| | Event type

1,500 metres, Women

Date	28 – 30 July 1976
Status	Olympic
Location	Stade olympique, Parc olympique, Montréal, Québec
Participants	36 from 19 countries

Gunhild Hoffmeister (GDR), the 1972 silver medalist, had won the 1974 European Championships and was highly considered. But in June 1976, Soviet Tatyana Kazankina had shattered the world record with the first sub-4 time, 3:56.0, at a Soviet meeting. A few days before the 1,500 started she had won the 800 in world record time and was the favorite. With her 800 speed, she had the fastest kick, but for some reason, nobody set a fast pace in the final. Lying in the pack on the final backstretch she kicked around the final curve and passed Hoffmeister with 50 metres to go to complete the 800/1,500 double.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	340	Tatyana Kazankina	URS	4:12.10 (2 h3)	4:07.37 (1 h2)	4:05.48 (1)	Gold
2	146	Gunhild Hoffmeister	GDR	4:08.23 (2 h4)	4:02.45 (4 h1)	4:06.02 (2)	Silver
3	148	Ulrike Klapezynski	GDR	4:11.62 (1 h3)	4:02.13 (1 h1)	4:06.09 (3)	Bronze
4	45	Nikolina Shtereva	BUL	4:08.38 (4 h4)	4:02.33 (2 h1)	4:06.57 (4)
5	333	Lyudmila Bragina	URS	4:07.11 (1 h2)	4:02.41 (3 h1)	4:07.20 (5)
6	220	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:10.84 (1 h1)	4:07.61 (4 h2)	4:07.27 (6)
7	185	Ellen Wellmann	FRG	4:07.20 (5 h2)	4:07.54 (3 h2)	4:07.91 (7)
8	377	Jan Merrill	USA	4:10.92 (3 h1)	4:02.61 (5 h1)	4:08.54 (8)
9	95	Nina Holmén	FIN	4:07.14 (3 h2)	4:07.53 (2 h2)	4:09.55 (9)
5 h2 r2/3	128	Mary Stewart	GBR	4:11.10 (4 h1)	4:07.65 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r2/3	339	Raisa Katyukova	URS	4:10.88 (2 h1)	4:03.20 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	55	Vesela Yatsinska	BUL	4:12.72 (3 h3)	4:07.89 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r2/3	177	Brigitte Kraus	FRG	4:07.79 (1 h4)	4:04.21 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	290	Natalia Mărășescu	ROU	4:08.31 (3 h4)	4:07.92 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r2/3	254	Grete Waitz	NOR	4:07.20 (4 h2)	4:04.80 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	163	Christiane Stoll	GDR	4:07.13 (2 h2)	4:08.28 (8 h2)	–
9 h1 r2/3	28	Sonia Castelein	BEL	4:12.95 (4 h3)	4:13.46 (9 h1)	–
9 h2 r2/3	375	Francie Larrieu	USA	4:07.21 (6 h2)	4:09.07 (9 h2)	–
5 h1 r1/3	293	Maricica Puică	ROU	4:12.62 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	131	Penny Yule	GBR	4:13.36 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	210	Mary Purcell	IRL	4:08.63 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	50	Rositsa Pehlivanova	BUL	4:13.11 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	294	Ileana Silai	ROU	4:13.61 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	379	Cyndy Poor	USA	4:08.89 (6 h4)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	7	Judy Pollock	AUS	4:14.22 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	257	Dianne Zorn	NZL	4:12.81 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	221	Margherita Gargano	ITA	4:15.94 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	255	Anne Garrett	NZL	4:10.68 (7 h4)	–	–
8 h1 r1/3	32	Bernadette Van Roy	BEL	4:16.27 (8 h1)	–	–
8 h2 r1/3	76	Thelma Wright	CAN	4:15.23 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h3 r1/3	90	María Carmen Valero	ESP	4:17.65 (8 h3)	–	–
8 h4 r1/3	219	Silvana Cruciata	ITA	4:16.78 (8 h4)	–	–
9 h1 r1/3	202	Magdolna Lázár	HUN	4:23.30 (9 h1)	–	–
9 h2 r1/3	302	Ndew Niang	SEN	4:44.64 (9 h2)	–	–
9 h3 r1/3	74	Penny Werthner	CAN	4:18.19 (9 h3)	–	–
9 h4 r1/3	212	Lilja Guðmundsdóttir	ISL	4:20.27 (9 h4)	–	–
DNS	249	Maria Ritter	LIE	– (DNS h1)	–	–

Round One (28 July 1976 — 11:00)

Top four in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	220	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:10.84	Q
2	339	Raisa Katyukova	URS	4:10.88	Q
3	377	Jan Merrill	USA	4:10.92	Q
4	128	Mary Stewart	GBR	4:11.10	Q
5	293	Maricica Puică	ROU	4:12.62
6	50	Rositsa Pehlivanova	BUL	4:13.11
7	7	Judy Pollock	AUS	4:14.22
8	32	Bernadette Van Roy	BEL	4:16.27
9	202	Magdolna Lázár	HUN	4:23.30
DNS	249	Maria Ritter	LIE	–

Splits

400 m	1:13.51	–
800 m	2:21.72	–
1200 m	3:24.29	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	333	Lyudmila Bragina	URS	4:07.11	Q
2	163	Christiane Stoll	GDR	4:07.13	Q
3	95	Nina Holmén	FIN	4:07.14	Q
4	254	Grete Waitz	NOR	4:07.20	Q
5	185	Ellen Wellmann	FRG	4:07.20	q
6	375	Francie Larrieu	USA	4:07.21	q
7	257	Dianne Zorn	NZL	4:12.81
8	76	Thelma Wright	CAN	4:15.23
9	302	Ndew Niang	SEN	4:44.64

Splits

400 m	1:07.81	–
800 m	2:15.08	–
1200 m	3:20.72	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	148	Ulrike Klapezynski	GDR	4:11.62	Q
2	340	Tatyana Kazankina	URS	4:12.10	Q
3	55	Vesela Yatsinska	BUL	4:12.72	Q
4	28	Sonia Castelein	BEL	4:12.95	Q
5	131	Penny Yule	GBR	4:13.36
6	294	Ileana Silai	ROU	4:13.61
7	221	Margherita Gargano	ITA	4:15.94
8	90	María Carmen Valero	ESP	4:17.65
9	74	Penny Werthner	CAN	4:18.19

Splits

400 m	1:08.85	–
800 m	2:19.63	–
1200 m	3:25.37	–

Heat Four

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	177	Brigitte Kraus	FRG	4:07.79	Q
2	146	Gunhild Hoffmeister	GDR	4:08.23	Q
3	290	Natalia Mărășescu	ROU	4:08.31	Q
4	45	Nikolina Shtereva	BUL	4:08.38	Q
5	210	Mary Purcell	IRL	4:08.63
6	379	Cyndy Poor	USA	4:08.89
7	255	Anne Garrett	NZL	4:10.68
8	219	Silvana Cruciata	ITA	4:16.78
9	212	Lilja Guðmundsdóttir	ISL	4:20.27

Splits

400 m	1:05.51	–
800 m	2:14.82	–
1200 m	3:22.09	–

Semi-Finals (29 July 1976 — 15:30)

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

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	148	Ulrike Klapezynski	GDR	4:02.13	Q
2	45	Nikolina Shtereva	BUL	4:02.33	Q
3	333	Lyudmila Bragina	URS	4:02.41	Q
4	146	Gunhild Hoffmeister	GDR	4:02.45	Q
5	377	Jan Merrill	USA	4:02.61	q
6	339	Raisa Katyukova	URS	4:03.20
7	177	Brigitte Kraus	FRG	4:04.21
8	254	Grete Waitz	NOR	4:04.80
9	28	Sonia Castelein	BEL	4:13.46

Splits

400 m	1:02.50	–
800 m	2:10.02	–
1200 m	3:15.67	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	340	Tatyana Kazankina	URS	4:07.37	Q
2	95	Nina Holmén	FIN	4:07.53	Q
3	185	Ellen Wellmann	FRG	4:07.54	Q
4	220	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:07.61	Q
5	128	Mary Stewart	GBR	4:07.65
6	55	Vesela Yatsinska	BUL	4:07.89
7	290	Natalia Mărășescu	ROU	4:07.92
8	163	Christiane Stoll	GDR	4:08.28
9	375	Francie Larrieu	USA	4:09.07

Splits

400 m	1:10.69	–
800 m	2:17.13	–
1200 m	3:21.22	–

Final (30 July 1976 — 17:30)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	340	Tatyana Kazankina	URS	4:05.48
2	146	Gunhild Hoffmeister	GDR	4:06.02
3	148	Ulrike Klapezynski	GDR	4:06.09
4	45	Nikolina Shtereva	BUL	4:06.57
5	333	Lyudmila Bragina	URS	4:07.20
6	220	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:07.27
7	185	Ellen Wellmann	FRG	4:07.91
8	377	Jan Merrill	USA	4:08.54
9	95	Nina Holmén	FIN	4:09.55

Splits

400 m	1:08.17	–
800 m	2:18.90	–
1200 m	3:23.39	–