The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common
long-distance running event in
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
and the
World Championships in Athletics
The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...
, run over laps of a standard track. The same distance in
road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain.
These events are usually classified as long-distance ...
is called a
5K run; referring to the distance in metres rather than kilometres serves to disambiguate the two events.
The 5000 m has been present on the Olympic programme since 1912 for men and since 1996 for women. Prior to 1996, women had competed in an Olympic
3000 metres race since 1984. The 5000 m has been held at each of the
World Championships in Athletics
The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...
in men's competition and since 1995 in women's.
The event is almost the same length as the
dolichos race held at the
Ancient Olympic Games, introduced in 720 BCE.
World Athletics
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...
keeps official records for both outdoor and indoor 5000-metre track events.
3 miles
The 5000 metres is the (slightly longer) approximate metric equivalent of the run, an event common in countries which used the
imperial measurement system
The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units (also known as British Imperial or Exchequer Standards of 1826) is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed thro ...
. The 3-mile event featured in the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
through 1966, and was a
championship in the United States in non-Olympic years from 1953 to 1973. It required 12 laps around a track.
All-time top 25
Men
*Correct as of September 2022.
Women
*Correct as of June 2022.
Olympic medalists
Men
Two men have won the Olympic 5000 metres on two occasions, both times back-to-back.
Lasse Virén of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
was the first to achieve the feat, winning the title in
1972 in Munich, before retaining the title in
1976 in Montreal.
Mo Farah
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...
of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
matched the achievement, winning the title in
2012 in London, and retaining it four years later in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
. Both men achieved 5000 metre - 10,000 metre doubles on both occasions.
Finnish legend
Paavo Nurmi
Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" or the "Phantom Finn", as he dominated distance running in the 1920s. Nurmi set 22 official world ...
is the only male runner to have won three Olympic medals at the distance, a gold and two silvers between 1920 and 1928.
Women
Only one woman has won the Olympic 5000 metres title twice,
Ethiopian
Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...
Meseret Defar
Meseret Defar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including O ...
winning in
Athens in 2004, taking silver behind compatriot
Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba ( om, Xirunesh Dibaabaa, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 June 1985) is an Ethiopian athlete who competed in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold medal ...
in 2008, before regaining the title in
London in 2012. Defar and Dibaba are the only athletes with three Olympic medals at the distance, with both reaching the podium in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
World Championships Medalists
Men
In the World Championships, Great Britain's
Mo Farah
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...
stands alone, the most successful and most decorated athlete in the event with three gold medals (2011, 2013 and 2015) and four medals in total (including silver in 2017) between 2011 and 2017. Kenya's
Ismael Kirui
Ismael Kirui (born 20 February 1975 in Kapcherop, Marakwet District) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who won gold medals over 5000 metres at the 1993 and 1995 World Championships in Athletics.
His victory in Stuttgart in 1993 was espe ...
was the first athlete to win the title twice in 1993 and 1995, and Ethiopia's
Muktar Edris
Muktar Edris (born 14 January 1994) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country races.
Career
Muktar made his first international appearances in 2011, taking seventh place in the junior race at the ...
the third between 2017 and 2019.
Women
Romania's
Gabriela Szabo
Gabriela Szabo (, hu, Szabó Gabriella; born 14 November 1975) is a retired Romanian runner. She competed in the 1500 m and 5000 m events at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal.
Szabo is a three-time world c ...
won the title twice between 1995 and 1997. Since then four African runners - two Kenyan, two Ethiopian - have repeated the feat;
Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba ( om, Xirunesh Dibaabaa, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 June 1985) is an Ethiopian athlete who competed in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold medal ...
and
Meseret Defar
Meseret Defar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including O ...
of Ethiopia and
Vivian Cheruiyot
Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (born 11 September 1983) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in track and cross country running. She represented Kenya at the Summer Olympics in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, winning a silver medal at the 5 ...
and
Hellen Obiri of Kenya. Meseret Defar's five medals - 2 gold, a silver and two bronze won between 2005 and 2013 - are the most won in the event by any athlete.
Season's bests
Men
Women
See also
*
National champions 5000 metres (men)
*
National champions 5000 metres (women)
References
External links
IAAF list of 5000-metres records in XML
{{DEFAULTSORT:5000 Metres
Events in track and field
Long-distance running distances
Summer Olympic disciplines in athletics