The women's 1500 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium between 18–23 August. The winning margin was 0.01 seconds which as of 2024 is the narrowest winning margin in the women's 1500 metres at these championships.
It was originally won by Natalia Rodríguez of Spain, but she was disqualified for tripping Gelete Burka of Ethiopia. Burka had been in the lead for the majority of the race, but Rodríguez had caught up and tripped Burka. Burka ended up finishing last and was visibly upset of what had happened. Rodríguez was disqualified. Defending champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain received the gold, Lisa Dobriskey of Great Britain received the silver, and Shannon Rowbury of the United States received the bronze. In addition, Mariem Alaoui Selsouli of Morocco was disqualified before the final for testing positive for Erythropoietin. She was not replaced.
| width=200 bgcolor=gold | Gold | width=200 bgcolor=silver | Silver | width=200 bgcolor=CC9966 | Bronze |
| Maryam Yusuf Jamal | Lisa Dobriskey | Shannon Rowbury |
| World record | 3:50.46 | 11 September 1993 | |||
| Championship record | 3:58.52 | Paris, France | 31 August 2003 | ||
| World leading | 3:56.55 | Rome, Italy | 10 July 2009 | ||
| African record | 3:55.30 | Barcelona, Spain | 8 August 1992 | ||
| Asian record | 3:50.46 | Beijing, China | 11 September 1993 | ||
| North American record | 3:57.12 | Stockholm, Sweden | 26 July 1983 | ||
| South American record | 4:05.67 | Tokyo, Japan | 31 August 1991 | ||
| European record | 3:52.47 | Zürich, Switzerland | 13 August 1980 | ||
| Oceanian record | 4:00.93 | Stockholm, Sweden | 25 July 2006 |
| Date | Time | Round | |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 18, 2009 | 12:05 | Heats | |
| August 21, 2009 | 20:00 | Semifinals | |
| August 23, 2009 | 17:00 | Final |
Qualification: First 6 in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) advance to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4:07.75 | Q | |||
| 2 | 2 | 4:07.84 | Q | |||
| 3 | 2 | 4:07.90 | Q | |||
| 4 | 2 | 4:08.06 | Q | |||
| 5 | 3 | 4:08.13 | Q | |||
| 5 | 2 | 4:08.13 | Q | |||
| 7 | 3 | 4:08.16 | Q | |||
| 8 | 2 | 4:08.21 | Q | |||
| 9 | 3 | 4:08.23 | Q | |||
| 9 | 3 | 4:08.23 | Q | |||
| 11 | 2 | 4:08.36 | q | |||
| 12 | 3 | 4:08.59 | Q | |||
| 13 | 3 | 4:08.65 | Q | |||
| 14 | 1 | 4:08.76 | Q | |||
| 15 | 1 | 4:08.79 | Q | |||
| 16 | 1 | 4:08.86 | Q | |||
| 16 | 1 | 4:08.86 | Q | |||
| 18 | 1 | 4:08.95 | Q | |||
| 19 | 1 | 4:08.96 | Q | |||
| 20 | 1 | 4:09.18 | q | |||
| 21 | 3 | 4:09.26 | q | |||
| 22 | 1 | 4:09.38 | q | |||
| 23 | 2 | 4:09.60 | q | |||
| 24 | 3 | 4:09.71 | q | |||
| 25 | 1 | 4:09.84 | ||||
| 26 | 1 | 4:09.91 | ||||
| 27 | 3 | 4:10.10 | ||||
| 28 | 1 | 4:10.30 | q | |||
| 29 | 3 | 4:10.57 | ||||
| 30 | 2 | 4:11.41 | q | |||
| 31 | 3 | 4:12.19 | ||||
| 32 | 2 | 4:13.36 | ||||
| 33 | 2 | 4:13.69 | SB | |||
| 34 | 1 | 4:15.18 | ||||
| 35 | 1 | 4:16.63 | ||||
| 36 | 2 | 4:18.10 | ||||
| 37 | 3 | 4:18.23 | ||||
| 38 | 2 | 4:27.36 | ||||
| 39 | 3 | 4:28.67 | ||||
| 40 | 3 | 4:30.56 | NR | |||
| 41 | 2 | 4:50.55 | PB | |||
| 42 | 1 | 5:04.95 | PB |
Key: NR = National record, PB = Personal best, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best
Qualification: First 5 in each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:03.64 | Q | ||||
| 1 | 4:03.73 | Q, SB | ||||
| 1 | 4:03.84 | Q | ||||
| 1 | 4:04.16 | Q | ||||
| 1 | 4:04.75 | Q | ||||
| 1 | 4:04.93 | q | ||||
| 1 | 4:06.53 | q | ||||
| 1 | 4:06.88 | |||||
| 1 | 4:07.10 | |||||
| 10 | 1 | 4:07.10 | ||||
| 11 | 1 | 4:08.72 | ||||
| 12 | 2 | 4:10.19 | Q | |||
| 13 | 2 | 4:10.46 | Q | |||
| 14 | 2 | 4:10.47 | Q | |||
| 15 | 2 | 4:10.51 | Q | |||
| 16 | 2 | 4:10.64 | Q | |||
| 17 | 2 | 4:10.96 | ||||
| 18 | 1 | 4:11.02 | ||||
| 19 | 2 | 4:11.10 | ||||
| 20 | 2 | 4:11.22 | ||||
| 21 | 2 | 4:11.33 | ||||
| 22 | 1 | 4:12.54 | ||||
| 23 | 2 | 4:12.55 | ||||
| 24 | 2 | 4:13.30 | ||||
| 2 | DNS | |||||
| 2 | DNF |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:03.74 | |||||
| 4:03.75 | |||||
| 4:04.18 | |||||
| 4:04.91 | |||||
| 4:05.21 | |||||
| 4:06.19 | |||||
| 4:07.17 | |||||
| 4:08.81 | |||||
| 9 | 4:11.21 | ||||
| DQ[1] | |||||
| DQ[2] | |||||
| DNS/DQ[3] |