| | Event type

1,500 metres, Women

Date	30 July – 1 August 1980
Status	Olympic
Location	Bolshaya arena, Tsentralny stadion imeni V.I. Lenina, Moskva
Participants	24 from 14 countries

Tatyana Kazankina was the defending champion and the fastest in the field by far. She had set the world record of 3:56.0 in 1976, shortly before the Olympics, and that had not been approached until July 1980, when she broke the record with 3:55.0 at the Znamensky Memoiral in Moskva. In round one, she showed her form when she broke 4-minutes with 3:59.12, very fast for a heat. The final started slowly, but Kazankina took the lead with 1½ laps remaining and ran her third lap in a very quick 58.4. She won over Christiane Wartenberg by about 10 metres. Twelve days later, at the Weltklasse Meet in Zürich, Kazankina lowered her world record again, to 3:52.47, a mark which would last until 1993.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	268	Tatyana Kazankina	URS	3:59.2 (1 h1)	3:56.6 (1)	Gold
2	140	Christiane Wartenberg	GDR	4:00.4 (3 h1)	3:57.8 (2)	Silver
3	281	Nadezhda Olizarenko	URS	3:59.5 (2 h1)	3:59.6 (3)	Bronze
4	167	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:05.0 (3 h2)	4:00.3 (4)
5	109	Ulrike Bruns	GDR	4:01.6 (4 h1)	4:00.7 (5)
6	288	Lyubov Smolka	URS	4:04.4 (1 h2)	4:01.3 (6)
7	220	Maricica Puică	ROU	4:01.7 (5 h1)	4:01.3 (7)
8	223	Ileana Silai	ROU	4:04.7 (2 h2)	4:03.0 (8)
9	218	Natalia Mărășescu	ROU	4:05.9 (4 h2)	4:04.8 (9)
5 h2 r1/2	197	Anna Bukis	POL	4:06.0 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r1/2	49	Vesela Yatsinska	BUL	4:04.7 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r1/2	124	Beate Liebich	GDR	4:06.8 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r1/2	233	Cornelia Bürki	SUI	4:05.5 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r1/2	26	Nikolina Shtereva	BUL	4:08.3 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r1/2	39	Totka Petrova	BUL	4:13.8 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r1/2	297	Breda Pergar	YUG	4:13.2 (8 h2)	–
9 h1 r1/2	96	Janet Marlow	GBR	4:15.9 (9 h1)	–
9 h2 r1/2	173	Agnese Possamai	ITA	4:14.7 (9 h2)	–
10 h1 r1/2	61	Amsale Woldegibriel	ETH	4:25.3 (10 h1)	–
10 h2 r1/2	249	Mwinga Mwanjala	TAN	4:20.9 (10 h2)	–
11 h1 r1/2	247	Marcellina Emmanuel	TAN	4:26.8 (11 h1)	–
11 h2 r1/2	295	Trịnh Thị Bé	VIE	4:38.6 (11 h2)	–
12 h1 r1/2	187	Albertine Rahéliarisoa	MAD	4:30.8 (12 h1)	–
13 h1 r1/2	230	Margaret Morel	SEY	4:37.9 (13 h1)	–
DNS	165	Geeta Zutshi	IND	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	244	Hala El-Moughrabi	SYR	– (DNS h2)	–

Round One

Date	30 July 1980 — 12:20
Format	Top four in each heat and next fastest advanced to the final.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)	Time (hand)
1	268	Tatyana Kazankina	URS	3:59.12	3:59.2	QOR
2	281	Nadezhda Olizarenko	URS	3:59.48	3:59.5	Q
3	140	Christiane Wartenberg	GDR	4:00.31	4:00.4	Q
4	109	Ulrike Bruns	GDR	4:01.52	4:01.6	Q
5	220	Maricica Puică	ROU	4:01.68	4:01.7	q
6	288	Lyubov Smolka	URS	4:04.36	4:04.4	Q
=7	49	Vesela Yatsinska	BUL	4:04.70	4:04.7
=7	223	Ileana Silai	ROU	4:04.70	4:04.7	Q
9	167	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:04.91	4:05.0	Q
10	233	Cornelia Bürki	SUI	4:05.44	4:05.5
11	218	Natalia Mărășescu	ROU	4:05.83	4:05.9	Q
12	197	Anna Bukis	POL	4:05.97	4:06.0
13	124	Beate Liebich	GDR	4:06.75	4:06.8
14	26	Nikolina Shtereva	BUL	4:08.25	4:08.3
15	297	Breda Pergar	YUG	4:13.16	4:13.2
16	39	Totka Petrova	BUL	4:13.80	4:13.8
17	173	Agnese Possamai	ITA	4:14.67	4:14.7
18	96	Janet Marlow	GBR	4:15.81	4:15.9
19	249	Mwinga Mwanjala	TAN	4:20.84	4:20.9
20	61	Amsale Woldegibriel	ETH	4:25.30	4:25.3
21	247	Marcellina Emmanuel	TAN	4:26.78	4:26.8
22	187	Albertine Rahéliarisoa	MAD	4:30.72	4:30.8
23	230	Margaret Morel	SEY	4:37.89	4:37.9
24	295	Trịnh Thị Bé	VIE	4:38.57	4:38.6
DNS	165	Geeta Zutshi	IND	–	–
DNS	244	Hala El-Moughrabi	SYR	–	–

Heat #1

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	268	Tatyana Kazankina	URS	3:59.2	3:59.12	QOR
2	281	Nadezhda Olizarenko	URS	3:59.5	3:59.48	Q
3	140	Christiane Wartenberg	GDR	4:00.4	4:00.31	Q
4	109	Ulrike Bruns	GDR	4:01.6	4:01.52	Q
5	220	Maricica Puică	ROU	4:01.7	4:01.68	q
6	49	Vesela Yatsinska	BUL	4:04.7	4:04.70
7	233	Cornelia Bürki	SUI	4:05.5	4:05.44
8	39	Totka Petrova	BUL	4:13.8	4:13.80
9	96	Janet Marlow	GBR	4:15.9	4:15.81
10	61	Amsale Woldegibriel	ETH	4:25.3	4:25.30
11	247	Marcellina Emmanuel	TAN	4:26.8	4:26.78
12	187	Albertine Rahéliarisoa	MAD	4:30.8	4:30.72
13	230	Margaret Morel	SEY	4:37.9	4:37.89

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	Result
400 m	Maricica Puică	1:07.0
800 m	Maricica Puică	2:11.4
1200 m	Tatyana Kazankina	3:13.9

Heat #2

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	288	Lyubov Smolka	URS	4:04.4	4:04.36	Q
2	223	Ileana Silai	ROU	4:04.7	4:04.70	Q
3	167	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:05.0	4:04.91	Q
4	218	Natalia Mărășescu	ROU	4:05.9	4:05.83	Q
5	197	Anna Bukis	POL	4:06.0	4:05.97
6	124	Beate Liebich	GDR	4:06.8	4:06.75
7	26	Nikolina Shtereva	BUL	4:08.3	4:08.25
8	297	Breda Pergar	YUG	4:13.2	4:13.16
9	173	Agnese Possamai	ITA	4:14.7	4:14.67
10	249	Mwinga Mwanjala	TAN	4:20.9	4:20.84
11	295	Trịnh Thị Bé	VIE	4:38.6	4:38.57
DNS	165	Geeta Zutshi	IND	–	–
DNS	244	Hala El-Moughrabi	SYR	–	–

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	Result
400 m	Lyubov Smolka	1:09.0
800 m	Natalia Mărășescu	2:17.0
1200 m	Lyubov Smolka	3:19.2

Final Round

Date	1 August 1980 — 18:05

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	268	Tatyana Kazankina	URS	3:56.6	3:56.56	OR
2	140	Christiane Wartenberg	GDR	3:57.8	3:57.71
3	281	Nadezhda Olizarenko	URS	3:59.6	3:59.52
4	167	Gabriella Dorio	ITA	4:00.3	4:00.30
5	109	Ulrike Bruns	GDR	4:00.7	4:00.62
6	288	Lyubov Smolka	URS	4:01.3	4:01.25
7	220	Maricica Puică	ROU	4:01.3	4:01.26
8	223	Ileana Silai	ROU	4:03.0	4:02.98
9	218	Natalia Mărășescu	ROU	4:04.8	4:04.74

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	Result
400 m	Nadezhda Olizarenko	1:05.5
800 m	Nadezhda Olizarenko	2:13.7
1200 m	Tatyana Kazankina	3:12.3