5000 metres at the Olympics

5000 metres at the Olympic Games
The 2012 Olympic men's 5000 m final
Overview
Sport	Athletics
Gender	Men and women
Years held	Men: 1912 – 2016 Women: 1984 – 2016
Olympic record
Men	12:57.82 Kenenisa Bekele (2008)
Women	14:40.79 Gabriela Szabo (2000)
Reigning champion
Men	Mo Farah (GBR)
Women	Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN)

The 5000 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the fifth edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 5000 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1912. The 3000 metres was the first women's Olympic long-distance track event, making its initial appearance at the 1984 Olympics, and this distance was extended to match the men's event from 1996 onwards. It is the most prestigious 5000 m race at elite level. The competition format typically has two qualifying heats leading to a final between fifteen athletes.

The Olympic records for the event are 12:57.82 minutes for men, set by Kenenisa Bekele in 2008, and 14:40.79 minutes for women, set by Gabriela Szabo in 2000. At the inaugural 1912 Olympic 5000 metres, Hannes Kolehmainen set the first official IAAF world record for the event. However, this remains the only time that the 5000 metres world record has been broken in Olympic competition. The best time recorded for the women's Olympic 3000 m was 8:26.53 minutes by Tetyana Dorovskikh (then Samolenko) at the 1988 Seoul Olympics; the world record for that event was not improved during an Olympic race.