Shannon Rowbury advanced to her third-consecutive Olympic 1500m final, while Jenny Simpson made her first in Rio. 



Rowbury played it safe in the first semifinal, hanging mid-pack while Laura Weightman led through 800m in 2:15. Kenyan record-holder Faith Kipyegon took over the second half of the race and Rowbury responded perfectly. Kipyegon, Ethiopia's Dawit Seyaum and Rowbury finished 1-2-3, with Rowbury running a season best 4:04.46.

Brenda Martinez did not advance out of the first section. With 300m to go, Martinez didn't have an extra gear and fell to 12th in 4:10.41.

Simpson made things interesting in the second semifinal. She took off from the gun, but slowed down as the field rolled through 800m in 2:17.

With one lap to go, world record-holder Genzebe Dibaba and 2016 World Indoor Champion Sifan Hassan raced to the front and began to drop the hammer. Great Britain's Laura Muir went with, and Simpson began losing ground. Though she was one second behind Muir, she automatically advanced by finishing fourth in 4:05.07.

Auto Qualifiers:
4:03.06 Genzebe Dibaba (ETH)
4:03.62 Sifan Hassan (NED)
4:03.95 Faith Kipyegon (KEN)
4:04.16 Laura Muir (GBR)
4:04.23 Dawit Seyaum (ETH)
4:04.46 Shannon Rowbury (USA)
4:05.07 Jennifer Simpson (USA)
4:05.19 Besu Sado (ETH)
4:05.28 Laura Weightman (GBR)
4:06.41 Meraf Bahta (SWE)

Time Qualifiers:
4:05.29 Sofia Ennaoui (POL)
4:05.60 Rababe Arafi (MAR)

The women's 1500m final will take place on August 16th at 8:30 p.m. CST.