The women's

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

at the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

was held at the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), the Bird's Nest (), is a stadium at Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The National Stadium, covering an area of 204,000 square meters with an 80,000 person capacity (91,000 with temporary ...

on 27 and 30 August. The reigning champion from 2013

Meseret Defar Meseret Defar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3,000 metres and 5,000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions includ ...

was absent from the competition, having not yet returned from a career break to start a family. The winning margin was 17.24 seconds. As of 2024, this is the only time this race has been won by more than six seconds at these championships.

Summary

From the gun in the final, the two Japanese runner Misaki Onishi then Ayuko Suzuki took the pace out at a serious level, the women running the same pace as the pedestrian men's race through the first 2,000. After her 1500 metres win and world record, all eyes were clearly on Genzebe Dibaba. On the first lap Dibaba went to the back of the pack. After a lap she decided to move in behind the Japanese runners. Instantly she was marked by world leader Almaz Ayana. Three laps into the race, it was a string of African runners behind the Japanese, with a gap back to all the other non-Africans. From the pace of just under 74 seconds a lap, Ayana then upped the pace, followed immediately by Dibaba and the Kenyan team running as a group led by returning silver medalist Mercy Cherono. Laps started getting quicker, 68, 67, the field stringing out 65, 64 first only Dibaba was able to follow Ayana, then she was broken, Ayana out into an insurmountable lead with three laps to go and still accelerating. More than a hundred metres behind,

Senbere Teferi Senbere Teferi (born 3 May 1995) is an Ethiopian professional middle- and long-distance runner. She won the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. Teferi was also the silver medallist at the 2015 World Cr ...

was battling the last of the Kenyans,

Viola Kibiwot Viola Jelagat Kibiwot (born 22 December 1983 in Keiyo District) is a runner from Kenya who specialises in the 1500 metres. Kibiwot won her first international medal as a junior runner at the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where s ...

for the bronze medal position. Ayana slowed a little over the last two laps, the pace falling back to 67 seconds but the damage was done and the race was decided. Ayana pushed home in 14:26.83 to break Genzebe's sister

Tirunesh Dibaba Tirunesh Dibaba (, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 October 1985) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner athlete who competes in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold meda ...

's Championship Record. Well behind, Genzebe was content to just finish the race in silver medal position, but the battle for bronze was accelerating. Onto the home stretch, Teferi put her best move on Kibiwot and was sprinting home, but in the process she passed the slowing Dibaba. Dibaba finally noticed Teferi passing and turned into sprinting making for a close finish but Teferi had the edge and took the silver medal. It was a sweep for Ethiopia but not from a tactical situation like many Kenyan team members try to run. These were three rivals who in the process of beating each other, beat the rest of the world. Behind them, the straightaway was empty, it took 15 more seconds for the next Kenyan runner to arrive.

Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:

Qualification standards

Schedule

Results

Heats

Qualification: First 5 in each heat (Q) and the next 5 fastest (q) advanced to the final.

Final

The final was started at 19:15Final results
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2015 World Championships in Athletics - Women's 5000 metres 5000 5000 metres at the World Athletics Championships 2015 in women's athletics