Turkey took gold and silver in the women’s 1500m with Asli Cakir Alptekin winning in a time of 4:10.23. Her countrywoman Gamze Bulut lead for most of the race and finished in the silver position with former world champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain claiming the bronze. Alptekin’s medal marks the first ever Turkish gold medal in athletics.
Women’s 1500m: Turkey Wins First Ever Athletics Gold, American Morgan Uceny Falls
The race started on a very slow pace and just about everyone was still in contention with less than 500m to go, but it was Alptekin who was able get out in front on the final lap.
No American woman has ever medaled in the 1500m at the Olympics, and Morgan Uceny looked as if she might have had a chance to change that until she was tripped up while making her move at the start of the last lap. Uceny tripped in the 1500m final at the 2011 World Championships as well, where she was considered the favorite. Fellow American Shannon Rowbury finished in sixth place.
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