Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 5000 metres

Last updated

Contents

Women's 5000 metres
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Olympic Athletics.svg
Olympic Athletics
Venue Japan National Stadium
Dates30 July 2021 (heats)
2 August 2021 (final)
Competitors38 from 21 nations
Winning time14:36.79
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Sifan Hassan Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Silver medal icon.svg Hellen Obiri Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Bronze medal icon.svg Gudaf Tsegay Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia
  2016
2024  

The women's 5000 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 July and 2 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. [1] Approximately 45 athletes competed; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 42 qualifying through time or ranking (1 universality place was used in 2016). [2]

Summary

Sifan Hassan had already announced her intention to attempt to win the 1500, 5000, and 10,000 metres triple at the Olympics. Prior to the Olympics, she had won the 1500 and 10,000 metres at the World Championships. [3] Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya had won the previous 5000 metres at the 2016 Olympics, but did not compete in the 2020 Olympics. Hellen Obiri, also of Kenya, was second in Rio and had won the 5000 metres at the 2019 World Championships

Earlier in the day, during the qualifying heat for the 1500 metres, Hassan suffered a fall but was able to continue, winning her heat to qualify for the semi-finals. The race started off slowly, with Elise Cranny taking an early lead as Hassan dropped to the back of the pack. Wanting a faster pace, Ririka Hironaka ran around the pack and assumed the lead. Over the next three laps, the pack let Hironaka breakaway to as much as a 10 metre lead. Then the Kenyan trio of Hellen Obiri, Agnes Jebet Tirop, and Lilian Kasait Rengeruk; the Ethiopian trio of Gudaf Tsegay, Senbere Teferi, and Ejgayehu Taye; and Kenyan-born Turkish athlete Yasemin Can moved forward.

With three laps to go, the lead group accelerated, with Hassan moving up from her position at the rear of the race to the back of the lead group. With Rengeruk falling off, the lead group consisted of the three Ethiopians, two Kenyans, Can, and Hassan. On the penultimate lap, Hassan moved up a further two positions, as Can and Teferi could not match the pace of the lead group All the leaders strived to be first at the bell, going four wide across the track, followed by Hassan.

At the start of the final lap Hassan moved to the outside, and began increasing her pace to pass the runners in front of her; Tirop, Taye, and Tsegay were passed during the turn, and finally mid-backstretch she passed the leader Obiri who went into full sprint to try to hold her off. It didn't match Hassan's speed, and Hassan carried the lead going into the final turn. Coming out of the final turn, Hassan accelerated again, opening up a 12 metre gap down the final straight, winning gold with a time 14:36.79. Obiri finished second some 1.57 seconds behind; 14:38.36, Tsegay completed the podium in third finishing in 14:38.87. [4] [5] It was Obiri's second straight silver.

Background

This was the seventh time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since 1996.

Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the women's 5000 metres event if all athletes meet the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard is 15:10.00. This standard was "set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 42 is reached. [2] [6]

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2020; athletes who had met the qualifying standard during that time were still qualified, but those using world rankings would not be able to count performances during that time. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both indoor and outdoor meets were eligible for qualifying. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period. [2] [7]

NOCs can also use their universality place—each NOC can enter one female athlete regardless of time if they had no female athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the 5000 metres. [2]

Competition format

The event continued to use the two-round format introduced in 2012. [8]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing global and area records were as follows.

World recordFlag of Ethiopia.svg  Letesenbet Gidey  (ETH)14:06.62 Valencia, Spain 7 October 2020
Olympic recordFlag of Kenya.svg  Vivian Cheruiyot  (KEN)14:26.17 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 19 August 2016
World LeadingFlag of Ethiopia.svg  Gudaf Tsegay  (ETH)14:13.32 Hengelo, Netherlands8 June 2021
Area
Time (s)AthleteNation
Africa ( records )14:06.62 WR Letesenbet Gidey Flag of Ethiopia.svg Ethiopia
Asia ( records )14:28.09 Jiang Bo Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China
Europe ( records )14:22.12 Sifan Hassan Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands
North, Central America
and Caribbean
( records )
14:23.92 Shelby Houlihan Flag of the United States.svg United States
Oceania ( records )14:39.89 Kim Smith Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
South America ( records )15:18.85 Simone Alves da Silva Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil

The following national records were established during the competition:

NationAthleteRoundTimeNotes
Israel Selamawit Teferi Round 114:53.43
Mexico Laura Galván Round 115:00.16
Japan Ririka Hironaka Final14:52.84

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The women's 5000 metres took place over two separate days. [1]

DateTimeRound
Friday, 30 July 202119:00Round 1
Monday, 2 August 202119:00Final

Results

Round 1

Qualification Rules: First 5 in each heat (Q) and the next 5 fastest (q) advance to the Final.

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Sifan Hassan Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 14:47.89 Q
2 Agnes Jebet Tirop Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 14:48.01 Q, SB
3 Senbere Teferi Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 14:48.31 Q
4 Ejgayehu Taye Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 14:48.52 Q
5 Lilian Kasait Rengeruk Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 14:50.36 Q, SB
6 Yasemin Can Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 14:50.92q
7 Karissa Schweizer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 14:51.34q, SB
8 Selamawit Teferi Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 14:53.43q, NR
9 Ririka Hironaka Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 14:55.87q, PB
10 Andrea Seccafien Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 14:59.55q
11 Laura Galván Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 15:00.16 NR
12 Kaede Hagitani Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 15:04.95 PB
13 Jessica Judd Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 15:09.47
14 Camille Buscomb Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 15:24.39
15 Prisca Chesang Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 15:25.72
16 Lucía Rodríguez Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 15:26.19 PB
17 Julie-Anne Staehli Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 15:33.39
18 Rose Davies Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 15:50.07
19 Sarah Chelangat Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 15:59.40 SB

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Gudaf Tsegay Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 14:55.74 Q
2 Hellen Obiri Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 14:55.77 Q
3 Nadia Battocletti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 14:55.83 Q, PB
4 Elise Cranny Flag of the United States.svg  United States 14:56.14 Q, SB
5 Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 14:56.82 Q
6 Nozomi Tanaka Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 14:59.93 PB
7 Rachel Schneider Flag of the United States.svg  United States 15:00.07
8 Rahel Daniel Flag of Eritrea.svg  Eritrea 15:02.59
9 Amy-Eloise Markovc Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 15:03.22 PB
10 Eilish McColgan Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 15:09.68
11 Jenny Blundell Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 15:11.27
12 Esther Chebet Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 15:11.47
13 Dominique Scott Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 15:13.94 SB
14 Kate van Buskirk Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 15:14.96
15 Isobel Batt-Doyle Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 15:21.65
16 Diane van Es Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 15:47.01
17 Marthe Yankurije Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda 15:55.94 SB
Francine Niyonsaba Flag of Burundi.svg  Burundi DQ TR 17.3.2
Klara Lukan Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia DNF

Final

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Sifan Hassan Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 14:36.79
Silver medal icon.svg Hellen Obiri Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 14:38.36
Bronze medal icon.svg Gudaf Tsegay Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 14:38.87
4 Agnes Jebet Tirop Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 14:39.62 SB
5 Ejgayehu Taye Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 14:41.24
6 Senbere Teferi Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 14:45.11
7 Nadia Battocletti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 14:46.29 PB
8 Yasemin Can Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 14:46.49
9 Ririka Hironaka Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 14:52.84 NR
10 Selamawit Teferi Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 14:54.39
11 Karissa Schweizer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 14:55.80
12 Lilian Kasait Rengeruk Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 14:55.85
13 Elise Cranny Flag of the United States.svg  United States 14:55.98 SB
14 Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 15:09.37
15 Andrea Seccafien Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 15:12.09

References

  1. 1 2 "Athletics Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Athletics" (PDF). IAAF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  3. "Sifan Hassan confirms audacious bid for 1500m, 5,000m and 10,000m treble". the Guardian. 1 August 2021. Archived from the original on 10 August 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  4. Butler, Sarah Lorge (2 August 2021). "Sifan Hassan Wins First Gold in the 5,000 Meters as She Pursues Impressive Triple". Runner's World. Archived from the original on 13 September 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  5. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "IAAF to follow other sports with world ranking system for athletes". BBC Sport. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  7. "Olympic qualification period suspended until 1 December 2020". World Athletics. 6 April 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  8. "Athletics Explanatory Guide" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. August 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.