.53 | |
| 16 | 1 | Siham Hilali | Morocco (MAR) | 4:09.64 | |
| 17 | 1 | Anna Mishchenko | Ukraine (UKR) | 4:09.78 | |
| 18 | 1 | Olesya Syreva | Russia (RUS) | 4:09.83 | |
| 19 | 1 | Kaila McKnight | Australia (AUS) | 4:10.83 | |
| 20 | 1 | Renata Pliś | Poland (POL) | 4:11.12 | |
| 21 | 1 | Shannon Rowbury | United States (USA) | 4:11.49 | |
| 22 | 2 | Aslı Çakır | Turkey (TUR) | 4:11.51 | |
| 23 | 1 | Natalya Yevdokimova | Russia (RUS) | 4:11.70 | |
| 24 | 2 | Nancy Lagat | Kenya (KEN) | 4:12.92 | |
| | 2 | Gelete Burka | Ethiopia (ETH) | DNF | |
| DSQ | 2 | Yekaterina Martynova | Russia (RUS) | 4:08.67 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Jennifer Barringer Simpson | United States (USA) | 4:05.40 | |
| | Hannah England | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:05.68 | |
| | Natalia Rodríguez | Spain (ESP) | 4:05.87 | |
| 4 | Btissam Lakhouad | Morocco (MAR) | 4:06.18 | |
| 5 | Kalkidan Gezahegne | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:06.42 | |
| 6 | Ingvill Måkestad Bovim | Norway (NOR) | 4:06.85 | |
| 7 | Mimi Belete | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:07.60 | |
| 8 | Tugba Karakaya | Turkey (TUR) | 4:08.14 | |
| 9 | Morgan Uceny | United States (USA) | 4:19.71 | |
| 10 | Hellen Onsando Obiri | Kenya (KEN) | 4:20.23 | |
| 11 | Maryam Yusuf Jamal | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:22.67 | |
| - | Nataliya Tobias | Ukraine (UKR) | 4:08.68 | DQ |