| | Event type

5,000 metres, Men

Date	16 – 17 August 1920
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympisch Stadion, Antwerpen
Participants	38 from 16 countries

The world and Olympic record was 14:36.6, set by Hannes Kolehmainen in winning the 1912 gold medal. There was no equivalent race held at either the AAU or AAA Championships. The closest AAA race was the four-mile, while the AAU held no similar event at the American national championship from 1906-1931. The 5,000 was the first Olympic appearance for Paavo Nurmi. He was met by Frenchman, Joseph Guillemot, who had suffered the effects of mustard gas in World War I, and was told in 1918 that he would never be able to run again. The two of them left the field behind after two laps and ran together until Guillemot outsprinted Nurmi with a kick that began from about 200 metres out.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	Final
1	329	Joseph Guillemot	FRA	15:33.0 (1 h4)	14:55.6 (1)	Gold
2	275	Paavo Nurmi	FIN	15:33.0 (2 h3)	15:00.0 (2)	Silver
3	567	Eric Backman	SWE	15:34.0 (2 h4)	15:13.0 (3)	Bronze
4	265	Teodor Koskenniemi	FIN	15:22.0 (3 h1)	15:17.0 (4)
5	380	Joe Blewitt	GBR	15:19.8 (1 h2)	15:19.0 (5)
6	418	William Seagrove	GBR	15:53.6 (3 h3)	15:21.0 (6)
7	498	Carlo Speroni	ITA	15:27.6 (1 h3)	15:21.2est / at 1 metre (7)
8	413	Alfred Nichols	GBR	15:54.0 (4 h4)	15:24.0est / at 15 metres (8)
9	55	Julien Van Campenhout	BEL	15:22.6 (2 h2)	15:25.0est / at 5 metres (9)
10	568	Nils Bergström	SWE	15:39.2 (4 h2)	15:29.5est / at 25 metres (10)
11	405	Carmichael Irwin	GBR	15:17.8 (2 h1)	– (11)
12	608	Emanuel Lundström	SWE	16:04.2 (4 h3)	– (12)
AC	578	Rudolf Falk	SWE	15:17.8 (1 h1)	– (DNF)
AC	168	Clifford Furnas	USA	15:23.0 (4 h1)	– (DNF)
AC	–	Hal Brown	USA	15:31.8 (3 h2)	– (DNF)
AC	156	Ivan Dresser	USA	15:41.6 (3 h4)	– (DNF)
5 h1 r1/2	636	Augusto Maccario	ITA	15:23.2est (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r1/2	315	Lucien Duquesne	FRA	– (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r1/2	182	Charles Hunter	USA	– (5 h3)	–
5 h4 r1/2	290	Ilmari Vesamaa	FIN	15:54.4 (5 h4)	–
6 h1 r1/2	487	Alfred Gaschen	SUI	15:38.0est (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r1/2	123	Juan Muguerza	ESP	– (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r1/2	432	Alexandros Kranis	GRE	– (6 h3)	–
6 h4 r1/2	518	Tomeichi Ohura	JPN	– (9 h4)	–
7 h1 r1/2	350	Jean-Baptiste Manhès	FRA	16:17.8est (7 h1)	–
7 h3 r1/2	66	François Vyncke	BEL	– (7 h3)	–
7 h4 r1/2	97	Jón Jónsson	DEN	– (6 h4)	–
8 h3 r1/2	665	Karel Pacák	TCH	– (8 h3)	–
8 h4 r1/2	53	Henri Smets	BEL	– (7 h4)	–
9 h4 r1/2	451	Gerardus van der Wel	NED	– (8 h4)	–
AC h1 r1/2	54	Pierre Trullemans	BEL	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r1/2	85	Tommy Town	CAN	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r1/2	435	Panagiotis Retelas	GRE	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h2 r1/2	520	Konosuke Sano	JPN	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	99	Artur Nielsen	DEN	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	126	Diodoro Pons	ESP	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	486	Carlo Martinenghi	ITA	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h3 r1/2	112	Abdul Ali Maghoub	EGY	– (DNF h3)	–
DNS	307	Louis Corlet	FRA	–	–
DNS	336	Gaston Heuet	FRA	– (DNS h3)	–
DNS	374	René Vignaud	FRA	–	–
DNS	271	Heikki Liimatainen	FIN	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	680	Jüri Lossman	EST	– (DNS h3)	–
DNS	511	Saburo Hasumi	JPN	– (DNS h3)	–
DNS	77	Eddie Lawrence	CAN	– (DNS h4)	–
DNS	484	Costantino Lussana	ITA	– (DNS h4)	–

Round One (16 August 1920 — 10:00)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	578	Rudolf Falk	SWE	15:17.8	Q
2	405	Carmichael Irwin	GBR	15:17.8	Q
3	265	Teodor Koskenniemi	FIN	15:22.0	Q
4	168	Clifford Furnas	USA	15:23.0	Q
5	487	Augusto Maccario	ITA	15:23.2est
6	636	Alfred Gaschen	SUI	15:38.0est
7	350	Jean-Baptiste Manhès	FRA	16:17.8est
DNF	54	Pierre Trullemans	BEL	–		1
DNF	435	Panagiotis Retelas	GRE	–		2
DNF	85	Tommy Town	CAN	–		3

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	380	Joe Blewitt	GBR	15:19.8	Q
2	55	Julien Van Campenhout	BEL	15:22.6	Q
3	–	Hal Brown	USA	15:31.8	Q
4	568	Nils Bergström	SWE	15:39.2	Q
5	315	Lucien Duquesne	FRA	–
6	123	Juan Muguerza	ESP	–
DNF	520	Konosuke Sano	JPN	–
DNF	99	Artur Nielsen	DEN	–		4
DNF	126	Diodoro Pons	ESP	–		5
DNF	486	Carlo Martinenghi	ITA	–		6
DNS	271	Heikki Liimatainen	FIN	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	498	Carlo Speroni	ITA	15:27.6	Q
2	275	Paavo Nurmi	FIN	15:33.0	Q
3	418	William Seagrove	GBR	15:53.6	Q
4	608	Emanuel Lundström	SWE	16:04.2	Q
5	182	Charles Hunter	USA	–
6	432	Alexandros Kranis	GRE	–
7	66	François Vyncke	BEL	–
8	665	Karel Pacák	TCH	–
DNF	112	Abdul Ali Maghoub	EGY	–
DNS	336	Gaston Heuet	FRA	–
DNS	680	Jüri Lossman	EST	–
DNS	511	Saburo Hasumi	JPN	–

Heat Four

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	329	Joseph Guillemot	FRA	15:33.0	Q
2	567	Eric Backman	SWE	15:34.0	Q
3	156	Ivan Dresser	USA	15:41.6	Q
4	413	Alfred Nichols	GBR	15:54.0	Q
5	290	Ilmari Vesamaa	FIN	15:54.4
6	97	Jón Jónsson	DEN	–
7	53	Henri Smets	BEL	–
8	451	Gerardus van der Wel	NED	–
9	518	Tomeichi Ohura	JPN	–
DNS	77	Eddie Lawrence	CAN	–
DNS	484	Costantino Lussana	ITA	–

Final (17 August 1920 — 15:15)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	329	Joseph Guillemot	FRA	14:55.6
2	275	Paavo Nurmi	FIN	15:00.0
3	567	Eric Backman	SWE	15:13.0
4	265	Teodor Koskenniemi	FIN	15:17.0
5	380	Joe Blewitt	GBR	15:19.0
6	418	William Seagrove	GBR	15:21.0
7	498	Carlo Speroni	ITA	15:21.2est / at 1 metre
8	413	Alfred Nichols	GBR	15:24.0est / at 15 metres
9	55	Julien Van Campenhout	BEL	15:25.0est / at 5 metres
10	568	Nils Bergström	SWE	15:29.5est / at 25 metres
11	405	Carmichael Irwin	GBR	–
12	608	Emanuel Lundström	SWE	–
DNF	578	Rudolf Falk	SWE	–
DNF	168	Clifford Furnas	USA	–
DNF	–	Hal Brown	USA	–
DNF	156	Ivan Dresser	USA	–