These are the official results of the Women's 1,500 metres event at the 1987 IAAF World Championships in Rome, Italy. There were a total of 32 participating athletes and one non-starter, with three qualifying heats and the final held on Saturday 09-05-1987. The winning margin was 0.11 seconds.
| Gold | Tetyana Samolenko Soviet Union (URS) | |
| Silver | Hildegard Körner East Germany (GDR) | |
| Bronze |  Doina MelinteRomania (ROU) |
Existing records at the start of the event.
| World record | 3:52.47 | Zürich, Switzerland | August 3, 1980 | ||
| Championship record | 4:00.90 | Helsinki, Finland | August 14, 1983 |
| RANK | FINAL | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:58.56 CR | |||
| 3:58.67 | |||
| 3:59.27 | |||
| 4. | 3:59.90 | ||
| 5. | 4:00.63 | ||
| 6. | 4:01.41 | ||
| 7. | 4:01.79 | ||
| 8. | 4:03.63 | ||
| 9. | 4:04.66 | ||
| 10. | 4:08.33 | ||
| 11. | 4:08.38 | ||
| 12. | 4:10.35 | ||
| 13. | 4:10.51 | ||
| - | DNF | ||
| - | DSQ |
| RANK | HEAT 1 | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4:05.41 | ||
| 2. | 4:05.42 | ||
| 3. | 4:05.48 | ||
| 4. | 4:05.57 | ||
| 5. | 4:06.03 | ||
| 6. | 4:07.38 | ||
| 7. | 4:07.83 | ||
| 8. | 4:08.37 | ||
| 9. | 4:22.59 | ||
| 10. | 5:01.43 | ||
| - | DNS |
| RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4:05.18 | ||
| 2. | 4:05.48 | ||
| 3. | 4:05.51 | ||
| 4. | 4:05.60 | ||
| 5. | 4:05.90 | ||
| 6. | 4:07.10 | ||
| 7. | 4:07.40 | ||
| 8. | 4:08.84 | ||
| 9. | 4:09.08 | ||
| 10. | 4:35.64 (NR) | ||
| 11. | 5:49.52 |
| RANK | HEAT 3 | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4:08.36 | ||
| 2. | 4:08.39 | ||
| 3. | 4:08.64 | ||
| 4. | 4:09.06 | ||
| 5. | 4:09.36 | ||
| 6. | 4:09.89 | ||
| 7. | 4:12.52 | ||
| 8. | 4:13.59 | ||
| 9. | 4:16.21 | ||
| 10. | 4:17.72 | ||
| 11. | 4:34.76 |