Long Distance Events at the Olympics
The 5000m and 10000m for both men and women are two long-distance track races that are contested as part of the track and field events during the Olympics. There was also once a 5-mile race. Another athletics long-distance event is the Olympic Marathon.
there is the 5km and 10km races at the Olympics5000m event
The men's 5km race has been a part of the Olympic Games since 1912. The women's equivalent was initially a 3000m race that was included in 1984, and was later replaced by the current 5000m event in 1996.
Lasse Virén is the only man to have won the gold medal twice, in 1972 and 1976. Though the men's event has had some parity, the women's event has been dominated by Ethiopia, which has won the gold medal in the last three Olympics. In the short history of the women's event, Meseret Defar has accomplished the most, winning the gold medal twice, in 2004 and 2012.
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia is the current men's Olympic record holder at 12:57.82 set during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Gabriela Szabo from Romania holds the women's record at 14:40.79 set at the 2000 Sydney Games.
10,000m event
The men's 10k race was introduced in 1912 and the women's event started in 1988. Five men have won the gold medal twice in this event, and two women, both from Ethiopia, have won the gold medal twice.
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia is the current men's Olympic record holder at 27:01.17 set during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Tirunesh Dibaba also from Ethiopia holds the record of 29:54.66 set at 2008 Beijing Games.
Trivia
- In Stockholm, 1912, Finland began its domination of long-distance running events, as Hannes Kolehmainen picked up three gold medals and a silver.
- In 1952, Emil Zatopek of Czechoslovakia became the only man to win gold medals in the 5000 meters, the 10,000 meters, and the marathon in the same Olympiad. It was also his first attempt at the marathon.
Related Pages
- Middle Distance events at the Olympics
- Marathon at the Olympics
- History of Nutrition and the Olympic Marathon
- The discontinued 5000m team race
- The discontinued 5-mile race
- About Track and Field at the Olympics
- The Greatest T&F Athletes at the Olympics.
- List of Olympic Sports
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