| Date | 16 – 17 August 1920 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympisch Stadion, Antwerpen |
| Participants | 38 from 16 countries |
| Olympic Record | 14:36.6 WR / Hannes Kolehmainen  FIN / 10 July 1912 / Details |
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 | Number | Competitor | 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) | |||
| 578 | Rudolf Falk | SWE | 15:17.8 (1 h1) | – ( | ||||
| 168 | Clifford Furnas |  USA | 15:23.0 (4 h1) | – ( | ||||
| – | Hal Brown | USA | 15:31.8 (3 h2) | – ( | ||||
| 156 | Ivan Dresser | USA | 15:41.6 (3 h4) | – ( | ||||
| 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 | Ali Maghoub |  EGY | – (DNF h3) | – | |||
| 307 | Louis Corlet | FRA | – | – | ||||
| 336 | Gaston Heuet | FRA | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 374 | René Vignaud | FRA | – | – | ||||
| 271 | Heikki Liimatainen | FIN | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 680 | Jüri Lossman |  EST | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 511 | Saburo Hasumi | JPN | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 77 | Eddie Lawrence | CAN | – (DNS h4) | – | ||||
| 484 | Costantino Lussana | ITA | – (DNS h4) | – |
| Date | 16 August 1920 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top 4 in each heat advanced to the final round. |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 578 | Rudolf Falk | SWE | 15:17.8 | ||
| 2 | 405 | Carmichael Irwin | GBR | 15:17.8 | ||
| 3 | 265 | Teodor Koskenniemi | FIN | 15:22.0 | ||
| 4 | 168 | Clifford Furnas | USA | 15:23.0 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 54 | Pierre Trullemans | BEL | – | 1 | ||
| 435 | Panagiotis Retelas | GRE | – | 2 | ||
| 85 | Tommy Town | CAN | – | 3 |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 380 | Joe Blewitt | GBR | 15:19.8 | ||
| 2 | 55 | Julien Van Campenhout | BEL | 15:22.6 | ||
| 3 | – | Hal Brown | USA | 15:31.8 | ||
| 4 | 568 | Nils Bergström | SWE | 15:39.2 | ||
| 5 | 315 | Lucien Duquesne | FRA | – | ||
| 6 | 123 | Juan Muguerza | ESP | – | ||
| 520 | Konosuke Sano | JPN | – | |||
| 99 | Artur Nielsen | DEN | – | 4 | ||
| 126 | Diodoro Pons | ESP | – | 5 | ||
| 486 | Carlo Martinenghi | ITA | – | 6 | ||
| 271 | Heikki Liimatainen | FIN | – |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 498 | Carlo Speroni | ITA | 15:27.6 | ||
| 2 | 275 | Paavo Nurmi | FIN | 15:33.0 | ||
| 3 | 418 | William Seagrove | GBR | 15:53.6 | ||
| 4 | 608 | Emanuel Lundström | SWE | 16:04.2 | ||
| 5 | 182 | Charles Hunter | USA | – | ||
| 6 | 432 | Alexandros Kranis | GRE | – | ||
| 7 | 66 | François Vyncke | BEL | – | ||
| 8 | 665 | Karel Pacák | TCH | – | ||
| 112 | Ali Maghoub | EGY | – | |||
| 336 | Gaston Heuet | FRA | – | |||
| 680 | Jüri Lossman | EST | – | |||
| 511 | Saburo Hasumi | JPN | – |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 329 | Joseph Guillemot | FRA | 15:33.0 | ||
| 2 | 567 | Eric Backman | SWE | 15:34.0 | ||
| 3 | 156 | Ivan Dresser | USA | 15:41.6 | ||
| 4 | 413 | Alfred Nichols | GBR | 15:54.0 | ||
| 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 | – | ||
| 77 | Eddie Lawrence | CAN | – | |||
| 484 | Costantino Lussana | ITA | – |
| Date | 17 August 1920 — 15:15 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | 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 | – | ||
| 578 | Rudolf Falk | SWE | – | |||
| 168 | Clifford Furnas | USA | – | |||
| – | Hal Brown | USA | – | |||
| 156 | Ivan Dresser | USA | – |
