| | Event type

10,000 metres, Men

Date	31 August – 3 September 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiastadion, Olympiapark, München
Participants	52 from 34 countries

For the first time since 1920, a qualifying round was contested. The favorites in the final were Lasse Virén (FIN), Dave Bedford (GBR), and Belgium’s Miel Puttemans. Bedford was known for his fast pace-setting though he had little sprint speed. He took the pace out in the final at a world record pace for 4K, and still led at 5K, though the pace was slowing slightly. On the 12th lap, Virén and Mohamad Gammoudi (TUN), the 1964 silver medalist and 1968 bronze medalist, became entangled and fell to the track though they both recovered quickly. At 6K, Virén, having caught the leaders, took over the pace. He began to apply pressure on the penultimate lap, dropping all but Puttemans. Virén ran his last lap in 56.4 to distance Puttemans and win by seven metres in a world record 27:38.35, surely the only track world record set by somebody who fell during the race.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	Final
1	228	Lasse Virén	FIN	28:04.41 (4 h2)	27:38.35 (1)	Gold	WR
2	61	Miel Puttemans	BEL	27:53.28 (1 h1)	27:39.58 (2)	Silver
3	197	Miruts Yifter	ETH	28:18.11 (1 h3)	27:40.96 (3)	Bronze
4	169	Mariano Haro	ESP	27:55.89 (2 h2)	27:48.14 (4)
5	1014	Frank Shorter	USA	27:58.23 (3 h2)	27:51.32 (5)
6	274	Dave Bedford	GBR	27:53.64 (2 h1)	28:05.44 (6)
7	1052	Dane Korica	YUG	28:22.24 (4 h3)	28:15.18 (7)
8	906	Abdel Kader Zaddem	TUN	28:14.70 (4 h1)	28:18.17 (8)
9	875	Josef Jánský	TCH	28:23.15 (5 h1)	28:23.59 (9)
10	641	Juan Martínez	MEX	28:23.14 (5 h3)	28:44.08 (10)
11	919	Pavlo Andreiev	URS	28:20.97 (3 h3)	28:46.27 (11)
12	161	Javier Álvarez	ESP	28:08.58 (3 h1)	28:56.38 (12)
13	580	Paul Mose	KEN	28:18.74 (5 h2)	29:02.87 (13)
14	60	Willy Polleunis	BEL	28:19.71 (2 h3)	29:10.15 (14)
AC r2/2	904	Mohamad Gammoudi	TUN	27:54.69 (1 h2)	– (DNF)
6 h1 r1/2	923	Anatoly Badrankov	URS	28:35.84 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r1/2	955	Rashid Sharafetdinov	URS	28:24.64 (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r1/2	310	Lachie Stewart	GBR	28:31.33 (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r1/2	266	Noël Tijou	FRA	28:36.08 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r1/2	187	Wohib Masresha	ETH	28:08.02 (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r1/2	683	Arne Risa	NOR	28:31.74 (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r1/2	821	Werner Dössegger	SUI	28:36.4 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r1/2	642	Pedro Miranda	MEX	28:35.8 (8 h2)	–
8 h3 r1/2	969	Jon Anderson	USA	28:34.2 (8 h3)	–
9 h1 r1/2	195	Tadesse Wolde-Medhin	ETH	28:45.4 (9 h1)	–
9 h2 r1/2	58	Karel Lismont	BEL	28:41.8 (9 h2)	–
9 h3 r1/2	753	Carlos Lopes	POR	28:53.6 (9 h3)	–
10 h1 r1/2	569	Akio Usami	JPN	29:24.8 (10 h1)	–
10 h2 r1/2	481	Neil Cusack	IRL	28:45.8 (10 h2)	–
10 h3 r1/2	828	Albrecht Moser	SUI	29:05.8 (10 h3)	–
11 h1 r1/2	987	Jeff Galloway	USA	29:35.0 (11 h1)	–
11 h2 r1/2	292	Dave Holt	GBR	28:46.8 (11 h2)	–
11 h3 r1/2	575	Richard Juma	KEN	29:13.0 (11 h3)	–
12 h1 r1/2	589	Naftali Temu	KEN	30:19.6 (12 h1)	–
12 h2 r1/2	562	Keisuke Sawaki	JPN	29:29.0 (12 h2)	–
12 h3 r1/2	130	Domingo Tibaduiza	COL	29:24.0 (12 h3)	–
13 h1 r1/2	124	Esaie Fongang	CMR	31:32.6 (13 h1)	–
13 h2 r1/2	132	Rafael Pérez	CRC	29:36.6 (13 h2)	–
13 h3 r1/2	813	Shag Musa Medani	SUD	29:32.8 (13 h3)	–
14 h1 r1/2	802	P. C. Suppiah	SGP	31:59.2 (14 h1)	–
14 h2 r1/2	440	Julio Quevedo	GUA	30:08.4 (14 h2)	–
14 h3 r1/2	378	Manfred Letzerich	FRG	29:37.8 (14 h3)	–
15 h1 r1/2	70	Crispin Quispe	BOL	32:31.8 (15 h1)	–
15 h2 r1/2	160	Abdel Hamid Khamis	EGY	30:19.2 (15 h2)	–
15 h3 r1/2	909	Hikmet Şen	TUR	29:51.8 (15 h3)	–
16 h1 r1/2	511	Giuseppe Cindolo	ITA	33:03.4 (16 h1)	–
16 h2 r1/2	108	Lucien Rosa	SRI	30:20.2 (16 h2)	–
AC h1 r1/2	198	Usaia Sotutu	FIJ	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r1/2	384	Günter Mielke	FRG	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h2 r1/2	956	Richard Mabuza	SWZ	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h3 r1/2	445	Anilus Joseph	HAI	– (DNF h3)	–
AC h3 r1/2	699	Gavin Thorley	NZL	– (DNF h3)	–
DNS	807	Abdi Gulet	SOM	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	113	Edmundo Warnke	CHI	– (DNS h3)	–
DNS	225	Juha Väätäinen	FIN	– (DNS h3)	–
DNS	680	Per Halle	NOR	– (DNS h2)	–

Round One (31 August 1972)

Top four in each heat and next three fastest advanced to the final.

Heat One (17:30)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	61	Miel Puttemans	BEL	27:53.28	QOR
2	274	Dave Bedford	GBR	27:53.64	Q
3	161	Javier Álvarez	ESP	28:08.58	Q
4	906	Abdel Kader Zaddem	TUN	28:14.70	Q
5	875	Josef Jánský	TCH	28:23.15	q
6	923	Anatoly Badrankov	URS	28:35.84
7	266	Noël Tijou	FRA	28:36.08
8	821	Werner Dössegger	SUI	28:36.4
9	195	Tadesse Wolde-Medhin	ETH	28:45.4
10	569	Akio Usami	JPN	29:24.8
11	987	Jeff Galloway	USA	29:35.0
12	589	Naftali Temu	KEN	30:19.6
13	124	Esaie Fongang	CMR	31:32.6
14	802	P. C. Suppiah	SGP	31:59.2
15	70	Crispin Quispe	BOL	32:31.8
16	511	Giuseppe Cindolo	ITA	33:03.4
DNF	384	Günter Mielke	FRG	–
DNF	198	Usaia Sotutu	FIJ	–

Heat Two (18:15)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	904	Mohamad Gammoudi	TUN	27:54.69	Q
2	169	Mariano Haro	ESP	27:55.89	Q
3	1014	Frank Shorter	USA	27:58.23	Q
4	228	Lasse Virén	FIN	28:04.41	Q
5	580	Paul Mose	KEN	28:18.74	q
6	955	Rashid Sharafetdinov	URS	28:24.64
7	187	Wohib Masresha	ETH	28:08.02
8	642	Pedro Miranda	MEX	28:35.8
9	58	Karel Lismont	BEL	28:41.8
10	481	Neil Cusack	IRL	28:45.8
11	292	Dave Holt	GBR	28:46.8
12	562	Keisuke Sawaki	JPN	29:29.0
13	132	Rafael Pérez	CRC	29:36.6
14	440	Julio Quevedo	GUA	30:08.4
15	160	Abdel Hamid Khamis	EGY	30:19.2
16	108	Lucien Rosa	SRI	30:20.2
DNF	956	Richard Mabuza	SWZ	–
DNS	807	Abdi Gulet	SOM	–
DNS	680	Per Halle	NOR	–

Heat Three (19:00)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	197	Miruts Yifter	ETH	28:18.11	Q
2	60	Willy Polleunis	BEL	28:19.71	Q
3	919	Pavlo Andreiev	URS	28:20.97	Q
4	1052	Dane Korica	YUG	28:22.24	Q
5	641	Juan Martínez	MEX	28:23.14	q
6	310	Lachie Stewart	GBR	28:31.33
7	683	Arne Risa	NOR	28:31.74
8	969	Jon Anderson	USA	28:34.2
9	753	Carlos Lopes	POR	28:53.6
10	828	Albrecht Moser	SUI	29:05.8
11	575	Richard Juma	KEN	29:13.0
12	130	Domingo Tibaduiza	COL	29:24.0
13	813	Shag Musa Medani	SUD	29:32.8
14	378	Manfred Letzerich	FRG	29:37.8
15	909	Hikmet Şen	TUR	29:51.8
DNF	445	Anilus Joseph	HAI	–
DNF	699	Gavin Thorley	NZL	–
DNS	113	Edmundo Warnke	CHI	–
DNS	225	Juha Väätäinen	FIN	–

Final (3 September 1972 — 17:15)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	228	Lasse Virén	FIN	27:38.35	WR
2	61	Miel Puttemans	BEL	27:39.58
3	197	Miruts Yifter	ETH	27:40.96
4	169	Mariano Haro	ESP	27:48.14
5	1014	Frank Shorter	USA	27:51.32
6	274	Dave Bedford	GBR	28:05.44
7	1052	Dane Korica	YUG	28:15.18
8	906	Abdel Kader Zaddem	TUN	28:18.17
9	875	Josef Jánský	TCH	28:23.59
10	641	Juan Martínez	MEX	28:44.08
11	919	Pavlo Andreiev	URS	28:46.27
12	161	Javier Álvarez	ESP	28:56.38
13	580	Paul Mose	KEN	29:02.87
14	60	Willy Polleunis	BEL	29:10.15
DNF	904	Mohamad Gammoudi	TUN	–

Splits

1000 m	2:36.8	Dave Bedford
2000 m	5:18.8	Dave Bedford
3000 m	8:06.4	Dave Bedford
4000 m	10:55.4	Dave Bedford
5000 m	13:43.9	Dave Bedford
6000 m	16:35.7	Dave Bedford
7000 m	19:27.7	Lasse Virén
8000 m	22:17.7	Lasse Virén
9000 m	25:09.2	Lasse Virén