This article is about track racing. For road racing, see 5K run.
Athletics 5000 metres
Runners in the 5000 metres at IAAF World Championships in Osaka 2007
World records
Men
Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) 12:35.36 (2020)
Women
Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) 14:00.21 (2023)
Short track world records
Men
Grant Fisher (USA) 12:44.09 (2025)
Women
Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) 14:18.86 (2015)
Olympic records
Men
Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 12:57.82 (2008)
Women
Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) 14:26.17 (2016)
World Championship records
Men
Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) 12:52.79 (2003)
Women
Hellen Obiri (KEN) 14:26.72 (2019)
World junior (U20) records
Men
Selemon Barega (ETH) 12:43.02 (2018)
Women
Medina Eisa (ETH) 14:16.54 (2023)
The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to 3 miles 188 yards or 16,404 feet 2 inches. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over 12+1⁄2 laps of a standard 400 m track, or 25 laps on an indoor 200 m track. The same distance in road running 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 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 keeps official records for both outdoor and indoor 5000-metre track events.[1][2]
3 miles
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The 5000 metres is the (slightly longer) approximate metric equivalent of the 3-mile (4,828.0 m) run, an event common in countries which used the imperial measurement system. The 3-mile event featured in the Commonwealth Games through 1966, and was a championship in the United States in non-Olympic years from 1953 to 1973. It required 12 laps around a 1⁄4-mile (402 m; 440 yd; 1,320 ft) track.
Two men have won the Olympic 5000 metres on two occasions, both times back-to-back. Lasse Virén of Finland was the first to achieve the feat, winning the title in 1972 in Munich, before retaining the title in 1976 in Montreal. Mo Farah of Great Britain matched the achievement, winning the title in 2012 in London, and retaining it four years later in Rio de Janeiro. Both men achieved 5000/10000 m doubles on each occasion.
Paavo Nurmi is the only male runner to have won three Olympic medals at the distance; one gold and two silvers between 1920 and 1928.
Games
Gold
Silver
Bronze
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1912 Stockholm details
Hannes Kolehmainen Finland
Jean Bouin France
George Hutson Great Britain
1920 Antwerp details
Joseph Guillemot France
Paavo Nurmi Finland
Eric Backman Sweden
1924 Paris details
Paavo Nurmi Finland
Ville Ritola Finland
Edvin Wide Sweden
1928 Amsterdam details
Ville Ritola Finland
Paavo Nurmi Finland
Edvin Wide Sweden
1932 Los Angeles details
Lauri Lehtinen Finland
Ralph Hill United States
Lauri Virtanen Finland
1936 Berlin details
Gunnar Höckert Finland
Lauri Lehtinen Finland
Henry Jonsson Sweden
1948 London details
Gaston Reiff Belgium
Emil Zátopek Czechoslovakia
Willem Slijkhuis Netherlands
1952 Helsinki details
Emil Zátopek Czechoslovakia
Alain Mimoun France
Herbert Schade Germany
1956 Melbourne details
Vladimir Kuts Soviet Union
Gordon Pirie Great Britain
Derek Ibbotson Great Britain
1960 Rome details
Murray Halberg New Zealand
Hans Grodotzki United Team of Germany
Kazimierz Zimny Poland
1964 Tokyo details
Bob Schul United States
Harald Norpoth United Team of Germany
Bill Dellinger United States
1968 Mexico City details
Mohammed Gammoudi Tunisia
Kipchoge Keino Kenya
Naftali Temu Kenya
1972 Munich details
Lasse Virén Finland
Mohammed Gammoudi Tunisia
Ian Stewart Great Britain
1976 Montreal details
Lasse Virén Finland
Dick Quax New Zealand
Klaus-Peter Hildenbrand West Germany
1980 Moscow details
Miruts Yifter Ethiopia
Suleiman Nyambui Tanzania
Kaarlo Maaninka Finland
1984 Los Angeles details
Saïd Aouita Morocco
Markus Ryffel Switzerland
António Leitão Portugal
1988 Seoul details
John Ngugi Kenya
Dieter Baumann West Germany
Hansjörg Kunze East Germany
1992 Barcelona details
Dieter Baumann Germany
Paul Bitok Kenya
Fita Bayisa Ethiopia
1996 Atlanta details
Vénuste Niyongabo Burundi
Paul Bitok Kenya
Khalid Boulami Morocco
2000 Sydney details
Million Wolde Ethiopia
Ali Saïdi-Sief Algeria
Brahim Lahlafi Morocco
2004 Athens details
Hicham El Guerrouj Morocco
Kenenisa Bekele Ethiopia
Eliud Kipchoge Kenya
2008 Beijing details
Kenenisa Bekele Ethiopia
Eliud Kipchoge Kenya
Edwin Soi Kenya
2012 London details
Mo Farah Great Britain
Dejen Gebremeskel Ethiopia
Thomas Longosiwa Kenya
2016 Rio de Janeiro details
Mo Farah Great Britain
Paul Chelimo United States
Hagos Gebrhiwet Ethiopia
2020 Tokyo details
Joshua Cheptegei Uganda
Mohammed Ahmed Canada
Paul Chelimo United States
2024 Paris details
Jakob Ingebrigtsen Norway
Ronald Kwemoi Kenya
Grant Fisher United States
Women
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Only one woman has won the Olympic 5000 metres title twice, Ethiopian Meseret Defar winning in Athens in 2004, taking silver behind compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba 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.
Games
Gold
Silver
Bronze
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1996 Atlanta details
Wang Junxia China
Pauline Konga Kenya
Roberta Brunet Italy
2000 Sydney details
Gabriela Szabo Romania
Sonia O'Sullivan Ireland
Gete Wami Ethiopia
2004 Athens details
Meseret Defar Ethiopia
Isabella Ochichi Kenya
Tirunesh Dibaba Ethiopia
2008 Beijing details
Tirunesh Dibaba Ethiopia
Meseret Defar Ethiopia
Sylvia Kibet Kenya
2012 London details
Meseret Defar Ethiopia
Vivian Cheruiyot Kenya
Tirunesh Dibaba Ethiopia
2016 Rio de Janeiro details
Vivian Cheruiyot Kenya
Hellen Obiri Kenya
Almaz Ayana Ethiopia
2020 Tokyo details
Sifan Hassan Netherlands
Hellen Obiri Kenya
Gudaf Tsegay Ethiopia
2024 Paris details
Beatrice Chebet Kenya
Faith Kipyegon Kenya
Sifan Hassan Netherlands
World Championships medalists
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Men
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In the World Championships, Great Britain's Mo Farah 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 was the first athlete to win the title twice in 1993 and 1995, and Ethiopia's Muktar Edris the third between 2017 and 2019.
Championships
Gold
Silver
Bronze
1983 Helsinki details
Eamonn Coghlan (IRL)
Werner Schildhauer (GDR)
Martti Vainio (FIN)
1987 Rome details
Saïd Aouita (MAR)
Domingos Castro (POR)
Jack Buckner (GBR)
1991 Tokyo details
Yobes Ondieki (KEN)
Fita Bayisa (ETH)
Brahim Boutayeb (MAR)
1993 Stuttgart details
Ismael Kirui (KEN)
Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)
Fita Bayisa (ETH)
1995 Gothenburg details
Ismael Kirui (KEN)
Khalid Boulami (MAR)
Shem Kororia (KEN)
1997 Athens details
Daniel Komen (KEN)
Khalid Boulami (MAR)
Tom Nyariki (KEN)
1999 Seville details
Salah Hissou (MAR)
Benjamin Limo (KEN)
Mohammed Mourhit (BEL)
2001 Edmonton details
Richard Limo (KEN)
Million Wolde (ETH)
John Kibowen (KEN)
2003 Saint-Denis details
Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)
Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)
Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)
2005 Helsinki details
Benjamin Limo (KEN)
Sileshi Sihine (ETH)
Craig Mottram (AUS)
2007 Osaka details
Bernard Lagat (USA)
Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)
Moses Kipsiro (UGA)
2009 Berlin details
Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)
Bernard Lagat (USA)
James Kwalia (QAT)
2011 Daegu details
Mo Farah (GBR)
Bernard Lagat (USA)
Dejen Gebremeskel (ETH)
2013 Moscow details
Mo Farah (GBR)
Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH)
Isiah Koech (KEN)
2015 Beijing details
Mo Farah (GBR)
Caleb Ndiku (KEN)
Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH)
2017 London details
Muktar Edris (ETH)
Mo Farah (GBR)
Paul Chelimo (USA)
2019 Doha details
Muktar Edris (ETH)
Selemon Barega (ETH)
Mohammed Ahmed (CAN)
2022 Eugene details
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)
Jacob Krop (KEN)
Oscar Chelimo (UGA)
2023 Budapest details
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)
Mohamed Katir (ESP)
Jacob Krop (KEN)
Women
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Romania's Gabriela Szabo won the title twice between 1995 and 1997. Since then four African runners - two Kenyan, two Ethiopian - have repeated the feat; Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar of Ethiopia and Vivian Cheruiyot 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.