Meseret Defar Tola 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 including Olympic and World Championship gold medals over 5,000 metres. She broke the world record in the event in 2006, broke it again in 2007 and held it until 2008, when fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba beat her time.
Tirunesh Dibaba is an Ethiopian athlete who competes in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold medals, five World Championship track gold medals, four individual World Cross Country (WCC) adult titles, and one individual WCC junior title. Tirunesh was the 5,000 metres world record holder until 2020 when her compatriot Letesenbet Gidey set a new world record. She is nicknamed the "baby-faced destroyer."
Lucy Wangui Kabuu is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres events. She has represented Kenya twice at the Summer Olympics, finishing in the top ten of the 10,000 m race in both 2004 and 2008. Her personal bests of 14:33.49 minutes for the 5000 m and 30:39.96 minutes for the 10,000 m make her one of Kenya's fastest ever runners in the events.
Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot is a Kenyan long-distance runner. She represented Kenya at the Summer Olympics in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, winning the silver medal in the 5,000 metres and bronze in the 10,000 metres at the 2012 London Olympics as well as gold in the 5,000 m and silver in the 10,000 m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, setting a new Olympic record in the former. Cheruiyot won the silver medal in the 5,000 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and became the world champion in the event at the 2009 edition, repeating this achievement in 2011, when she also won the 10,000 m. She added gold for the latter event at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. After taking a silver in the 3,000 metres at the 2010 World Indoor Championships, Cheruiyot won a number of outdoor 5,000 m titles that year, becoming Commonwealth Games, African and Continental Cup champion, as well as winning the Diamond League title.
Linet Chepkwemoi Masai is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. She won her first world title in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.
Genzebe Dibaba Keneni is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. A 1,500 metres 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist, she won a gold medal in this event and a bronze in the 5,000 metres at the 2015 World Championships. Genzebe is the current world record holder for the indoor events of the one mile, 3,000m and 5,000m.
The Women's 5000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 30, and September 2.
The Women's 10,000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 27.
Hellen Onsando Obiri is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. She is the only woman to have won world titles in indoor track, outdoor track and cross country. Obiri is a two-time Olympic 5,000 metres silver medallist from the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she also placed fourth over the 10,000 metres. She is a two-time world champion after winning the 5,000 m in 2017 and again in 2019, when she set a new championship record. Obiri also took world bronze for the 1,500 metres in 2013 and silver in the 10,000 m in 2022. She won the 3,000 metres race at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, claimed silver in 2014, and placed fourth in 2018. She is the 2019 World Cross Country champion. Obiri triumphed in the 2023 Boston Marathon, her second marathon race. She places fifth in the half marathon on the world all-time list.
The women's 5000 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Luzhniki Stadium on 14–17 August.
Almaz Ayana Eba is an Ethiopian female long-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres and bronze in the 5,000 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Almaz is a four-time World Athletics Championships medallist earning a bronze for the 5,000m in 2013, gold at the event in 2015 as well as gold in the 10,000m and silver in the 5,000m in 2017.
The 10,000 metres at the Summer Olympics is the longest track running event held at the multi-sport event. The men's 10,000 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1912. The women's event was added to the programme over seventy years later, at the 1988 Olympics. It is the most prestigious 10,000 m race at elite level. The competition format is a straight final between around 30 athletes, although prior to 2004 a qualifying round was held.
The women's 5000 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 16–19 August at the Olympic Stadium.
The women's 10,000 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 12 August at the Olympic Stadium. The gold medal was won by Ethiopian Almaz Ayana—in only her second 10,000 m race on the track—in a world record time of 29 minutes, 17.45 seconds. London 2012 bronze medallist Vivian Cheruiyot won silver for Kenya, with reigning Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia taking bronze.
Ethiopia competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from 5 to 21 August 2016. The country's participation in Rio de Janeiro marked its thirteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1956, having missed three occasions for joining the African (1976), Soviet (1984), and North Korean (1988) boycotts.
The women's 5000 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 27 and 30 August. The reigning champion from 2013 Meseret Defar was absent from the competition, having not yet returned from a career break to start a family.
The 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by men since the inaugural edition in 1983 and by women since the subsequent edition in 1987. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 10,000 metres at the Olympics. The competition format is a straight final with typically between twenty and thirty participants. Before 1999, the event had two qualifying heats leading to a final.
Alice Aprot Nawowuna is a Kenyan long-distance runner. She was the gold medallist in the 10,000 metres at the 2015 African Games, where she also won the bronze medal in the 5000 metres. Aprot claimed gold and silver in the 10,000 m at the 2016 and 2018 African Championships in Athletics respectively. She earned the silver medal for the senior women's race at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships.
The women's 5000 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the London Olympic Stadium on 10 and 13 August.
Letesenbet Gidey is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who holds two world records and one world best. In the 10,000 metres, she is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist, 2019 World silver medallist, and 2022 World champion.
