Olympic Track and Field 2021: Women's 1,500m Medal Winners, Times and Results
August 6, 2021
Faith Kipyegon is once again the shining star of the women's 1,500 meters, with the Kenyan earning her second straight Olympic gold medal in the event.
After finishing first in her heat and semifinal, Kipyegon was the overwhelming favorite to win Friday's final. She held up her end of the bargain, setting an Olympic record time of 3 minutes, 53.11 seconds.
The previous Olympic record in the women's 1,500 was 3:53.96 by Paula Ivan of Romania at the 1988 Games in Seoul, South Korea.
Women's 1500M Final Results
Gold: Faith Kipyegon, Kenya (3:53.11)
Silver: Laura Muir, Great Britain (3:54.50)
Bronze: Sifan Hassan, Netherlands (3:55.86)
4th: Freweyni Gebreezibeher, Ethiopia (3:57.60)
5th: Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, Canada (3:58.93)
6th: Linden Hall, Australia (3:59.01)
7th: Winnie Nanyondo, Uganda (3:59.80)
8th: Nozomi Tanaka, Japan (3:59.95)
9th: Marta Perez, Spain (4:00.12)
10th: Elinor Purrier St. Pierre, United States (4:01.75)
11th: Jessica Hull, Australia (4:02.63)
12th: Cory Ann McGee, United States (4:05.50)
13th: Kristiina Maki, Czech Republic (4:11.76)
Kipyegon kept up a steady pace early, sitting in second place heading into the final lap right behind Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands.
Before making the final turn, Kipyegon turned on the jets to beat the field with ease. Hassan eventually fell back to third place, winning bronze. Laura Muir from Great Britain won the silver for her second straight Olympic medal in this event while setting a national record.
Competing in her second Olympics, Kipyegon has solidified her status as the best women's 1,500-meter runner in the world. The 27-year-old won the gold five years ago with a margin of victory of more than one full second over Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia with a 4:08.92.
David Rudisha @rudishadavidCongratulations Faith Kipyegon for the great win. It is gold for Kenya. She becomes the first Kenyan female athlete to win gold back to back in Olympics. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TokyoOlympics2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TokyoOlympics2020</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/2dHAuAUEO8">pic.twitter.com/2dHAuAUEO8</a>
It's a testament to how deep the field of runners was that winning time at this Olympics was more than 15 seconds better than in Rio de Janeiro, but everyone else is still chasing Kipyegon.
In fact, Kipyegon's 1.39-second margin of victory in Tokyo was a slight improvement over what she did in 2016. She is the first Kenyan athlete to win multiple individual Olympic gold medals.
Muir had the best run of her life to earn the silver medal. The Scot is the first athlete from Great Britain to win a medal in the 1,500 meters since Kelly Holmes won women's gold in the 2004 Athens Games and the 15th female or male Briton in the event.
Hassan wrapped up her run in Tokyo with two medals. She already won gold in the women's 5,000 meters. The 28-year-old is the first athlete from the Netherlands to medal in the 1,500.