Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 1500 metres

Women's 1500 metres at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Date	6–10 August
Competitors	46 from 26 nations
Winning time	4:10.23
Medalists
Vacant   Gamze Bulut   Turkey   Maryam Yusuf Jamal   Bahrain

Official Video

Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men		women
5000 m		men		women
10,000 m		men		women
100 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men		women
3000 m steeplechase		men		women
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men		women
Road events
Marathon		men		women
20 km walk		men		women
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men		women
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men		women
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men		women
Combined events
Heptathlon				women
Decathlon		men

The women's 1500 metres competition was an event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The competition was held at the Olympic Stadium from 6–10 August.^[1]

Summary

The qualifying rounds were typically strategic, with the second heat notably slower than the first and third. Notable for not qualifying was world championship bronze medalist (and 2009 first finisher) Natalia Rodríguez and Genzebe Dibaba, younger sister of 10000 metres gold medalist Tirunesh Dibaba.

The semifinals were similarly inconsistent. In the first semi, the race was stringing out behind a last lap charge by Ethiopian born Bahraini Mimi Belete chased by Aslı Çakır Alptekin, the two leaders looking to be sure qualifiers. At the head of the final straight Alptekin passed Belete for the lead and Belete wilted, falling back through the field and changing the dynamic of the rush for qualifying positions, giving Shannon Rowbury a qualifying spot, while Hilary Stellingwerff and Corinna Harrer had to hope the second semi would go slowly. It didn't. Instead the second semi final went out significantly faster with Tatyana Tomashova pushing the pace after the first 200 metres. With 600 to go, Gamze Bulut passed Tomashova to accelerate the pace further. Abeba Aregawi stayed on Bulut's shoulder and sprinted past with 200 to go, stringing out the field, leaving reigning world champion Jennifer Simpson behind.

The final started out slowly, none of the entrants wanting to take the lead. By default Bulut and Maryam Yusuf Jamal found themselves in the lead, Jamal noticeably looking around for someone else to take the pace. The first lap was 1:15.12, literally a jog for athletes of this caliber. The second lap slightly faster, reached in 2:23.97. The two shared the leading duties until the bell, then both accelerated, with the field swarming to join them. Moments after the bell, Aregawi passed behind Morgan Uceny, who stumbled, her knee meeting the back-kick of Ekaterina Kostetskaya. Just like her experience in the 2011 World Championships, Uceny found herself on the ground as the field was sprinting away from her, leaving her in tears. Alptekin passed Bulut with 300 to go. Aregawi joined the lead group on the back stretch with Jamal and Bulut all jockeying for position behind Alptekin. Coming onto the home stretch Jamal looked like she was in position to move past Alptekin, but she never gained enough. Aregawi edged past Jamal with Bulut trying to close the gap. 20 metres before the finish Aregawi suddenly slowed as she was passed by Jamal at the same time as Bulut passed them both.^[2]

Doping and aftermath

In May 2013, several news organizations reported that winner Aslı Çakır Alptekin had tested positive for a banned substance.^[3][4] As her second doping offense, she would face a lifetime ban if found guilty and be stripped of her gold medal. Neither the IAAF nor WADA made an official confirmation of the positive drug test.^[5] On 28 July 2014, IAAF announced that 9th-place finisher Ekaterina Kostetskaya was sanctioned for doping after her biological passport had showed abnormalities. Her result was disqualified.^[6]

On 17 August 2015, the Court of Arbitration for Sport approved a settlement agreed to by Alptekin and the IAAF. Alptekin agreed to give up her 1500 m Olympic title and serve an eight-year ban for blood doping.^[7] There was no confirmation from the IOC whether the medals would be redistributed.^[8]

On 1 June 2016, Turkish media reported that Gamze Bulut had also been found to have employed illegal performance enhancing methods by dint of observations of her athlete 'passport'. It was reported that, if confirmed, Bulut would lose her Olympic and European medals, and all medals and records from 2012 to 2016.^[9]

Fourth-place runner Tatyana Tomashova received a two-year ban from 2008–2010 for manipulating doping samples.^[10] In 2016, the IAAF reported that Ethiopian runner Abeba Aregawi, who initially finished the final in fifth place, had also failed a drug test.^[11]

Belarusian runner Natallia Kareiva, who finished seventh in the final, received a two-year ban in 2014 for doping after her biological passport showed abnormalities. This voided her result from the 2012 Olympics.^[12]

Russian runner Yekaterina Kostetskaya was also sanctioned for doping in 2014, disqualifying her initial ninth-place finish.^[6]

Competition format

The women's 1500 m competition consisted of heats (round 1), semifinals and a final. The first 6 competitors in each heat of round 1 along with the next six fastest overall qualified for the semifinals.^[13] In the semifinals the first five in each heat along with the next two fastest overall qualified for the final. There was a tie for the 12th fastest overall time and both athletes qualified for the final, making a total of 13 athletes.^[14]

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	Qu Yunxia (CHN)	3:50.46	Beijing, China	11 September 1993
Olympic record	Paula Ivan (ROU)	3:53.96	Seoul, South Korea	26 September 1988
2012 World leading	Mariem Alaoui Selsouli (MAR)	3:56.15	Paris, France	6 July 2012

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Results

Official video of first round

Round 1

Qual. rule: first 6 of each heat (Q) plus the 6 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Abeba Aregawi	Ethiopia	4:04.55	Q
2	Tatyana Tomashova	Russia	4:05.10	Q
3	Maryam Yusuf Jamal	Bahrain	4:05.39	Q
4	Hellen Onsando Obiri	Kenya	4:05.40	Q
5	Hannah England	Great Britain	4:05.73	Q
6	Hilary Stellingwerff	Canada	4:05.79	Q
7	Shannon Rowbury	United States	4:06.03	q
8	Lucy van Dalen	New Zealand	4:07.04	q
9	Lucia Klocova	Slovakia	4:07.79	q, NR
10	Corinna Harrer	Germany	4:07.83	q
11	Marina Munćan	Serbia	4:11.25
12	Tereza Capkova	Czech Republic	4:12.15
13	Anzhelika Shevchenko	Ukraine	4:12.97
14	Natalia Rodríguez	Spain	4:16.18
15	Tuğba Karakaya	Turkey	4:29.21
N/A	Btissam Lakhouad	Morocco	N/A	DNF

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Lisa Dobriskey	Great Britain	4:13.32	Q
2	Siham Hilali	Morocco	4:13.34	Q
3	Aslı Çakır Alptekin	Turkey	4:13.64	Q
4	Nuria Fernández	Spain	4:13.72	Q
5	Kaila McKnight	Australia	4:13.80	Q
6	Jennifer Simpson	United States	4:13.81	Q
7	Ekaterina Martynova	Russia	4:13.86
8	Genzeb Shumi	Bahrain	4:14.02
9	Meskerem Assefa	Ethiopia	4:15.52
10	Eunice Jepkoech Sum	Kenya	4:16.95
11	Sonja Roman	Slovenia	4:19.17
12	Eliane Saholinirina	Madagascar	4:19.46
13	Renata Pliś	Poland	4:19.62
14	Chancel Ilunga Sankuru	DR Congo	5:05.25
N/A	Ingvill Makestad Bovim	Norway	N/A	DNS

Heat 3

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Gamze Bulut	Turkey	4:06.69	Q
2	Morgan Uceny	United States	4:06.87	Q
N/A DSQ	Natallia Kareiva	Belarus	4:06.87	Q, SB
N/A DSQ	Ekaterina Kostetskaya	Russia	4:06.94	Q
3	Mimi Belete	Bahrain	4:07.01	Q, SB
4	Laura Weightman	Great Britain	4:07.29	Q
5	Nicole Sifuentes	Canada	4:07.65	q
6	Zoe Buckman	Australia	4:07.83	q
7	Faith Kipyegon	Kenya	4:08.78
8	Genzebe Dibaba	Ethiopia	4:11.15
9	Janet Achola	Uganda	4:11.64
10	Isabel Macías	Spain	4:13.07
11	Anna Mishchenko	Ukraine	4:13.63
12	Betlhem Desalegn	United Arab Emirates	4:14.07
13	Gladys Landaverde	El Salvador	4:18.26	NR

Official video semifinal round

Semifinals

Qual. rule: first 5 of each semifinal (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Aslı Çakır Alptekin	Turkey	4:05.11	Q
N/A DSQ	Ekaterina Kostetskaya	Russia	4:05.32	Q
2	Morgan Uceny	United States	4:05.34	Q
3	Lisa Dobriskey	Great Britain	4:05.35	Q
4	Shannon Rowbury	United States	4:05.47	Q
5	Hilary Stellingwerff	Canada	4:05.57
6	Corinna Harrer	Germany	4:05.70
7	Mimi Belete	Bahrain	4:05.91	SB
8	Hannah England	Great Britain	4:06.35
9	Nuria Fernandez	Spain	4:06.57	SB
10	Lucy van Dalen	New Zealand	4:06.97
11	Kaila McKnight	Australia	4:08.44

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Abeba Aregawi	Ethiopia	4:01.03	Q
2	Gamze Bulut	Turkey	4:01.18	Q, PB
3	Tatyana Tomashova	Russia	4:02.10	Q
4	Maryam Yusuf Jamal	Bahrain	4:02.18	Q, SB
5	Hellen Onsando Obiri	Kenya	4:02.30	Q
N/A DSQ	Natallia Kareiva	Belarus	4:02.37	q, PB
6	Laura Weightman	Great Britain	4:02.99	q, PB
7	Lucia Klocova	Slovakia	4:02.99	q, NR
8	Siham Hilali	Morocco	4:04.79
9	Zoe Buckman	Australia	4:05.03	PB
10	Nicole Sifuentes	Canada	4:06.33
11	Jennifer Simpson	United States	4:06.89

Finals

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Notes[8]
DSQ	Aslı Çakır Alptekin	Turkey	4:10.23	Disqualified
02 !	Gamze Bulut	Turkey	4:10.40
03 !	Maryam Yusuf Jamal	Bahrain	4:10.74
04 !4	Tatyana Tomashova	Russia	4:10.90
05 !5	Abeba Aregawi	Ethiopia	4:11.03
06 !6	Shannon Rowbury	United States	4:11.26
N/A DSQ	Natallia Kareiva	Belarus	4:11.58	Disqualified
07 !7	Lucia Klocová	Slovakia	4:12.64
N/A DSQ	Ekaterina Kostetskaya	Russia	4:12.90	Disqualified
08 !8	Lisa Dobriskey	Great Britain	4:13.02
09 !9	Laura Weightman	Great Britain	4:15.60
10 !10	Hellen Onsando Obiri	Kenya	4:16.57
N/A	Morgan Uceny	United States	N/A	DNF

References