Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres
| Men's 5000 metres at the Games of the XX Olympiad
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| Venue | Olympic Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Dates | September 10 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Lasse Virén |
 Finland
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Mohamed Gammoudi |
 Tunisia
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Ian Stewart |
 Great Britain
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The Men's 5000 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany took place on 7 and 10 September 1972.
Underdog Steve Prefontaine took the lead in the final during the last mile and ended the slow pace of the first two miles. In second place at the start of the bell lap, he fell back to third with 200 meters to go. Lasse Virén took the lead in the final turn over silver medalist Mohammed Gammoudi. Prefontaine ran out of gas with 30 meters to go as Britain's hard-charging Ian Stewart caught him from behind and moved into third place within ten meters of the finish, depriving Prefontaine of an Olympic bronze medal.
Virén also won the 10,000 metres a week earlier, and successfully defended both titles in 1976.
Qualification rule: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) advance to the Final.
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