| | Event type

1,500 metres, Women

Date	9 – 11 August 1984
Status	Olympic
Location	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Participants	22 from 15 countries

The GDR and USSR historically had dominated women’s middle distance running but they were not present in 1984, because of the Soviet-led boycott. However, in 1983, Mary Decker (USA) had won the 1,500 and 3,000 double at the World Championships, narrowly defeating Soviet runners in both races. But Decker was not running as well in 1984, and chose to concentrate on the 3,000 at the Olympics, though that would turn out be ill-fated. The favorites role fell to Romania’s Maricica Puică, with her teammate Doina Melinte, expected to challenge her, and earlier in Los Angeles she had won the 800. The first two laps were led by Britain’s Christina Boxer, but with 600 metres left, Italy’s Gabriella Dorio took the lead, pulling Melinte with her. Melinte took the lead on the final backstretch, but Dorio passed her on the homestretch to win the gold.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	Final
1	226	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:04.51 (1 h2)	4:03.25 (1)	Gold
2	315	Doina Melinte	ROU	4:10.48 (=1 h1)	4:03.76 (2)	Silver
3	316	Maricica Puică	ROU	4:05.30 (2 h2)	4:04.15 (3)	Bronze
4	51	Roswitha Gerdes	FRG	4:10.64 (=4 h1)	4:04.41 (4)
5	149	Chris Benning	GBR	4:10.48 (=1 h1)	4:04.70 (5)
6	150	Christina Boxer	GBR	4:07.40 (4 h2)	4:05.53 (6)
7	122	Brit McRoberts	CAN	4:10.64 (=4 h1)	4:05.98 (7)
8	405	Ruth Wysocki	USA	4:06.65 (3 h2)	4:08.92 (8)
9	314	Fița Lovin	ROU	4:10.58 (3 h1)	4:09.11 (9)
10	61	Debbie Scott	CAN	4:09.16 (6 h2)	4:10.41 (10)
11	165	Lynne MacDougall	GBR	4:09.08 (5 h2)	4:10.58 (11)
12	204	Elly van Hulst	NED	4:10.69 (6 h1)	4:11.58 (12)
7 h1 r1/2	388	Missy Kane	USA	4:11.86 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r1/2	331	Jill McCabe	SWE	4:16.48 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r1/2	393	Diana Richburg	USA	4:13.35 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r1/2	71	Alejandra Ramos	CHI	4:22.03 (8 h2)	–
9 h1 r1/2	271	Helen Ritter	LIE	4:19.39 (9 h1)	–
9 h2 r1/2	9	Liliana Góngora	ARG	4:28.02 (9 h2)	–
10 h1 r1/2	259	Justina Chepchirchir	KEN	4:21.97 (10 h1)	–
10 h2 r1/2	411	Marcianne Mukamurenzi	RWA	4:31.56 (10 h2)	–
11 h1 r1/2	3	Laverne Bryan	ANT	4:32.44 (11 h1)	–
12 h1 r1/2	89	Kriscia García	ESA	4:38.00 (12 h1)	–
DNS	124	Margrit Klinger	FRG	– (DNS h2)	–

Round One (9 August 1984 — 17:25)

Top four in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
=1	149	Chris Benning	GBR	4:10.48	Q
=1	315	Doina Melinte	ROU	4:10.48	Q
3	314	Fița Lovin	ROU	4:10.58	Q
=4	122	Brit McRoberts	CAN	4:10.64	Q
=4	51	Roswitha Gerdes	FRG	4:10.64	Q
6	204	Elly van Hulst	NED	4:10.69	q
7	388	Missy Kane	USA	4:11.86
8	393	Diana Richburg	USA	4:13.35
9	271	Helen Ritter	LIE	4:19.39
10	259	Justina Chepchirchir	KEN	4:21.97
11	3	Laverne Bryan	ANT	4:32.44
12	89	Kriscia García	ESA	4:38.00

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	226	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:04.51	Q
2	316	Maricica Puică	ROU	4:05.30	Q
3	405	Ruth Wysocki	USA	4:06.65	Q
4	150	Christina Boxer	GBR	4:07.40	Q
5	165	Lynne MacDougall	GBR	4:09.08	q
6	61	Debbie Scott	CAN	4:09.16	q
7	331	Jill McCabe	SWE	4:16.48
8	71	Alejandra Ramos	CHI	4:22.03
9	9	Liliana Góngora	ARG	4:28.02
10	411	Marcianne Mukamurenzi	RWA	4:31.56
DNS	124	Margrit Klinger	FRG	–

Final (11 August 1984 — 18:20)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	226	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:03.25
2	315	Doina Melinte	ROU	4:03.76
3	316	Maricica Puică	ROU	4:04.15
4	51	Roswitha Gerdes	FRG	4:04.41
5	149	Chris Benning	GBR	4:04.70
6	150	Christina Boxer	GBR	4:05.53
7	122	Brit McRoberts	CAN	4:05.98
8	405	Ruth Wysocki	USA	4:08.92
9	314	Fița Lovin	ROU	4:09.11
10	61	Debbie Scott	CAN	4:10.41
11	165	Lynne MacDougall	GBR	4:10.58
12	204	Elly van Hulst	NED	4:11.58

Splits

400 m	1:06.2	Christina Boxer-Cahill
800 m	2:14.7	Christina Boxer-Cahill
1200 m	3:17.0	Gabriella Dorio