AthleticsAthletics world record
1500 m, women
3 min 48.68 s
- Holder
- Faith Kipyegon
- Date
- Place
- Eugene
- Standing since
- 2025 (1 year)
How the record evolved
The last record set in each decade, up to the current record (highlighted).
| Year | Record | Holder |
|---|---|---|
| 3 min 48.68 s | Faith Kipyegon | |
| 3 min 49.04 s | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | |
| 3 min 50.07 s | Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) | |
| 3 min 50.46 s | Qu Yunxia (CHN) | |
| 3 min 52.47 s | Tatyana Kazankina (URS) | |
| 3 min 56.0 s | Tatyana Kazankina (URS) | |
| 4 min 10.7 s | Jaroslava Jehličková (CZE) |
Put them in order
Sort these records from the oldest to the most recent.
- 3 min 50.07 sGenzebe Dibaba (ETH)
- 3 min 52.47 sTatyana Kazankina (URS)
- 3 min 48.68 sFaith Kipyegon
- 4 min 10.7 sJaroslava Jehličková (CZE)
What to remember
Eugene, July 5, 2025, at the Prefontaine Classic: Kenya's Faith Kipyegon ran the 1500 m in 3 min 48.68 s, an average speed of 23.614 km/h over three and three-quarter laps.
In 1969, the record stood at 4 min 10.7 s (Jaroslava Jehličková). Tatyana Kazankina broke it twice, with 3 min 56.0 s in 1976 and 3 min 52.47 s in 1980, ahead of Qu Yunxia in 1993 and Genzebe Dibaba in 2015. Kipyegon broke it in 2024 with 3 min 49.04 s, set in Paris, then in 2025. Across 56 years the time dropped by 8.8%.
Kipyegon won the Olympic 1500 m three times, in Rio, Tokyo and Paris, and she took the world title over the distance in 2017, 2022, 2023 and 2025. In 2023 she had already set three world records: the 1500 m in Florence, the 5000 m in Paris and the mile in Monaco.
Related records
Sources and licences
- Value, holder and date: Wikipedia article “List of world records in athletics” (revision used 1378411308). Data from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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