5000m image used in IAAF Disciplines (Getty Images)

Male

Pos Athlete Mark Country
1 Edwin Cheruiyot Soi 12:51.34 Kenya KEN
2 Albert Rop 12:51.96 Kenya KEN
3 Yenew Alamirew 12:54.95 Ethiopia ETH
4 Hagos Gebrhiwet 12:55.73 Ethiopia ETH
5 Isiah Kiplangat Koech 12:56.08 Kenya KEN

Female

Pos Athlete Mark Country
1 Tirunesh Dibaba 14:23.68 Ethiopia ETH
2 Almaz Ayana 14:25.84 Ethiopia ETH
3 Meseret Defar 14:26.90 Ethiopia ETH
4 Viola Jelagat Kibiwot 14:33.48 Kenya KEN
5 Genzebe Dibaba 14:37.68 Ethiopia ETH

Male

Pos Athlete Mark Country
1 Kenenisa Bekele 12:37.35 Ethiopia ETH
2 Haile Gebrselassie 12:39.36 Ethiopia ETH
3 Daniel Komen 12:39.74 Kenya KEN
4 Eliud Kipchoge 12:46.53 Kenya KEN
5 Dejen Gebremeskel 12:46.81 Ethiopia ETH

Female

Pos Athlete Mark Country
1 Tirunesh Dibaba 14:11.15 Ethiopia ETH
2 Meseret Defar 14:12.88 Ethiopia ETH
3 Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot 14:20.87 Kenya KEN
4 Liliya Shobukhova 14:23.75 Russia RUS
5 Elvan Abeylegesse 14:24.68 Turkey TUR

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5000 Metres

How it works

Runners compete over 12-and-a-half laps of a 400m track. They make bunched standing starts and can break immediately for the inside.

History

The Ancient Greeks organised a number of events akin to today’s long-distance races. During the mid-19th century, match races for betting purposes became very popular in Great Britain and the USA.

Every Olympic Games since 1912 has included a men’s 5000m.

Did you know

It wasn’t until 1996 that a women’s version of the 5000m featured at the Olympic Games, replacing the 3000m.

Gold standard

Unquestionably this is the realm of the East Africans, with Kenya and Ethiopia dominating; Tanzania and Uganda are strong, too. North Africans from Morocco and Algeria have also enjoyed success.

Icons

Said Aouita

The versatile Moroccan dominated throughout the mid-to-late 1980s. He won Olympic gold in 1984 and took the World title three years later. He was also the first man to break 13 minutes for the distance.

Gabriela Szabo

The fast-finishing Romanian landed successive world titles (1997 and 1999) before enjoying Olympic glory in Sydney in 2000.

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