The Women's 1500 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics programme was held at Stadium Australia on Wednesday 27 September, Thursday 28 September, and Saturday 30 September 2000. There were a total number of 43 participating athletes.

The winning margin was 0.05 seconds which as of 2023 remains the only time the women's Olympic 1500 metres has been won by less than 0.1 seconds.

The top six runners in each of the initial three heats automatically qualified for the semi-final. The next six fastest runners from across the heats also qualified for the semi-final. The top five runners in each semi-final automatically qualified for the final. The next two fastest runners from across the heats also qualified for the final.

The last lap was the battleground for this final. Going into this lap, Portugal's Carla Sacramento held the lead, with Poland's Lidia Chojecka on the outside and America's Suzy Favor-Hamilton edging ahead on the inside. Over the next 200 metres, Favor-Hamilton edged ahead of Sacramento while a pack of six formed behind, led by Algeria's Nouria Mérah-Benida. Favor-Hamilton held the lead around the turn as Mérah-Benida moved to her shoulder. As the final straightaway neared, Favor-Hamilton looked at her feet expecting her usual final acceleration. It was not there, as first Mérah-Benida went by, followed by the other Polish runner, Anna Jakubczak, and then Chojecka and Romania's Violeta Szekely. After a small gap, Ethiopia's Kutre Dulecha went by Favor-Hamilton, who then crashed to the track untouched. Years later, Favor-Hamilton admitted that the fall was deliberate, as she realised that she was not going to win. As a result, she finished in last place.

At the head of the straightaway, Mérah-Benida opened up a clear lead over the two Polish runners. Moving out to lane 3, Szekely ran around Jakubczak and Chojecka, with Dulecha following in her wake. With speed, suddenly Mérah-Benida's lead started to shrink. The Algerian runner was tiring fast, but she managed to hold off Szekely's furious charge, crossing the line 0.05 seconds ahead. All the way down the straightaway, Dulecha looked like she would hold on for the bronze – but from last place with 200 metres to go, Gabriela Szabo came sprinting down the outside to take the medal, meaning that there were two Romanians on the podium. Only 0.23 seconds separated the first four runners – but none of them were directly battling the others, each taking a different pace and path to the tight finish.

Records World Record 3:50.46 Yunxia Qu China Beijing, China 11 September 1993 Olympic Record 3:53.96 Paula Ivan Romania Seoul, South Korea 1 October 1988

Medals Gold: Silver: Bronze: Nouria Mérah-Benida, Violeta Szekely, Gabriela Szabo,

Results All times shown are in seconds. Q denotes qualification by place in heat. q denotes qualification by overall place. DNS denotes did not start. DNF denotes did not finish. DQ denotes disqualification. NR denotes national record. OR denotes Olympic record. WR denotes world record. PB denotes personal best. SB denotes season best.

Qualifying heats

Round 1 Heat 1 of 3 Date: Wednesday 27 September 2000 Place Athlete Nation Lane Time Qual. Record Heat Overall 1 1 Suzy Favor Hamilton 15 4:08.08 Q 2 2 Anna Jakubczak 1 4:08.13 Q 3 3 Gabriela Szabo 14 4:08.33 Q 4 4 Süreyya Ayhan 5 4:08.37 Q 5 5 Carla Sacramento 12 4:08.41 Q 6 6 Helen Pattinson 7 4:08:80 Q 7 7 Margaret Crowley 13 4:08.85 q 8 8 Anita Weyermann 6 4:09.28 q 9 9 Lyudmila Rogachova 9 4:09.81 q 10 12 Mardrea Hyman 4 4:10.21 q 11 33 Abebech Negussie 2 4:15.52 12 35 Julia Sakara 3 4:21.94 13 36 Tetyana Kryvobok 11 4:22.11 14 40 Shazia Hidayat 8 5:07.17 Leah Pells 10 DNF

Heat 2 of 3 Date: Wednesday 27 September 2000 Place Athlete Nation Lane Time Qual. Record Heat Overall 1 11 Violeta Szekely 11 4:10.18 Q 2 14 Lidia Chojecka 10 4:10.34 Q 3 15 Kelly Holmes 6 4:10.38 Q 4 17 Veerle Dejaeghere 2 4:10.68 Q 5 18 Sabine Fischer 13 4:10.78 Q 6 19 Seloua Ouaziz 8 4:10:82 Q 7 20 Marla Runyan 3 4:10.83 q 8 24 Georgie Clarke 1 4:11.74 q 9 28 Toni Hodgkinson 9 4:12.59 10 31 Naomi Mugo 7 4:13.18 11 32 Hareg Sidelil 5 4:14.05 12 37 Natalia Rodriguez 4 4:22.82 13 38 Daniela Kuleska 14 4:33.50 Svetlana Masterkova 12 DNF

Heat 3 of 3 Date: Wednesday 27 September 2000 Place Athlete Nation Lane Time Qual. Record Heat Overall 1 10 Kutre Dulecha 4 4:09.88 Q 2 13 Nouria Mérah-Benida 1 4:10.24 Q 3 16 Hayley Tullett 5 4:10.58 Q 4 21 Elena Iagăr 8 4:11.35 Q 5 22 Nuria Fernandez 13 4:11.46 Q 6 23 Irina Krakoviak 6 4:11:57 Q 7 25 Sinead Delahunty 14 4:11.75 8 26 Fatma Lanouar 11 4:11.87 9 27 Shayne Culpepper 12 4:12.52 10 29 Natalya Gorelova 9 4:12.84 11 30 Sarah Jamieson 3 4:12.90 12 34 Helena Javornik 10 4:18.18 13 39 Silvia Felipo 2 4:45.32 Hasna Benhassi 7 DNS

Overall Results Round 1 Round 1 Overall ResultsPlace Athlete NationHeatLanePlaceTimeQual.Record 1 Suzy Favor Hamilton 1 15 1 4:08.08 Q 2 Anna Jakubczak 1 1 2 4:08.13 Q 3 Gabriela Szabo 1 14 3 4:08.33 Q 4 Süreyya Ayhan 1 5 4 4:08.37 Q 5 Carla Sacramento 1 12 5 4:08.41 Q 6 Helen Pattinson 1 7 6 4:08.80 Q 7 Margaret Crowley 1 13 7 4:08.85 q 8 Anita Weyermann 1 6 8 4:09.28 q 9 Lyudmila Rogachova 1 9 9 4:09.81 q 10 Kutre Dulecha 3 4 1 4:09.88 Q 11 Violeta Szekely 2 11 1 4:10.18 Q 12 Mardrea Hyman 1 4 10 4:10.21 q 13 Nouria Mérah-Benida 3 1 24:10.24 Q 14 Lidia Chojecka 2 10 2 4:10.34 Q 15 Kelly Holmes 2 6 3 4:10.38 Q 16 Hayley Tullett 3 5 3 4:10.58 Q 17 Veerle Dejaeghere 2 2 4 4:10.68 Q 18 Sabine Fischer 2 13 5 4:10.78 Q 19 Seloua Ouaziz 2 8 6 4:10.82 Q 20 Marla Runyan 2 3 7 4:10.83 q 21 Elena Iagăr 3 8 4 4:11.35 Q 22 Nuria Fernandez 3 13 5 4:11.46 Q 23 Irina Krakoviak 3 6 6 4:11.57 Q 24 Georgie Clarke 2 1 8 4:11.74 q 25 Sinead Delahunty 3 14 7 4:11.75 26 Fatma Lanouar 3 11 8 4:11.87 27 Shayne Culpepper 3 12 9 4:12.62 28 Toni Hodgkinson 2 9 9 4:12.59 29 Natalya Gorelova 3 9 10 4:12.84 30 Sarah Jamieson 3 3 11 4:12.90 31 Naomi Mugo 2 7 10 4:13.18 32 Hareg Sidelil 2 5 11 4:14.05 33 Abebech Negussie 1 2 11 4:15.52 34 Helena Javornik 3 10 12 4:18:18 35 Julia Sakara 1 3 12 4:21.94 36 Tetyana Kryvobok 1 11 13 4:22.11 37 Natalia Rodriguez 2 4 12 4:22.82 38 Daniela Kuleska 2 14 13 4:33.50 39 Silvia Felipo 3 2 13 4:45.32 40 Shazia Hidayat 1 8 14 5:07.17 Svetlana Masterkova 2 12 DNF Leah Pells 1 10 DNF Hasna Benhassi 3 7 DNS

Semi-finals Heat 1 of 2 Date: Thursday 28 September 2000 Place Athlete Nation Lane Time Qual. Record Heat Overall 1 1 Nouria Mérah-Benida 6 4:05.24 Q 2 2 Suzy Favor Hamilton 2 4:05.25 Q 3 3 Hayley Tullett 1 4:05.34 Q 4 4 Kelly Holmes 10 4:05.35 Q SB 5 5 Lidia Chojecka 12 4:05.78 Q 6 6 Marla Runyan 1 4:06:14 q SB 7 8 Sabine Fischer 4 4:06.67 q 8 15 Margaret Crowley 3 4:09.16 9 16 Lyudmila Rogachova 5 4:09.18 10 19 Nuria Fernandez 9 4:10.92 11 22 Irina Krakoviak 8 4:14.57 12 23 Elena Iagăr 3 4:21.94

Heat 2 of 2 Date: Thursday 28 September 2000 Place Athlete Nation Lane Time Qual. Record Heat Overall 1 7 Violeta Szekely 8 4:06.60 Q 2 9 Kutre Dulecha 3 4:06.78 Q 3 10 Anna Jakubczak 11 4:07.03 Q SB 4 11 Gabriela Szabo 12 4:07.38 Q 5 12 Carla Sacramento 7 4:07.65 Q 6 13 Veerle Dejaeghere 2 4:07:87 7 14 Seloua Ouaziz 6 4:09.11 8 17 Süreyya Ayhan 10 4:09.42 9 18 Helen Pattinson 4 4:09.60 10 20 Georgie Clarke 1 4:10.99 11 21 Mardrea Hyman 5 4:14.20 12 24 Anita Weyermann 9 4:30.80

Overall Results Semi-finals Round 1 Overall ResultsPlace Athlete NationHeatLanePlaceTimeQual.Record 1 Nouria Mérah-Benida 1 6 1 4:05.24 Q 2 Suzy Favor Hamilton 1 2 2 4:05.25 Q 3 Hayley Tullett 1 1 3 4:05.34 Q 4 Kelly Holmes 1 10 4 4:05.35 Q SB 5 Lidia Chojecka 1 12 5 4:05.78 Q 6 Marla Runyan 1 11 6 4:16.14 q SB 7 Violeta Szekely 2 8 1 4:06.60 Q 8 Sabine Fischer 1 4 7 4:06.67 q 9 Kutre Dulecha 2 3 2 4:06.78 Q 10 Anna Jakubczak 2 11 3 4:07.03 Q SB 11 Gabriela Szabo 2 12 4 4:07.38 Q 12 Carla Sacramento 2 7 5 4:07.65 Q 13 Veerle Dejaeghere 2 2 6 4:07.87 14 Seloua Ouaziz 2 6 7 4:09.11 15 Margaret Crowley 1 3 8 4:09.16 16 Lyudmila Rogachova 1 5 9 4:09.18 17 Süreyya Ayhan 2 10 8 4:09.42 18 Helen Pattinson 2 4 9 4:09.60 19 Nuria Fernandez 1 9 10 4:10.92 20 Georgie Clarke 2 1 10 4:10.99 21 Mardrea Hyman 2 5 11 4:14.20 22 Irina Krakoviak 1 11 8 4:14.57 23 Elena Iagăr 1 7 12 4:14.75 24 Anita Weyermann 2 9 12 4:30.80

Final Date: Saturday 30 September 2000 Place Athlete Nation Lane Time Record Nouria Mérah-Benida 8 4:05.10 Violeta Szekely 4 4:05.15 Gabriela Szabo 11 4:05.27 4 Kutre Dulecha 5 4:05.33 5 Lidia Chojecka 2 4:06.42 6 Anna Jakubczak 9 4:06.49 SB 7 Kelly Holmes 12 4:08.02 8 Marla Runyan 10 4:08.30 9 Sabine Fischer 7 4:08.84 10 Carla Sacramento 1 4:11.15 11 Hayley Tullett 6 4:22.29 12 Suzy Favor Hamilton 3 4:23.05

References

External links Official Report Official Report of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics