# 2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 1500 metres

The women's 1500 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium between 18–23 August. The winning margin was 0.01 seconds which as of 2024 is the narrowest winning margin in the women's 1500 metres at these championships.
It was originally won by Natalia Rodríguez of Spain, but she was disqualified for tripping Gelete Burka of Ethiopia. Burka had been in the lead for the majority of the race, but Rodríguez had caught up and tripped Burka. Burka ended up finishing last and was visibly upset of what had happened. Rodríguez was disqualified. Defending champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain received the gold, Lisa Dobriskey of Great Britain received the silver, and Shannon Rowbury of the United States received the bronze. In addition, Mariem Alaoui Selsouli of Morocco was disqualified before the final for testing positive for Erythropoietin. She was not replaced.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Maryam Yusuf Jamal Bahrain (BHR) | Lisa Dobriskey Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | Shannon Rowbury United States (USA) |

## Records

| World record | Qu Yunxia (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) | 3:56.55 | Rome, Italy | 10 July 2009 |
| African record | Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) | 3:55.30 | Barcelona, Spain | 8 August 1992 |
| Asian record | Qu Yunxia (CHN) | 3:50.46 | Beijing, China | 11 September 1993 |
| North American 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 |
| 4:06.00 | 4:09.00 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| August 18, 2009 | 12:05 | Heats |
| August 21, 2009 | 20:00 | Semifinals |
| August 23, 2009 | 17:00 | Final |

## Results
### 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 | 2 | Gelete Burka | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:07.75 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Natalia Rodríguez | Spain (ESP) | 4:07.84 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Lisa Dobriskey | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:07.90 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Natalya Yevdokimova | Russia (RUS) | 4:08.06 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Anna Alminova | Russia (RUS) | 4:08.13 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Anna Willard | United States (USA) | 4:08.13 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | Nancy Lagat | Kenya (KEN) | 4:08.16 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Btissam Lakhouad | Morocco (MAR) | 4:08.21 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | Kalkidan Gezahegne | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:08.23 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | Christin Wurth-Thomas | United States (USA) | 4:08.23 | Q |
| 11 | 2 | Mimi Belete | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:08.36 | q |
| 12 | 3 | Sylwia Ejdys | Poland (POL) | 4:08.59 | Q |
| 13 | 3 | Sonja Roman | Slovenia (SLO) | 4:08.65 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Maryam Yusuf Jamal | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:08.76 | Q |
| 15 | 1 | Nuria Fernández | Spain (ESP) | 4:08.79 | Q |
| 16 | 1 | Meskerem Assefa | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:08.86 | Q |
| 16 | 1 | Mariem Alaoui Selsouli | Morocco (MAR) | 4:08.86 | Q |
| 18 | 1 | Iryna Lishchynska | Ukraine (UKR) | 4:08.95 | Q |
| 19 | 1 | Irina Krakoviak | Lithuania (LTU) | 4:08.96 | Q |
| 20 | 1 | Viola Kibiwot | Kenya (KEN) | 4:09.18 | q |
| 21 | 3 | Anna Mishchenko | Ukraine (UKR) | 4:09.26 | q |
| 22 | 1 | Lidia Chojecka | Poland (POL) | 4:09.38 | q |
| 23 | 2 | Nikki Hamblin | New Zealand (NZL) | 4:09.60 | q |
| 24 | 3 | Iris Fuentes-Pila | Spain (ESP) | 4:09.71 | q |
| 25 | 1 | Oksana Zbrozhek | Russia (RUS) | 4:09.84 | |
| 26 | 1 | Charlene Thomas | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:09.91 | |
| 27 | 3 | Adrienne Herzog | Netherlands (NED) | 4:10.10 | |
| 28 | 1 | Shannon Rowbury | United States (USA) | 4:10.30 | q |
| 29 | 3 | Siham Hilali | Morocco (MAR) | 4:10.57 | |
| 30 | 2 | Hind Déhiba Chahyd | France (FRA) | 4:11.41 | q |
| 31 | 3 | Deirdre Byrne | Ireland (IRL) | 4:12.19 | |
| 32 | 2 | Tamara Tverdostup | Ukraine (UKR) | 4:13.36 | |
| 33 | 2 | Alemitu Bekele | Turkey (TUR) | 4:13.69 | SB |
| 34 | 1 | Marina Munćan | Serbia (SRB) | 4:15.18 | |
| 35 | 1 | Eliane Saholinirina | Madagascar (MAD) | 4:16.63 | |
| 36 | 2 | Susan Kuijken | Netherlands (NED) | 4:18.10 | |
| 37 | 3 | Stephanie Twell | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:18.23 | |
| 38 | 2 | Irene Jelagat | Kenya (KEN) | 4:27.36 | |
| 39 | 3 | Sladjana Pejovic | Montenegro (MNE) | 4:28.67 | |
| 40 | 3 | Francine Nzilampa | DR Congo (COD) | 4:30.56 | NR |
| 41 | 2 | Aldy Villalobos | Nicaragua (NCA) | 4:50.55 | PB |
| 42 | 1 | Eva Pereira | Cape Verde (CPV) | 5:04.95 | PB |
Key: NR = National record, PB = Personal best, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 5 in each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Maryam Yusuf Jamal | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:03.64 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Natalia Rodríguez | Spain (ESP) | 4:03.73 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 1 | Lisa Dobriskey | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:03.84 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Christin Wurth-Thomas | United States (USA) | 4:04.16 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Kalkidan Gezahegne | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:04.75 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Natalya Yevdokimova | Russia (RUS) | 4:04.93 | q |
| 7 | 1 | Lidia Chojecka | Poland (POL) | 4:06.53 | q |
| 8 | 1 | Viola Kibiwot | Kenya (KEN) | 4:06.88 | |
| 9 | 1 | Iris Fuentes-Pila | Spain (ESP) | 4:07.10 | |
| 10 | 1 | Sonja Roman | Slovenia (SLO) | 4:07.10 | |
| 11 | 1 | Btissam Lakhouad | Morocco (MAR) | 4:08.72 | |
| 12 | 2 | Gelete Burka | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:10.19 | Q |
| 13 | 2 | Mariem Alaoui Selsouli | Morocco (MAR) | 4:10.46 | Q |
| 14 | 2 | Anna Willard | United States (USA) | 4:10.47 | Q |
| 15 | 2 | Shannon Rowbury | United States (USA) | 4:10.51 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | Nuria Fernández | Spain (ESP) | 4:10.64 | Q |
| 17 | 2 | Nikki Hamblin | New Zealand (NZL) | 4:10.96 | |
| 18 | 1 | Anna Mishchenko | Ukraine (UKR) | 4:11.02 | |
| 19 | 2 | Nancy Lagat | Kenya (KEN) | 4:11.10 | |
| 20 | 2 | Hind Déhiba Chahyd | France (FRA) | 4:11.22 | |
| 21 | 2 | Sylwia Ejdys | Poland (POL) | 4:11.33 | |
| 22 | 1 | Irina Krakoviak | Lithuania (LTU) | 4:12.54 | |
| 23 | 2 | Anna Alminova | Russia (RUS) | 4:12.55 | |
| 24 | 2 | Mimi Belete | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:13.30 | |
| | 2 | Meskerem Assefa | Ethiopia (ETH) | | DNS |
| | 2 | Iryna Lishchynska | Ukraine (UKR) | | DNF |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Maryam Yusuf Jamal | Bahrain (BHR) | 4:03.74 | |
| | Lisa Dobriskey | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:03.75 | |
| | Shannon Rowbury | United States (USA) | 4:04.18 | |
| 4 | Nuria Fernández | Spain (ESP) | 4:04.91 | |
| 5 | Christin Wurth-Thomas | United States (USA) | 4:05.21 | |
| 6 | Anna Willard | United States (USA) | 4:06.19 | |
| 7 | Lidia Chojecka | Poland (POL) | 4:07.17 | |
| 8 | Kalkidan Gezahegne | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:08.81 | |
| 9 | Gelete Burka | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:11.21 | |
| | Natalia Rodríguez | Spain (ESP) | 4:03:37 | DQ |
| | Natalya Yevdokimova | Russia (RUS) | 4:07.71 | DQ |
| | Mariem Alaoui Selsouli | Morocco (MAR) | | DNS/DQ |