The official world records in the 5000 metres, or 5000-metre run, are held by Joshua Cheptegei with 12:35.36 for men and Gudaf Tsegay with 14:00.21 for women.
The first world record in the men's 5000 m was recognized by World Athletics (formerly called the International Association of Athletics Federations, or IAAF) in 1912. As of January 2024, 36 world records have been ratified by World Athletics in the event. [1]
The first world record in the women's 5000 m was recognized by the IAAF in 1981. As of January 2024, 16 world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event. [1]
Time | Athlete | Date | Location |
---|---|---|---|
16:34.6 | George Touquet-Daunis (FRA) | 1897-10-31 | Paris, France |
16:29.2 | George Touquet-Daunis (FRA) | 1899-05-22 | Lyon, France |
15:29.8 | Charles Bennett (GBR) | 1900-07-22 | Paris, France |
14:59.0 | Alfred Shrubb (GBR) | 1904-06-13 | Glasgow, United Kingdom |
Ratified | |
Not ratified | |
Ratified but later rescinded | |
Pending ratification |
Time | Athlete | Date | Location |
---|---|---|---|
14:36.6 | Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) | 1912-07-10 | Stockholm, Sweden [1] |
14:35.4 | Paavo Nurmi (FIN) | 1922-09-12 | Stockholm, Sweden [1] |
14:28.2 | Paavo Nurmi (FIN) | 1924-06-19 | Helsinki, Finland [1] |
14:17.0 | Lauri Lehtinen (FIN) | 1932-06-19 | Helsinki, Finland [1] |
14:08.8 | Taisto Mäki (FIN) | 1939-06-16 | Helsinki, Finland [1] |
13:58.2 | Gunder Hägg (SWE) | 1942-09-20 | Gothenburg, Sweden [1] |
13:57.2 | Emil Zátopek (TCH) | 1954-05-30 | Paris, France [1] |
13:56.6 | Vladimir Kuts (URS) | 1954-08-29 | Bern, Switzerland [1] |
13:51.6 | Chris Chataway (GBR) | 1954-10-13 | London, United Kingdom [1] |
13:51.2 | Vladimir Kuts (URS) | 1954-10-23 | Prague, Czechoslovakia [1] |
13:50.8 | Sandor Iharos (HUN) | 1955-09-10 | Budapest, Hungary [1] |
13:46.8 | Vladimir Kuts (URS) | 1955-09-18 | Belgrad, Yugoslavia [1] |
13:40.6 | Sandor Iharos (HUN) | 1955-10-23 | Budapest, Hungary [1] |
13:36.8 | Gordon Pirie (GBR) | 1956-06-19 | Bergen, Norway [1] |
13:35.0 | Vladimir Kuts (URS) | 1957-10-13 | Rome, Italy [1] |
13:34.8 | Ron Clarke (AUS) | 1965-01-16 | Hobart, Australia [1] |
13:33.6 | Ron Clarke (AUS) | 1965-02-01 | Auckland, New Zealand [1] |
13:25.8 | Ron Clarke (AUS) | 1965-06-04 | Compton, USA [1] |
13:24.2 | Kipchoge Keino (KEN) | 1965-11-30 | Auckland, New Zealand [1] |
13:16.6 | Ron Clarke (AUS) | 1966-07-05 | Stockholm, Sweden [1] |
13:16.4 | Lasse Virén (FIN) | 1972-09-14 | Helsinki, Finland [1] |
13:13.0 | Emiel Puttemans (BEL) | 1972-09-20 | Brussels, Belgium [1] |
13:12.9 | Dick Quax (NZL) | 1977-07-05 | Stockholm, Sweden [1] |
13:08.4 | Henry Rono (KEN) | 1978-04-08 | Berkeley, California, USA [1] |
13:06.20 | Henry Rono (KEN) | 1981-09-13 | Knarvik, Norway [1] |
13:00.41 | David Moorcroft (GBR) | 1982-07-07 | Oslo, Norway [1] |
13:00.40 | Saïd Aouita (MAR) | 1985-07-27 | Oslo, Norway [1] |
12:58.39 | Saïd Aouita (MAR) | 1987-07-27 | Rome, Italy [1] |
12:56.96 | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | 1994-06-04 | Hengelo, Netherlands [1] |
12:55.30 | Moses Kiptanui (KEN) | 1995-06-08 | Rome, Italy [1] |
12:44.39 | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | 1995-08-16 | Zürich, Switzerland [1] |
12:41.86 | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | 1997-08-13 | Zürich, Switzerland [1] |
12:39.74 | Daniel Komen (KEN) | 1997-08-22 | Brussels, Belgium [1] |
12:39.36 | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | 1998-06-13 | Helsinki, Finland [1] |
12:37.35 | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | 2004-05-31 | Hengelo, Netherlands [1] |
12:35.36 | Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) | 2020-08-14 | Monaco [2] |
Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000m from 1981. [1] Dick Quax's 13:12.9 from 1977 was recorded as 13:12.87 to the hundredth of a second.
Time | Athlete | Date | Location |
---|---|---|---|
16:17.4 | Paola Pigni (ITA) | 1969-05-11 | Formia, Italy |
15:53.6 | Paola Pigni (ITA) | 1969-09-02 | Milan, Italy |
15:41.4 | Natalia Mărășescu (ROM) | 1977-03-16 | Oradea, Romania |
15:37.0 | Janice Merrill (USA) | 1977-07-11 | Mainz, Germany |
15:35.52 | Kathy Mills (USA) | 1978-05-26 | Knoxville, United States |
15:33.8 | Janice Merrill (USA) | 1979-05-19 | Durham, United States |
15:30.6 | Janice Merrill (USA) | 1980-03-22 | Stanford, United States |
15:28.43 | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 1981-07-11 | Oslo, Norway |
15:24.6 | Yelena Sipatova (URS) | 1981-09-06 | Podolsk, Soviet Union |
Time | Athlete | Date | Location |
---|---|---|---|
15:14.51 | Paula Fudge (GBR) | 1981-09-13 | Knarvik, Norway [1] |
15:13.22 | Anne Audain (NZL) | 1982-03-17 | Auckland, New Zealand [1] |
15:08.26 | Mary Tabb (USA) | 1982-06-05 | Eugene, Oregon, United States [1] |
15:01.83 [a] | Zola Budd (RSA) | 1984-01-05 | Stellenbosch, South Africa [1] |
14:58.89 | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 1984-06-28 | Oslo, Norway [1] |
14:48.07 | Zola Budd (GBR) | 1985-08-26 | London, United Kingdom [1] |
14:37.33 | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 1986-08-05 | Stockholm, Sweden [1] |
14:36.45 | Fernanda Ribeiro (POR) | 1995-07-22 | Hechtel, Belgium [1] |
14:31.27 | Dong Yanmei (CHN) | 1997-10-21 | Shanghai, China [1] |
14:28.09 | Jiang Bo (CHN) | 1997-10-23 | Shanghai, China [1] |
14:24.68 | Elvan Abeylegesse (TUR) | 2004-06-11 | Bergen, Norway [1] |
14:24.53 | Meseret Defar (ETH) | 2006-06-03 | New York, United States [1] |
14:16.63 | Meseret Defar (ETH) | 2007-06-15 | Oslo, Norway [1] |
14:11.15 | Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) | 2008-06-06 | Oslo, Norway [1] |
14:06.62 | Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) | 2020-10-07 | Valencia, Spain [1] |
14:05.20 | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | 2023-06-09 | Paris, France [3] |
14:00.21 | Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) | 2023-09-17 | Eugene, Oregon [4] |
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 following table shows the world record progression in the men's and women's 800 metres, officially ratified by the IAAF.
The 1500-metre run became a standard racing distance in Europe in the late 19th century, perhaps as a metric version of the mile, a popular running distance since at least the 1850s in English-speaking countries.
The official world records in the 10,000 metres are held by Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei with 26:11 minutes for men and Kenyan Beatrice Chebet with 28:54.14 for women.
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The 5000 metres race walk is a racewalking event. The event is competed as a track race and was part of the athletics programme for men at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics until 1993. It is also an event in the World Masters Athletics Championships, and is a World record event.
Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is the current world record holder for the 5000 metres and the 10,000 metres, and held the world best time over the 15 kilometres distance.
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Selemon Barega Shirtaga is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, silver for the 5,000 metres at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and bronze in the 10,000 metres at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. Selemon is a two-time 3,000 metres World Indoor Championship medallist, taking silver in 2018, and a gold in 2022.
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The following table is an overview of national records in the 5000 metres.