| | Event type
5,000 metres, Men
| Date | 31 July – 3 August 1928 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam |
| Participants | 38 from 18 countries |
The favorites were the three medalists from 1924 – Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola (FIN), and Edvin Wide (SWE), with Nurmi a slight favorite over Ritola. In the final, the three of them broke away from the field by 3,000 metres. Ritola and Nurmi dropped Wide with 600 metres remaining, and ran together on the final lap, until the last curve when Ritola pulled away and won by 15 metres, Nurmi slowing in the straight.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 800 | Ville Ritola |  FIN | 15:10.8 (2 h2) | 14:38.0 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 797 | Paavo Nurmi | FIN | 15:08.0 (4 h3) | 14:40.0 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 866 | Edvin Wide |  SWE | 15:05.0 (2 h3) | 14:41.2 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 545 | Leo Lermond |  USA | 15:02.6 (1 h1) | 14:50.0 (4) | |||
| 5 | 857 | Ragnar Magnusson | SWE | 15:03.8 (4 h1) | 14:59.6 (5) | |||
| 6 | 780 | Armas Kinnunen | FIN | 15:10.8 (3 h2) | 15:02.0 (6) | |||
| 7 | 150 | Staņislavs Petkevičs |  LAT | 15:03.0 (2 h1) | – (7) | |||
| 8 | 465 | Bert Johnston |  GBR | 15:06.3 (3 h3) | – (8) | |||
| 9 | 476 | Brian Oddie | GBR | 15:16.0 (4 h2) | – (9) | |||
| 10 | 562 | Macauley Smith | USA | 15:04.0 (1 h3) | – (10) | |||
| 799 | Eino Purje | FIN | 15:03.6 (3 h1) | – ( | ||||
| 844 | Nils Eklöf | SWE | 15:07.4 (1 h2) | – ( | ||||
| 5 h1 r1/2 | 439 | Wally Beavers | GBR | – (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/2 | 376 | Jesús Oyarbide |  ESP | 15:22.0 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/2 | 720 | Otto Kohn |  GER | – (5 h3) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/2 | 701 | Carl Axel Holger Petersen |  DEN | 15:13.0 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r1/2 | 97 | Roger Pelé |  FRA | – (6 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h3 r1/2 | 311 | Arie Klaase |  NED | – (6 h3) | – | |||
| 7 h1 r1/2 | 467 | Fred Light | GBR | – (7 h1) | – | |||
| 7 h2 r1/2 | 704 | Willi Boltze | GER | 15:33.0 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 7 h3 r1/2 | 377 | Arturo Peña | ESP | 15:45.0 (7 h3) | – | |||
| 8 h1 r1/2 | 60 | Lucien Duquesne | FRA | – (8 h1) | – | |||
| 8 h2 r1/2 | 386 | Jozef Koščak |  TCH | 15:42.0 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 8 h3 r1/2 | 648 | Vincent Callard |  CAN | – (8 h3) | – | |||
| 9 h1 r1/2 | 53 | Seghir Beddari | FRA | – (9 h1) | – | |||
| 9 h2 r1/2 | 142 | Andreas Paouris |  GRE | – (9 h2) | – | |||
| 10 h2 r1/2 | 156 | Julius Petraitis |  LTU | – (10 h2) | – | |||
| 11 h2 r1/2 | 494 | Dave Abbott | USA | – (11 h2) | – | |||
| AC h1 r1/2 | 656 | Billy Kibblewhite | CAN | – (DNF h1) | – | |||
| AC h1 r1/2 | 168 | Ciro Chapa |  MEX | – (DNF h1) | – | |||
| AC h1 r1/2 | 335 | Nol Wolf | NED | – (DNF h1) | – | |||
| AC h1 r1/2 | 388 | Karel Nedobitý | TCH | – (DNF h1) | – | |||
| AC h1 r1/2 | 539 | Charles Haworth | USA | – (DNF h1) | – | |||
| AC h1 r1/2 | 626 | Julien Serwy |  BEL | – (DNF h1) | – | |||
| AC h2 r1/2 | 599 | George Hyde |  AUS | – (DNF h2) | – | |||
| AC h2 r1/2 | 657 | Art Keay | CAN | – (DNF h2) | – | |||
| AC h2 r1/2 | 303 | Pieter Gerbrands | NED | – (DNF h2) | – | |||
| AC h3 r1/2 | 209 | Gurbachan Singh |  IND | – (DNF h3) | – | |||
| 254 | Juichi Nagatani |  JPN | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 205 | D. B. Chavan | IND | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 833 | Jozé Slapnicar |  YUG | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 194 | Erling Pedersen |  NOR | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 37 | Elek Szerb |  HUN | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 260 | Seiichiro Tsuda | JPN | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 300 | Frédéric du Hen | NED | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 185 | Hans Gundhus | NOR | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 432 | António de Almeida |  POR | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 91 | Jules Ladoumègue | FRA | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 401 | Ch. B. Mehmed Bey |  TUR | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 285 | Danie Jacobs |  RSA | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 179 | Robert Masino |  MON | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 595 | José Ribas |  ARG | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 127 | Athanassios Bekiaris | GRE | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 851 | Jean-Gunnar Lindgren | SWE | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 653 | David Griffin | CAN | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 221 | Luigi Boero |  ITA | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 814 | Felix Beldsinsky |  EST | – (DNS h3) | – |
Round One (31 July 1928 — 17:10)
Top four in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 545 | Leo Lermond | USA | 15:02.6 | |||
| 2 | 150 | Staņislavs Petkevičs | LAT | 15:03.0 | |||
| 3 | 799 | Eino Purje | FIN | 15:03.6 | |||
| 4 | 857 | Ragnar Magnusson | SWE | 15:03.8 | |||
| 5 | 439 | Wally Beavers | GBR | – | |||
| 6 | 701 | Carl Axel Holger Petersen | DEN | 15:13.0 | |||
| 7 | 467 | Fred Light | GBR | – | |||
| 8 | 60 | Lucien Duquesne | FRA | – | |||
| 9 | 53 | Seghir Beddari | FRA | – | |||
| 168 | Ciro Chapa | MEX | – | ||||
| 539 | Charles Haworth | USA | – | ||||
| 388 | Karel Nedobitý | TCH | – | ||||
| 656 | Billy Kibblewhite | CAN | – | ||||
| 335 | Nol Wolf | NED | – | ||||
| 626 | Julien Serwy | BEL | – | ||||
| 254 | Juichi Nagatani | JPN | – | ||||
| 205 | D. B. Chavan | IND | – | ||||
| 833 | Jozé Slapnicar | YUG | – | ||||
| 194 | Erling Pedersen | NOR | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 844 | Nils Eklöf | SWE | 15:07.4 | |||
| 2 | 800 | Ville Ritola | FIN | 15:10.8 | |||
| 3 | 780 | Armas Kinnunen | FIN | 15:10.8 | |||
| 4 | 476 | Brian Oddie | GBR | 15:16.0 | |||
| 5 | 376 | Jesús Oyarbide | ESP | 15:22.0 | |||
| 6 | 97 | Roger Pelé | FRA | – | |||
| 7 | 704 | Willi Boltze | GER | 15:33.0 | |||
| 8 | 386 | Jozef Koščak | TCH | 15:42.0 | |||
| 9 | 142 | Andreas Paouris | GRE | – | |||
| 10 | 156 | Julius Petraitis | LTU | – | |||
| 11 | 494 | Dave Abbott | USA | – | |||
| 657 | Art Keay | CAN | – | ||||
| 599 | George Hyde | AUS | – | ||||
| 303 | Pieter Gerbrands | NED | – | ||||
| 37 | Elek Szerb | HUN | – | ||||
| 260 | Seiichiro Tsuda | JPN | – | ||||
| 300 | Frédéric du Hen | NED | – | ||||
| 185 | Hans Gundhus | NOR | – | ||||
| 432 | António de Almeida | POR | – |
Heat Three
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 562 | Macauley Smith | USA | 15:04.0 | |||
| 2 | 866 | Edvin Wide | SWE | 15:05.0 | |||
| 3 | 465 | Bert Johnston | GBR | 15:06.3 | |||
| 4 | 797 | Paavo Nurmi | FIN | 15:08.0 | |||
| 5 | 720 | Otto Kohn | GER | – | |||
| 6 | 311 | Arie Klaase | NED | – | |||
| 7 | 377 | Arturo Peña | ESP | 15:45.0 | |||
| 8 | 648 | Vincent Callard | CAN | – | |||
| 209 | Gurbachan Singh | IND | – | ||||
| 91 | Jules Ladoumègue | FRA | – | ||||
| 401 | Ch. B. Mehmed Bey | TUR | – | ||||
| 285 | Danie Jacobs | RSA | – | ||||
| 179 | Robert Masino | MON | – | ||||
| 595 | José Ribas | ARG | – | ||||
| 127 | Athanassios Bekiaris | GRE | – | ||||
| 851 | Jean-Gunnar Lindgren | SWE | – | ||||
| 653 | David Griffin | CAN | – | ||||
| 221 | Luigi Boero | ITA | – | ||||
| 814 | Felix Beldsinsky | EST | – |
Final (3 August 1928 — 14:30)
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 800 | Ville Ritola | FIN | 14:38.0 | |||
| 2 | 797 | Paavo Nurmi | FIN | 14:40.0 | |||
| 3 | 866 | Edvin Wide | SWE | 14:41.2 | |||
| 4 | 545 | Leo Lermond | USA | 14:50.0 | |||
| 5 | 857 | Ragnar Magnusson | SWE | 14:59.6 | |||
| 6 | 780 | Armas Kinnunen | FIN | 15:02.0 | |||
| 7 | 150 | Staņislavs Petkevičs | LAT | – | |||
| 8 | 465 | Bert Johnston | GBR | – | |||
| 9 | 476 | Brian Oddie | GBR | – | |||
| 10 | 562 | Macauley Smith | USA | – | |||
| 844 | Nils Eklöf | SWE | – | ||||
| 799 | Eino Purje | FIN | – |