1987 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 5000 metres

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These are the official results of the Men's 5,000 metres event at the 1987 IAAF World Championships in Rome, Italy. There were a total of 36 participating athletes, with two qualifying heats and the final held on Sunday September 6, 1987.

Contents

Medalists

Gold Flag of Morocco.svg Saïd Aouita
Morocco (MAR)
Silver Flag of Portugal (official).svg Domingos Castro
Portugal (POR)
Bronze Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jack Buckner
Great Britain (GBR)

Records

Existing records at the start of the event.

World RecordFlag of Morocco.svg  Saïd Aouita  (MAR)12:58.39 Rome, Italy July 27, 1987
Championship RecordFlag of Ireland.svg  Eamonn Coghlan  (IRL)13:28.53 Helsinki, Finland August 14, 1983

Final

This final was a rather typical "kicker's race," with a mostly slow early pace, and a very quick last lap. The strongest pre-race favourite, Morocco's Said Aouita, led for over 200 metres. After that, Kenya's John Ngugi moved into the lead. However, until about 2,200 metres, he ran wide either on the second lane or on the first lane's outer edge. After 900 metres, Ireland's John Treacy injected a more respectable speed into the sluggish early race. Despite his noticeable acceleration, Treacy's 1,000-metre split was only 2:49.96. After 1,600 metres, Ngugi again took the lead. As he led the 15-man field through 2,000 metres in 5:34.93, the runners were tightly clustered behind him. After 2,200 metres, the Kenyan suddenly surged. Only Aouita and Ireland's Frank O'Mara followed Ngugi closely. Before that lap was over, however, Ngugi slowed down again, and the field closed the gap on him. Due to Ngugi's surge, the 3,000-metre split was 8:16.19. The pace remained moderate during the fourth kilometre, with Ngugi leading at 4,000 metres in 10:58.60. Then the field began to break up. Britain's Steve Ovett, Ireland's Treacy, Canada's Carey Nelson, and Spain's Abel Anton started to lose contact with the main group. Another pre-race favourite, Switzerland's Pierre Deleze, had accelerated to the third place behind Ngugi and Aouita at 4,000 metres. Ovett was able to temporarily catch the leaders by 4,400 metres. Sydney Maree of the United States had drifted to the rear of the main group. By the second last home straight, also Ireland's O'Mara began to struggle with the increasing pace. Shortly before 4,600 metres, Aouita eased past Ngugi, and the Moroccan's unofficial split at 4,600 metres was 12:33.52. Portugal's Domingos Castro sprinted past Deleze into the second place on the final lap's front bend. Britain's Jack Buckner, Belgium's Vincent Rousseau, Ngugi, Bulgaria's Evgeni Ignatov, Britain's Tim Hutchings, Portugal's Dionisio Castro, O'Mara, Maree, and Ovett were still in contention. However, on the final back straight, Aouita further accelerated his pace, and only Domingos Castro and Deleze were able to follow him. Buckner and Rousseau formed the first chasing group, with Ignatov, Hutchings, and Dionisio Castro fighting for the sixth place. Ngugi drifted to the leading group's rear, and Ovett and Maree were about to pass him. By 4,800 metres, Aouita's victory already started to look certain, but Domingos Castro tenaciously remained ahead of Deleze. On the final home straight, Aouita's superior middle-distance runner's speed took him to an easy and clear victory. Domingos Castro was able to secure the silver medal, while Deleze faded badly during the last 20 metres, losing the bronze medal to the quickly finishing Buckner. Unofficially, Aouita sprinted the final 400 metres in 52.92 seconds. (The World Athletics Championships in Rome / Yleisurheilun MM-kisat Roomassa, Helsinki, Finland: The Runner Magazine (Juoksija-lehti), 1987; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_sU4ncDVLY 1987, Frank O'Mara & John Treacy, 5000m Final, IAAF World Championships, Rome.)

RANKFINALTIME
Med 1.png Flag of Morocco.svg  Saïd Aouita  (MAR)13:26.44
Med 2.png Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Domingos Castro  (POR)13:27.59
Med 3.png Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Jack Buckner  (GBR)13:27.74
4.Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Pierre Délèze  (SUI)13:28.06
5.Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Vincent Rousseau  (BEL)13:28.56
6.Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Evgeni Ignatov  (BUL)13:29.68
7.Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Tim Hutchings  (GBR)13:30.01
8.Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Dionisio Castro  (POR)13:30.94
9.Flag of Ireland.svg  Frank O'Mara  (IRL)13:32.04
10.Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Steve Ovett  (GBR)13:33.49
11.Flag of the United States.svg  Sydney Maree  (USA)13:33.78
12.Flag of Kenya.svg  John Ngugi  (KEN)13:34.04
13.Flag of Ireland.svg  John Treacy  (IRL)13:41.03
14.Flag of Spain.svg  Abel Antón  (ESP)13:43.58
15.Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Carey Nelson  (CAN)13:43.81

Qualifying heats

RANKHEAT 1TIME
1.Flag of Morocco.svg  Saïd Aouita  (MAR)13:28.63
2.Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Domingos Castro  (POR)13:28.68
3.Flag of Ireland.svg  Frank O'Mara  (IRL)13:28.79
4.Flag of the United States.svg  Sydney Maree  (USA)13:28.86
5.Flag of Spain.svg  Abel Antón  (ESP)13:28.92
6.Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Tim Hutchings  (GBR)13:29.06
7.Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Vincent Rousseau  (BEL)13:29.74
8.Flag of the United States.svg  Doug Padilla  (USA)13:30.16
9.Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Markus Ryffel  (SUI)13:33.07
10.Flag of Sweden.svg  Jonny Danielson  (SWE)13:35.69
11.Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Zhang Guowei  (CHN)13:40.46
12.Flag of Tanzania.svg  Juma Mnyampanda  (TAN)13:42.57
13.Flag of Japan.svg  Kozu Akutsu  (JPN)13:46.29
14.Flag of Chile.svg  Omar Aguilar  (CHI)13:52.59
15.Flag of Guatemala.svg  Hugo Allan García  (GUA)14:08.72
16.Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Miguel Vargas  (CRC)14:59.32
Flag of Italy.svg  Salvatore Antibo  (ITA)DNS
Flag of Ethiopia (1987-1991).svg  Wodajo Bulti  (ETH)DNS


RANKHEAT 2TIME
1.Flag of Kenya.svg  John Ngugi  (KEN)13:22.68 CR
2.Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Dionisio Castro  (POR)13:23.12
3.Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Pierre Délèze  (SUI)13:24.07
4.Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Evgeni Ignatov  (BUL)13:24.42
5.Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Jack Buckner  (GBR)13:24.56
6.Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Steve Ovett  (GBR)13:28.68
7.Flag of Ireland.svg  John Treacy  (IRL)13:28.89
8.Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Carey Nelson  (CAN)13:29.20
9.Flag of Ethiopia (1987-1991).svg  Haji Bulbula  (ETH)13:31.06
10.Flag of Morocco.svg  Brahim Boutayeb  (MAR)13:32.73
11.Flag of Germany.svg  Herbert Stephan  (FRG)13:34.68
12.Flag of France.svg  Pascal Thiebaut  (FRA)13:38.97
13.Flag of Spain.svg  José Manuel Abascal  (ESP)13:59.68
14.Flag of the United States.svg  John Gregorek  (USA)14:01.02
15.Flag of Lesotho (1987-2006).svg  Thabiso Paul Moqhali  (LES)14:39.68
16.Flag of Zaire (1971-1997).svg  Masini Situ-Kubanza  (ZAI)14:50.39
17.Flag of Yemen.svg  Abdalla Washali  (YEM)15:42.10
18.Flag of Togo (3-2).svg  Atsou Amewouho  (TOG)16:16.41

See also

References