Medalists
| Gold |
 Nancy Lagat
Kenya (KEN) |
| Silver |
 Iryna Lishchynska
Ukraine (UKR) |
| Bronze |
Nataliya Tobias
Ukraine (UKR) |
Records
| World Record |
Qu Yunxia (CHN) |
3:50.46 |
Beijing, China |
11 September 1993 |
| Olympic Record |
Paula Ivan (ROU) |
3:53.96 |
Seoul, South Korea |
1 October 1988 |
Finals
23 August 2008 - 19:50
| Rank |
Name |
Result |
Notes |
| 1 |
Nancy Lagat (KEN) |
4:00.23 |
(PB) |
| 2 |
Iryna Lishchynska (UKR) |
4:01.63 |
|
| 3 |
Nataliya Tobias (UKR) |
4:01.78 |
(PB) |
| 4 |
Lisa Dobriskey (GBR) |
4:02.10 |
(PB) |
| 5 |
Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BRN) |
4:02.71 |
|
| 6 |
Natalia Rodriguez (ESP) |
4:03.19 |
(SB) |
| 7 |
Shannon Rowbury (USA) |
4:03.58 |
|
| 8 |
Iris Fuentes-Pila (v) |
4:04.86 |
|
| 9 |
Anna Mishchenko (UKR) |
4:05.13 |
(PB) |
| 10 |
Siham Hilali (MAR) |
4:05.57 |
|
| 11 |
Anna Alminova (RUS) |
4:06.99 |
|
| 12 |
Btissam Lakhouad (MAR) |
4:07.25 |
|
|
