Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's 1500 metres

These are the official results of the Women's 1500 metres event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 4 of September & 9 of September. This was the first time this distance was held for women at the Olympics.[1]

Women's 1500 metres
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany
Date4 September 1972 & 9 September 1972
Competitors36 from 21 nations
Winning time4:01.36 WR
Medalists
Ludmila Bragina
 Soviet Union
Gunhild Hoffmeister
 East Germany
Paola Pigni
 Italy

Ludmila Bragina had just set the world record a month and a half earlier, knocking two and a half seconds off of Karin Burneleit's previous record. Burneleit was in the field, as were previous record holders Jaroslava Jehličková and Paola Pigni. In the first heat, Bragina improved upon her world record by .4. A step behind her, seventeen year old Glenda Reiser set the world junior record, also running faster than the world record at the start of that race. Reiser's time would also qualify as the World Youth Best.

In the first semi final, Reiser was not so lucky, not only did she not run as fast, but she didn't qualify for the final. In the second semi final, Bragina again improved the world record by almost a second and a half, while Jehličková was eliminated.

In the final, Berny Boxem was the early leader, while Bragina languished in dead last place. After the first 600 metres, Bragina decided to change that, moving to the outside and running past the field at a quicker tempo. Only long striding Berny Boxem was able to go with her as Bragina opened up a 10-metre lead on the field. After another 300 metres, Boxem began to fade and was quickly swallowed up by the front of the pack led by Sheila Carey. At the bell Ellen Tittel dropped out, collapsing onto the high jump apron while Bragina continued to expand her lead. Gunhild Hoffmeister moved past Carey into second place but they all were losing ground to Bragina. Several places back, Pigni launched into her kick, passing Burneleit, Keizer, Carey and almost catching Hoffmeister. But Hoffmeister noticed and defended her position, battling to stay ahead. Twice on the home stretch, with her arms flailing, Pigni looked to draw even with Hoffmeister, but each time Hoffmeister edged ahead to take the silver medal. Not only did Bragina set a third consecutive world record, but the next four competitors behind her beat her world record from two days earlier. Even sixth place Keizer was only .06 behind the previous record, at a time when records were only accurate to .1 of a second.

Heats

The top four runners in each heat (blue) and the next two fastest (pink), advanced to the semifinal round.

Heat one

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Ludmila Bragina Soviet Union4:06.47WR
2Glenda Reiser Canada4:06.71WJR
3Ilja Keizer Netherlands4:08.00
4Jenny Orr Australia4:08.06
5Jaroslava Jehličková Czechoslovakia4:08.39
6Christa Merten West Germany4:12.60
7Joan Allison Great Britain4:14.89
8Marijke Moser Switzerland4:24.94
9Lee Chiu-Hsia Republic of China4:37.15

Heat two

RankAthleteNationTime
1Paola Pigni Italy4:09.53
2Vasilena Amzina Bulgaria4:12.85
3Berny Boxem Netherlands4:13.83
4Francie Kraker United States4:14.73
5Thelma Wright Canada4:15.43
6Grete Andersen Norway4:16.00
7Sára Szenteleki-Ligetkuti Hungary4:16.08
8Gerda Ranz West Germany4:18.60
9Vera Nikolić Yugoslavia4:23.36
-Arda Kalpakian LebanonDNS

Heat three

RankAthleteNationTime
1Tamara Pangelova Soviet Union4:10.75
2Karin Burneleit East Germany4:10.83
3Francie Larrieu United States4:11.18
4Joyce Smith Great Britain4:11.27
5Inger Knutsson Sweden4:11.32
6Mary Tracey Ireland4:16.43
7Sinikka Tyynelä Finland4:21.40
8Emesia Chizunga Malawi4:41.47
-Magdolna Kulcsár HungaryDNF

Heat four

RankAthleteNationTime
1Ellen Tittel West Germany4:12.12
2Gunhild Hoffmeister East Germany4:12.80
3Sheila Carey Great Britain4:13.01
4Wenche Sørum Norway4:14.10
5Tonka Petrova Bulgaria4:14.95
6Anne-Marie Nenzell Sweden4:16.67
7Margrit Hess Switzerland4:19.67
8Tamara Kazachkova Soviet Union4:20.15
9Chereno Maiyo Kenya4:20.9
-Doris Brown United StatesDNS

Semifinals

The top four runners in each heat (blue) and the next two fastest (pink), advanced to the final round.

Heat one

RankAthleteNationTime
1Tamara Pangelova Soviet Union4:07.66
2Paola Pigni Italy4:07.83
3Gunhild Hoffmeister East Germany4:07.94
4Ilja Keizer Netherlands4:08.25
5Vasilena Amzina Bulgaria4:09.12
6Joyce Smith Great Britain4:09.37
7Glenda Reiser Canada4:09.51
8Francie Kraker United States4:12.76
9Inger Knutsson Sweden4:14.97

Heat two

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Ludmila Bragina Soviet Union4:05.07WR
2Karin Burneleit East Germany4:05.78
3Ellen Tittel West Germany4:06.65
4Sheila Carey Great Britain4:07.41
5Berny Boxem Netherlands4:08.81
6Jenny Orr Australia4:08.86
7Wenche Sørum Norway4:09.70
8Francie Larrieu United States4:15.26
9Jaroslava Jehličková Czechoslovakia4:18.16

Final

Nine participants of the 1500 final. Bragina is leading and is not seen in the image. She is followed by Keizer, Carey and Hoffmeister.
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Ludmila Bragina Soviet Union4:01.38WR
Gunhild Hoffmeister East Germany4:02.83
Paola Pigni Italy4:02.85
4Karin Burneleit East Germany4:04.11
5Sheila Carey Great Britain4:04.81
6Ilja Keizer Netherlands4:05.13
7Tamara Pangelova Soviet Union4:06.45
8Jenny Orr Australia4:12.15
9Berny Boxem Netherlands4:13.10
-Ellen Tittel West GermanyDNF

Key: WR = world record; OR = Olympic record; DNS = did not start; DNF = did not finish

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Games: Women's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
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