# 2015 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 1500 metres

The women's 1500 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 22, 23 and 25 August.

## Summary

Abeba Aregawi of Sweden entered as the defending champion, although her preparations that year were hampered by injury. In contrast, the world-leading athlete that season Genzebe Dibaba had broken the long-standing world record for the event the previous month.
The semi-finals were definitely a contrast with the second semi run eight seconds faster than the first, still no favorites were left behind. From the gun in the final, the field seemed to drop back in unison, leaving Americans Shannon Rowbury and Jennifer Simpson out front. With no guidance, the two jogged through a 1:17.06 first lap. As the slow pace continued, the overwhelming favorite Dibaba jogged up to the outside of Simpson's shoulder. With just over 2 laps to go, Dibaba took the lead and turned it into an 800-meter race, her first 100 metres of acceleration bringing the second lap time down to 68.58. Simpson tried to chase but Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon, Aregawi and Dawit Seyaum overtook her chasing Dibaba. Dibaba's penultimate lap was 57.9 with Sifan Hassan moving forward, with Chepngetich, then Seyaum continuing to chase and Aregawi falling back. Hassan passed Chepngetich through the final turn and the battle became for the silver medal. With Dibaba pulling away, Hassan couldn't hold her speed. Drifting to the outside of the lane, she gave space for Chepngetich to move through back into second place. Dibaba slowed as she celebrated crossing the finish line arms raised above her head, still her final 800 metres was 1:57.3, only Eunice Sum had run an 800 metres race that fast in 2015. Even Hassan, who was at the back of the pack when the kick started ran faster than any other woman had run an 800 in 2015 by running a 1:57.6.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:
| World record | Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) | 3:50.07 | Fontvieille, Monaco | 17 July 2015 |
| Championship record | Tatyana Tomashova (RUS) | 3:58.52 | Paris, France | 31 August 2003 |
| World leading | Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) | 3:50.07 | Fontvieille, Monaco | 17 July 2015 |
| African record | Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) | 3:50.07 | Fontvieille, Monaco | 17 July 2015 |
| Asian record | Qu Yunxia (CHN) | 3:50.46 | Beijing, China | 11 September 1993 |
| NACAC record | Shannon Rowbury (USA) | 3:56.29 | Fontvieille, Monaco | 17 July 2015 |
| 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

* Entry standards
* 4:06.50 (mile: 4:25.20)

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| 22 August 2015 | 11:15 | Heats |
| 23 August 2015 | 20:45 | Semifinals |
| 25 August 2015 | 20:35 | Final |
All times are local times (UTC+8)

## Results
### Heats

Qualification: Best 6 (Q) and next 6 fastest (q) qualify for the next round.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Genzebe Dibaba | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:02.59 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya (KEN) | 4:02.77 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Rababe Arafi | Morocco (MAR) | 4:04.17 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Besu Sado | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:05.39 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Laura Muir | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:05.53 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | Maureen Koster | Netherlands (NED) | 4:05.55 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Nancy Chepkwemoi | Kenya (KEN) | 4:05.65 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | Shannon Rowbury | United States (USA) | 4:05.66 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Betlhem Desalegn | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 4:05.73 | Q, DQ |
| 9 | 1 | Anna Shchagina | Russia (RUS) | 4:05.78 | Q |
| 10 | 1 | Lauren Johnson | United States (USA) | 4:05.79 | q |
| 11 | 1 | Malika Akkaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 4:05.85 | q |
| 12 | 1 | Renata Pliś | Poland (POL) | 4:05.89 | q |
| 13 | 3 | Amela Terzić | Serbia (SRB) | 4:06.07 | Q |
| 14 | 3 | Laura Weightman | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:06.13 | Q |
| 15 | 3 | Kerri Gallagher | United States (USA) | 4:06.34 | q |
| 16 | 3 | Sofia Ennaoui | Poland (POL) | 4:06.96 | q |
| 17 | 1 | Muriel Coneo | Colombia (COL) | 4:08.31 | q, NR |
| 18 | 3 | Margherita Magnani | Italy (ITA) | 4:09.06 | |
| 19 | 1 | Melissa Duncan | Australia (AUS) | 4:09.29 | |
| 20 | 3 | Luiza Gega | Albania (ALB) | 4:09.36 | |
| 21 | 2 | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands (NED) | 4:09.52 | Q |
| 22 | 2 | Dawit Seyaum | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:09.64 | Q |
| 23 | 2 | Abeba Aregawi | Sweden (SWE) | 4:10.77 | Q |
| 24 | 2 | Tatyana Tomashova | Russia (RUS) | 4:10.79 | Q |
| 25 | 2 | Jennifer Simpson | United States (USA) | 4:10.91 | Q |
| 26 | 2 | Angelika Cichocka | Poland (POL) | 4:11.08 | Q |
| 27 | 2 | Viola Cheptoo Lagat | Kenya (KEN) | 4:12.15 | |
| 28 | 2 | Nicole Sifuentes | Canada (CAN) | 4:12.82 | |
| 29 | 3 | Florina Pierdevară | Romania (ROM) | 4:13.76 | |
| 30 | 2 | Nikki Hamblin | New Zealand (NZL) | 4:16.65 | |
| 31 | 1 | Eliane Saholinirina | Madagascar (MAD) | 4:19.54 | SB |
| 32 | 2 | Heidi See | Australia (AUS) | 4:20.65 | |
| 33 | 2 | Amina Bakhit | Sudan (SUD) | 4:22.49 | SB |
| | 2 | Siham Hilali | Morocco (MAR) | DNF | |

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 5 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Genzebe Dibaba | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:06.74 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya (KEN) | 4:06.88 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Laura Muir | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:07.95 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Rababe Arafi | Morocco (MAR) | 4:08.19 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Jennifer Simpson | United States (USA) | 4:08.20 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Tatyana Tomashova | Russia (RUS) | 4:08.72 | q |
| 7 | 2 | Angelika Cichocka | Poland (POL) | 4:09.19 | q |
| 8 | 2 | Lauren Johnson | United States (USA) | 4:10.01 | |
| 9 | 2 | Maureen Koster | Netherlands (NED) | 4:10.95 | |
| 10 | 2 | Amela Terzić | Serbia (SRB) | 4:13.92 | |
| 11 | 2 | Renata Pliś | Poland (POL) | 4:15.10 | |
| 12 | 1 | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands (NED) | 4:15.38 | Q |
| 13 | 1 | Dawit Seyaum | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:15.46 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Abeba Aregawi | Sweden (SWE) | 4:15.90 | Q |
| 15 | 1 | Malika Akkaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 4:16.61 | Q |
| 16 | 1 | Shannon Rowbury | United States (USA) | 4:16.64 | Q |
| 17 | 1 | Sofia Ennaoui | Poland (POL) | 4:16.70 | |
| 18 | 1 | Besu Sado | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:17.17 | |
| 19 | 1 | Kerri Gallagher | United States (USA) | 4:17.63 | |
| 20 | 1 | Anna Shchagina | Russia (RUS) | 4:17.82 | |
| 21 | 1 | Betlhem Desalegn | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 4:17.92 | DQ |
| 21 | 2 | Muriel Coneo | Colombia (COL) | 4:18.14 | |
| 22 | 1 | Nancy Chepkwemoi | Kenya (KEN) | 4:18.15 | |
| | 1 | Laura Weightman | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | DNS | |

### Final

The final was started at 20:35.
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | Genzebe Dibaba | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:08.09 |
| | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya (KEN) | 4:08.96 |
| | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands (NED) | 4:09.34 |
| 4 | Dawit Seyaum | Ethiopia (ETH) | 4:10.26 |
| 5 | Laura Muir | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4:11.48 |
| 6 | Abeba Aregawi | Sweden (SWE) | 4:12.16 |
| 7 | Shannon Rowbury | United States (USA) | 4:12.39 |
| 8 | Angelika Cichocka | Poland (POL) | 4:13.22 |
| 9 | Rababe Arafi | Morocco (MAR) | 4:13.66 |
| 10 | Tatyana Tomashova | Russia (RUS) | 4:14.18 |
| 11 | Jennifer Simpson | United States (USA) | 4:16.28 |
| 12 | Malika Akkaoui | Morocco (MAR) | 4:16.98 |