In the much-anticipated women’s 1,500 final, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon took home the gold to become double Olympic champion. Entering into the final lap, the three favourites were all in contention to win however, Kipyegon, the 2016 Olympic champion pulled away over the course of the final lap to retain her title. Scotland’s Laura Muir finished second and The Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan took third.
Kipyegon’s win was not only impressive for her tactics, but she also finished in an Olympic record of 3:53.11. Already a champion in her younger years at the youth and junior championships, Kipyegon has continued her success as a senior on the world stage. She a Commonwealth Games champion, world champion, and now double Olympic champion. Her victory puts her in the conversation for one of the most consistent runners at the distance, winning first or second at every global championships that she has competed in since 2015. Kipyegon only took a break in 2018 to have a child.
She said, “I am so excited to have won this. To get the Olympic record is just amazing to me. I am so happy. I knew it would be a tough race being there with Sifan and Laura. Sifan is strong now and in good shape. I wanted to follow her and see what happened. I want to thank my coach, my manager, my husband, and daughter, they support me a lot.”
Kenyan, Faith Kipyegon, won her semi-final heat in the time of 3:56.80. So much for tactics. The 27-year-old Rio 1500m defending Olympic champion is also the 2017 London and 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships gold and silver medallist, respectively.
Her lifetime personal best is a staggering 3:51.07 run just one month ago during the Monaco Diamond League meet.
Kipyegon’s Monaco race is the fourth fastest performance all-time behind Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba’s 3:50.17, and two Chinese athletes Qu Yunxia and Jiang Bo from the 1990s who ran in the questionable Ma’s Army group. Kipyegon owns the fastest 1500m time on the start line in Tokyo.
Muir broke the British record with her 3:54.50 performance. While Hassan clocked a 3:55.86.
Hassan also ran a tough race coming back from her 5,000m Olympic title. She led most of the race and kicked hard but could not match Kipyegon’s finishing speed or apparent freshness.
Hassan added, “I am very happy. I did my best and made it a fast race. I could not have done anything else. I have already run so many kilometres, so I am super happy.”
Hassan’s personal best is from 2019 at the Dutch national record of 351.95.
Gabriela DeBues-Stafford from Canada didn’t quite match her national record time from the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships, but she did match her placing of fifth. She finished in the time of 3:56.12.
Final
| Rank | Country | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KEN | KIPYEGON Faith | 3:53.11 |
| 2 | GBR | MUIR Laura | 3:54.50 |
| 3 | NED | HASSAN Sifan | 3:55.86 |
| 4 | ETH | GEBREEZIBEHER Freweyni | 3:57.60 |
| 5 | CAN | DEBUES-STAFFORD Gabriela | 3:58.93 |
| 6 | AUS | HALL Linden | 3:59.01 |
| 7 | UGA | NANYONDO Winnie | 3:59.80 |
| 8 | JPN | TANAKA Nozomi | 3:59.95 |
| 9 | ESP | PEREZ Marta | 4:00.12 |
| 10 | USA | PURRIER ST. PIERRE Elinor | 4:01.75 |
| 11 | AUS | HULL Jessica | 4:02.63 |
| 12 | USA | McGEE Cory Ann | 4:05.50 |
| 13 | CZE | MAKI Kristiina | 4:11.76 |
Semi-Final Two
| Rank | Country | Name | Time | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NED | HASSAN Sifan | 4:00.23 | Q |
| 2 | GBR | MUIR Laura | 4:00.73 | Q |
| 3 | AUS | HALL Linden | 4:01.37 | Q |
| 4 | UGA | NANYONDO Winnie | 4:01.64 | Q |
| 5 | ESP | PEREZ Marta | 4:01.69 | Q |
| 6 | CAN | STAFFORD Lucia | 4:02.12 | |
| 7 | FIN | KUIVISTO Sara | 4:02.35 | |
| 8 | CZE | MEZULIANIKOVA Diana | 4:03.70 | |
| 9 | ETH | HAILU Lemlem | 4:03.76 | |
| 10 | POR | PEN FREITAS Marta | 4:04.15 | |
| 11 | BEL | VANDERLST Elise | 4:04.86 | |
| 12 | USA | MACLEAN Heather | 4:05.33 | |
| 13 | KEN | JEBITOK Edinah | 4:05.56 |
Semi-Final One
| Rank | Country | Name | Time | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KEN | KIPYEGON Faith | 3:56.80 | Q |
| 2 | ETH | GEBREEZIBEHER Freweyni | 3:57.54 | Q |
| 3 | CAN | DEBUES-STAFFORD Gabriela | 3:58.28 | Q |
| 4 | AUS | HULL Jessica | 3:58.81 | Q |
| 5 | JPN | TANAKA Nozomi | 3:59.19 | Q |
| 6 | USA | PURRIER ST.PIERRE Elinor | 4:01.00 | q |
| 7 | CZE | MAKI Kristiina | 4:01.23 | q |
| 8 | ITA | SABBATINI Gaia | 4:02.25 | |
| 9 | GBR | SNOWDEN Katie | 4:02.93 | |
| 10 | POL | GALANT Martyna | 4:06.01 | |
| 11 | USA | McGEE Cory Ann | 4:10.39 | |
| 12 | GER | GRANZ Caterina | 4:10.93 | |
| 13 | KEN | CHEBET Winny | 4:11.62 |
Heat one
| Rank | Country | Name | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CAN | DEBUES-STAFFORD Gabriela | 4:03.70 | Q |
| 2 | GBR | MUIR Laura | 4:03.89 | Q |
| 3 | KEN | CHEBET Winny | 4:03.93 | Q |
| 4 | FIN | KUIVISTO Sara | 4:04.10 | Q |
| 5 | ETH | GEBREEZIBEHER Freweyni | 4:04.12 | Q |
| 6 | CZE | MAKI Kristiina | 4:04.55 | Q |
| 7 | ESP | PEREZ Marta | 4:04.76 | |
| 8 | USA | McGEE Cory Ann | 4:05.15 | |
| 9 | BEL | VANDERELST Elise | 4:05.63 | |
| 10 | IRL | MAGEEAN Ciara | 4:07.29 | |
| 11 | ITA | del BUONO Federica | 4:07.70 | |
| 12 | MEX | GALVAN RODRIGUEZ Laura Esther | 4:08.15 | |
| 13 | POR | AFONSO Salome | 4:10.80 | |
| 14 | AUS | GRIFFITH Georgia | 4:14.43 | |
| 15 | GER | KLEIN Hanna | 4:14.83 |
Heat two
| Rank | Country | Name | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NED | HASSAN Sifan | 4:05.17 | Q |
| 2 | AUS | HULL Jessica | 4:05.28 | Q |
| 3 | USA | PURRIER ST. PIERRE Elinor | 4:05.34 | Q |
| 4 | ITA | SABBATINI Gaia | 4:05.41 | Q |
| 5 | ETH | HAILU Lemlem | 4:05.49 | Q |
| 6 | CZE | MEZULIANIKOVA Diana | 4:05.49 | Q |
| 7 | GBR | WALCOTT-NOLAN Revee | 4:06.23 | |
| 8 | ESP | GUERRERO Esther | 4:07.08 | |
| 9 | JPN | URABE Ran | 4:07.90 | |
| 10 | CAN | HAWTHORN Natalia | 4:08.04 | |
| 11 | ROU | BOBOCEA Claudia Mihaela | 4:09.19 | |
| 12 | KEN | JEBITOK Edinah | 4:10.72 | |
| 13 | JAM | PRAUGHT-LEER Aisha | 4:15.31 | |
| 14 | EOR | LOHALITH Anjelina Nadai | 4:31.65 | |
| 15 | URU | FERNANDEZ Maria Pia | 4:59.56 |
Heat three
| Rank | Country | Name | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KEN | KIPYEGON Faith | 4:01.40 | Q |
| 2 | UGA | NANYONDO Winnie | 4:02.24 | Q |
| 3 | AUS | HALL Linden | 4:02.27 | Q |
| 4 | JPN | TANAKA Nozomi | 4:02.33 | Q |
| 5 | USA | MACLEAN Heather | 4:02.40 | Q |
| 6 | GBR | SNOWDEN Katie | 4:02.77 | Q |
| 7 | CAN | STAFFORD Lucia | 4:03.52 | q |
| 8 | POL | GALANT Martyna | 4:05.03 | q |
| 9 | GER | GRANZ Caterina | 4:06.22 | q |
| 10 | POR | PEN FREITAS Marta | 4:07.33 | |
| 11 | IRL | HEALY Sarah | 4:09.78 | |
| 12 | ETH | WELTEJI Diribe | 4:10.25 | |
| 13 | CZE | VRZALOVA Simona | 4:19.46 | |
| DJI | ALI MOHAMED Souhra | DNF | ||
| MAR | ARAFI Rababe | DNF |
