Meseret Defar Tola is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including Olympic and World Championship gold medals over 5000 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.
The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championships for the sport of athletics organised by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age category (19 years old or younger on 31 December in the year of the competition.
The 5000 meters or 5000-meter 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 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 meters 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.
Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in track and cross country running. She represented Kenya at the Summer Olympics in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, winning a silver medal at the 5000 m and bronze medal at the 10000 m at the 2012 Olympics, silver medal at the 10000 m and gold medal at the 5000 m at the 2016 Olympics, setting the new Olympic record in 5000 m event. Cheruiyot won a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and became the world champion in the event at the 2009 edition, repeating this achievement at the 2011 World Championships, where she also won the 10000 m.
Genzebe Dibaba Keneni is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. A 1500 metres 2016 Olympic silver medalist, she won a gold medal in this event and a bronze in the 5000 metres at the 2015 World Championships. Genzebe is the current world record holder for the 1500 m outdoor, and the indoor events of 3000 m and 5000 m. Her 2000 m indoor women's world's best time is the absolute world record, as it is faster than the previous women's outdoor mark. She holds the distinction of possessing the most world records by one individual in track history, with her current haul of five, plus two world bests.
Sifan Hassan is an Ethiopian-born Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She won two gold medals at the 2019 World Championships, in the 1500 metres and 10,000 metres events, becoming the only athlete in history to win both events at a single World Championships or Olympic Games.
Abbey Cooper is an American middle- and long-distance runner. Cooper is the most decorated Ivy League athlete in track and field and cross country running. She is the first Dartmouth female distance runner to win an NCAA title. She won a total of seven NCAA titles in her career. In 2014, she became a professional runner for New Balance.
Marielle Hall is a female long-distance runner from the United States. She competed in the Women's 5000 metres event at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China as well as the Women's 10,000 meters final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Anna Emilie Møller is a Danish athlete competing in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics without qualifying for the final. In her heat, however, she set the new national and European junior record in the event.
The men's 5000 metres at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships was held at Ratina Stadium on 14 July.
Mathilde Sénéchal is a French long-distance runner. In 2019, she competed in the senior women's race at the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in Aarhus, Denmark. She finished in 60th place.
Ma Zhenxia is a Chinese racewalker. In 2014, she won the gold medal in the girls' 5 kilometre walk at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics held in Nanjing, China.
