The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common
long-distance running
Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength.
Within endurance running come two di ...
event in
track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
and the
World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a standard 400 m track, or 25 laps on an indoor 200 m 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 ru ...
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
The ancient Olympic Games (, ''ta Olympia''.), or the ancient Olympics, were a series of Athletics (sport), athletic competitions among representatives of polis, city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of ancient Greece. They were held at ...
, introduced in 720 BCE.
World Athletics
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...
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 3-mile event featured in the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
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.
Continental records
*Updated 15 June 2025.
All-time top 25
Men (outdoor)
*Updated June 2025.
Women (outdoor)
*Updated June 2025.
Men (indoor)
*Updated 2 March 2025.
Women (indoor)
*Updated 16 February 2025.
Olympic medalists
Men
Two men have won the Olympic 5000 metres on two occasions, both times back-to-back.
Lasse Virén of
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
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 Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...
of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
matched the achievement, winning the title in
2012 in London, and retaining it four years later in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
. Both men achieved 5000/10000 m doubles on each occasion.
Paavo Nurmi
Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finland, Finnish middle-distance running, middle-distance and long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" because he dominated distance running in th ...
is the only male runner to have won three Olympic medals at the distance; one gold and two silvers between 1920 and 1928.
Women
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.
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 Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...
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.
Women
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.
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 disciplines
Summer Olympic disciplines in athletics