Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres

Men's 5000 metres at the Games of the VIII Olympiad
Venue	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir
Dates	July 8, 1924 (semifinals) July 10, 1924 (final)
Competitors	38 from 21 nations
Medalists
Paavo Nurmi   Finland Ville Ritola   Finland Edvin Wide   Sweden
←  1920 1928  →

The men's 5000 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 8, 1924, and on July 10, 1924. 38 long-distance runners from 21 nations competed. ^[1]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

World Record	14:28.2	Paavo Nurmi	Helsinki (FIN)	June 19, 1924
Olympic Record	14:36.6	Hannes Kolehmainen	Stockholm (SWE)	July 10, 1912

In the final Paavo Nurmi set a new Olympic record with 14:31.2 minutes.

Results

Semifinals

All semi-finals were held on Tuesday, July 8, 1924.

The best four finishers of every heat qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1	Eino Rastas  (FIN)	15:22.2	Q
2	Katsuo Okazaki  (JPN)	15:22.2	Q
3	Axel Eriksson  (SWE)	15:23.6	Q
4	Léonard Mascaux  (FRA)	15:26.4	Q
5	Charles Johnstone  (GBR)	15:27.4
6	Ralph Starr  (GBR)
7	Rilus Doolittle  (USA)
8	Camille Van de Velde  (BEL)
9	Alfredo Gomes  (BRA)
10	Mohamed El-Sayed  (EGY)
11	Joaquín Miquel  (ESP)
12	Vilis Cimmermans  (LAT)
13	José Eslava  (MEX)
14	Stanisław Ziffer  (POL)	16:36.0

Semifinal 2

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1	Paavo Nurmi  (FIN)	15:28.6	Q
2	Lucien Dolquès  (FRA)	15:29.4	Q
3	Eino Seppälä  (FIN)	15:34.6	Q
4	Frank Saunders  (GBR)	15:37.0	Q
5	Maurice Norland  (FRA)	15:41.4
6	Harold Phelps  (USA)
7	David McGill  (CAN)
8	István Kultsár  (HUN)
9	Stefan Szelestowski  (POL)
10	Pala Singh  (IND)
11	Karel Nedobitý  (TCH)
-	William Marthé  (SUI)	DNF

Semifinal 3

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1	John Romig  (USA)	15:14.6	Q
2	Edvin Wide  (SWE)	15:24.0	Q
3	Ville Ritola  (FIN)	15:32.1	Q
4	Charles Clibbon  (GBR)	15:35.6	Q
5	Lucien Duquesne  (FRA)	16:03.0
6	Jan Zeegers  (NED)
7	Alexandros Kranis  (GRE)
8	George Lermond  (USA)
9	Malcolm Boyd  (AUS)
10	Hans Kantor  (AUT)
11	Miguel Palau  (ESP)
12	Pedro Curiel  (MEX)
13	Artūrs Motmillers  (LAT)

Final

The final was held on Thursday, July 10, 1924.

Nurmi had to improve the standing Olympic record to win the gold medal with Ritola only two tenths behind.

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Paavo Nurmi  (FIN)	14:31.2 OR
2	Ville Ritola  (FIN)	14:31.4
3	Edvin Wide  (SWE)	15:01.8
4	John Romig  (USA)	15:12.4
5	Eino Seppälä  (FIN)	15:18.4
6	Charles Clibbon  (GBR)	15:29.0
7	Lucien Dolques  (FRA)	15:32.6
8	Axel Eriksson  (SWE)	15:38.0
9	Léonard Mascaux  (FRA)	15:39.0
10	Frank Saunders  (GBR)	15:54.0
11	Eino Rastas  (FIN)
12	Katsuo Okazaki  (JPN)

References

1. "Athletics at the 1924 Paris Games: Men's 5000 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2017.

Notes

• Official Report
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 1 April 2008.