5000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics

5000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics
Women competing in the 2013 final
Overview
Gender	Men and women
Years held	Men: 1983 – 2013 Women: 1995 – 2013
Championship record
Men	12:52.79 Eliud Kipchoge (2003)
Women	14:38.59 Tirunesh Dibaba (2003)
Reigning champion
Men	Mo Farah (GBR)
Women	Meseret Defar (ETH)

The 5000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by men since the inaugural edition in 1983 and by women since 1995. Women competed over 3000 metres from 1980 to 1993, in line with championship standards of the time. It is the shortest long-distance running event at the competition, the 10,000 metres and marathon being the other two such events on the programme. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 5000 metres at the Olympics. The competition format typically has a two-race heats stage that leads directly to a final between fifteen athletes.

The championship records for the event are 12:52.79 minutes for men, set by Eliud Kipchoge in 2003, and 14:38.59 minutes for women, set by Tirunesh Dibaba in 2003. The world record has never been broken or equalled at the competition by either men or women, reflecting the lack of pacemaking and athletes' more tactical approach to championship races. Similarly the women's 3000 metres world record was not improved during its 13-year history. The championship record for that event was set on its last appearance in 1993, by Yunxia Qu with a time of 8:28.71 minutes.

The women's 3000 m was among the first ever IAAF World Championship events as it was one of two designated events at the 1980 World Championships in Athletics (alongside women's 400 metres hurdles), which was held after the International Olympic Committee refused to add the women's event to the Olympic programme that year.