| | Event type

5,000 metres, Men

Date	28 July – 1 August 1980
Status	Olympic
Location	Bolshaya arena, Tsentralny stadion imeni V.I. Lenina, Moskva
Participants	35 from 22 countries

Two-time defending champion Lasse Virén was in Moskva but ran only the 10K and marathon. The favorite was Ethiopia’s Miruts Yifter who had known only Olympic heartbreak prior to 1980. He was expected to contend in this event in both 1972 and 1976. But in 1972 he had missed his heat when he could not get into the stadium in time, choosing the wrong entry gate. In 1976 he was pulled out by the ridiculous African boycott, costing him a chance to compete. But in Moskva, he had already won the 10,000 metres gold medal. Three Ethiopians qualified for the final – Yifter, Mohamed Kedir and Yohannes Mohamed. Yifter noted that they ran a team race in the final, setting it up for him to win. On the final lap, Ireland’s Eamonn Coghlan took the lead and his great mile speed made him a formidable challenger. But Yifter, also known for his kick, moved past on the inside of the backstretch and pulled away for a comfortable win.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	191	Miruts Yifter	ETH	13:44.4 (1 h1)	13:40.0 (2 h1)	13:21.0 (1)	Gold
2	649	Suleiman Nyambui	TAN	13:45.4 (2 h3)	13:30.2 (5 h2)	13:21.6 (2)	Silver
3	208	Kaarlo Maaninka	FIN	13:45.8 (6 h3)	13:40.2 (3 h1)	13:22.0 (3)	Bronze
4	403	Eamonn Coghlan	IRL	13:45.4 (3 h3)	13:28.8 (2 h2)	13:22.8 (4)
5	618	Markus Ryffel	SUI	13:45.0 (1 h3)	13:29.3 (3 h2)	13:23.1 (5)
6	28	Dietmar Millonig	AUT	13:45.7 (4 h3)	13:29.4 (4 h2)	13:23.3 (6)
7	409	John Treacy	IRL	13:44.8 (4 h1)	13:40.3 (4 h1)	13:23.7 (7)
8	701	Aleksandr Fedotkin	URS	13:45.6 (6 h1)	13:31.9 (8 h2)	13:24.1 (8)
9	665	Jiří Sýkora	TCH	13:43.1 (6 h2)	13:31.0 (7 h2)	13:25.0 (9)
10	182	Yohannes Mohamed	ETH	13:45.8 (5 h3)	13:39.4 (1 h1)	13:28.4 (10)
11	222	Martti Vainio	FIN	13:45.2 (8 h2)	13:30.4 (6 h2)	13:32.1 (11)
12	178	Mohamed Kedir	ETH	13:42.7 (2 h2)	13:28.6 (1 h2)	13:34.2 (12)
5 h1 r2/3	282	Nick Rose	GBR	13:44.7 (3 h1)	13:40.6 (5 h1)	–
6 h1 r2/3	685	Valery Abramov	URS	13:42.9 (3 h2)	13:40.7 (6 h1)	–
7 h1 r2/3	641	Zakariah Barie	TAN	13:49.9 (9 h2)	13:44.9 (7 h1)	–
8 h1 r2/3	46	Miel Puttemans	BEL	13:43.0 (4 h2)	13:50.2 (8 h1)	–
9 h1 r2/3	275	Dave Moorcroft	GBR	13:43.0 (5 h2)	13:58.2 (9 h1)	–
9 h2 r2/3	284	Barry Smith	GBR	13:46.3 (7 h3)	13:36.7 (9 h2)	–
10 h1 r2/3	18	Dave Fitzsimons	AUS	13:46.4 (7 h1)	13:58.3 (10 h1)	–
10 h2 r2/3	42	Alex Hagelsteens	BEL	13:44.9 (5 h1)	13:46.7 (10 h2)	–
11 h1 r2/3	313	Hansjörg Kunze	GDR	13:44.4 (2 h1)	14:00.3 (11 h1)	–
11 h2 r2/3	13	Steve Austin	AUS	13:43.2 (7 h2)	13:47.6 (11 h2)	–
12 h1 r2/3	487	Enrique Aquino	MEX	13:48.9 (8 h1)	14:01.4 (12 h1)	–
12 h2 r2/3	1	Abdenouz El-Hachemi	ALG	13:42.1 (1 h2)	14:15.9 (12 h2)	–
8 h3 r1/3	732	Enn Sellik	URS	13:52.4 (8 h3)	–	–
9 h1 r1/3	399	Gopal Saini	IND	14:06.6 (9 h1)	–	–
9 h3 r1/3	5	Rachid Habchaoui	ALG	13:59.9 (9 h3)	–	–
10 h1 r1/3	66	Robert Chideka	BOT	14:47.2 (10 h1)	–	–
10 h2 r1/3	408	Mick O'Shea	IRL	14:03.0 (10 h2)	–	–
10 h3 r1/3	780	Zephaniah Ncube	ZIM	14:06.7 (10 h3)	–	–
11 h1 r1/3	505	Laxman Basnet	NEP	16:11.7 (11 h1)	–	–
11 h2 r1/3	12	Bernardo Manuel	ANG	14:51.4 (11 h2)	–	–
11 h3 r1/3	501	Pedro Mulomo	MOZ	15:11.9 (11 h3)	–	–
12 h2 r1/3	632	Saleh El-Ali	SYR	15:08.2 (12 h2)	–	–
12 h3 r1/3	56	Amadou Alimi	BEN	15:44.0 (12 h3)	–	–
DNS	223	Lasse Virén	FIN	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	567	Ilie Floroiu	ROU	– (DNS h2)	–	–

Round One

Date	28 July 1980 — 17:35
Format	Top six in each heat and next six fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)	Time (hand)
1	1	Abdenouz El-Hachemi	ALG	13:42.07	13:42.1	Q
2	178	Mohamed Kedir	ETH	13:42.62	13:42.7	Q
3	685	Valery Abramov	URS	13:42.86	13:42.9	Q
4	665	Jiří Sýkora	TCH	13:43.04	13:43.1	Q
5	13	Steve Austin	AUS	13:43.15	13:43.2	q
6	46	Miel Puttemans	BEL	13:43.91	13:43.0	Q
7	275	Dave Moorcroft	GBR	13:43.96	13:43.0	Q
8	191	Miruts Yifter	ETH	13:44.31	13:44.4	Q
9	313	Hansjörg Kunze	GDR	13:44.40	13:44.4	Q
10	282	Nick Rose	GBR	13:44.65	13:44.7	Q
11	409	John Treacy	IRL	13:44.74	13:44.8	Q
12	42	Alex Hagelsteens	BEL	13:44.82	13:44.9	Q
13	618	Markus Ryffel	SUI	13:44.95	13:45.0	Q
14	222	Martti Vainio	FIN	13:45.20	13:45.2	q
15	649	Suleiman Nyambui	TAN	13:45.37	13:45.4	Q
16	403	Eamonn Coghlan	IRL	13:45.39	13:45.4	Q
17	701	Aleksandr Fedotkin	URS	13:45.52	13:45.6	Q
18	28	Dietmar Millonig	AUT	13:45.64	13:45.7	Q
19	182	Yohannes Mohamed	ETH	13:45.77	13:45.8	Q
20	208	Kaarlo Maaninka	FIN	13:45.78	13:45.8	Q
21	284	Barry Smith	GBR	13:46.28	13:46.3	q
22	18	Dave Fitzsimons	AUS	13:46.40	13:46.4	q
23	487	Enrique Aquino	MEX	13:48.83	13:48.9	q
24	641	Zakariah Barie	TAN	13:49.88	13:49.9	q
25	732	Enn Sellik	URS	13:52.34	13:52.4
26	5	Rachid Habchaoui	ALG	13:59.85	13:59.9
27	408	Mick O'Shea	IRL	14:02.97	14:03.0
28	399	Gopal Saini	IND	14:06.53	14:06.6
29	780	Zephaniah Ncube	ZIM	14:06.70	14:06.7
30	66	Robert Chideka	BOT	14:47.11	14:47.2
31	12	Bernardo Manuel	ANG	14:51.34	14:51.4
32	632	Saleh El-Ali	SYR	15:08.19	15:08.2
33	501	Pedro Mulomo	MOZ	15:11.86	15:11.9
34	56	Amadou Alimi	BEN	15:43.92	15:44.0
35	505	Laxman Basnet	NEP	16:11.7	–
DNS	223	Lasse Virén	FIN	–	–
DNS	567	Ilie Floroiu	ROU	–	–

Heat #1

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	191	Miruts Yifter	ETH	13:44.4	13:44.31	Q
2	313	Hansjörg Kunze	GDR	13:44.4	13:44.40	Q
3	282	Nick Rose	GBR	13:44.7	13:44.65	Q
4	409	John Treacy	IRL	13:44.8	13:44.74	Q
5	42	Alex Hagelsteens	BEL	13:44.9	13:44.82	Q
6	701	Aleksandr Fedotkin	URS	13:45.6	13:45.52	Q
7	18	Dave Fitzsimons	AUS	13:46.4	13:46.40	q
8	487	Enrique Aquino	MEX	13:48.9	13:48.83	q
9	399	Gopal Saini	IND	14:06.6	14:06.53
10	66	Robert Chideka	BOT	14:47.2	14:47.11
11	505	Laxman Basnet	NEP	16:11.7	–
DNS	223	Lasse Virén	FIN	–	–

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	Result
1000 m	Aleksandr Fedotkin	2:46.4
2000 m	John Treacy	5:37.6
3000 m	John Treacy	8:24.5
4000 m	Aleksandr Fedotkin	11:06.8

Heat #2

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	1	Abdenouz El-Hachemi	ALG	13:42.1	13:42.07	Q
2	178	Mohamed Kedir	ETH	13:42.7	13:42.62	Q
3	685	Valery Abramov	URS	13:42.9	13:42.86	Q
4	46	Miel Puttemans	BEL	13:43.0	13:43.91	Q
5	275	Dave Moorcroft	GBR	13:43.0	13:43.96	Q
6	665	Jiří Sýkora	TCH	13:43.1	13:43.04	Q
7	13	Steve Austin	AUS	13:43.2	13:43.15	q
8	222	Martti Vainio	FIN	13:45.2	13:45.20	q
9	641	Zakariah Barie	TAN	13:49.9	13:49.88	q
10	408	Mick O'Shea	IRL	14:03.0	14:02.97
11	12	Bernardo Manuel	ANG	14:51.4	14:51.34
12	632	Saleh El-Ali	SYR	15:08.2	15:08.19
DNS	567	Ilie Floroiu	ROU	–	–

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	Result
1000 m	Steve Austin	2:46.3
2000 m	Steve Austin	5:29.1
3000 m	Steve Austin	8:19.4
4000 m	Steve Austin	11:08.4

Heat #3

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	618	Markus Ryffel	SUI	13:45.0	13:44.95	Q
2	649	Suleiman Nyambui	TAN	13:45.4	13:45.37	Q
3	403	Eamonn Coghlan	IRL	13:45.4	13:45.39	Q
4	28	Dietmar Millonig	AUT	13:45.7	13:45.64	Q
5	182	Yohannes Mohamed	ETH	13:45.8	13:45.77	Q
6	208	Kaarlo Maaninka	FIN	13:45.8	13:45.78	Q
7	284	Barry Smith	GBR	13:46.3	13:46.28	q
8	732	Enn Sellik	URS	13:52.4	13:52.34
9	5	Rachid Habchaoui	ALG	13:59.9	13:59.85
10	780	Zephaniah Ncube	ZIM	14:06.7	14:06.70
11	501	Pedro Mulomo	MOZ	15:11.9	15:11.86
12	56	Amadou Alimi	BEN	15:44.0	15:43.92

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	Result
1000 m	Zephaniah Ncube	2:50.5
2000 m	Suleiman Nyambui	5:38.0
3000 m	Dietmar Millonig	8:28.0
3000 m	Yohannes Mohamed	8:28.0
4000 m	Barry Smith	11:12.3

Semi-Finals

Date	30 July 1980 — 18:50
Format	Top four in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the final.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)	Time (hand)
1	178	Mohamed Kedir	ETH	13:28.54	13:28.6	Q
2	403	Eamonn Coghlan	IRL	13:28.79	13:28.8	Q
3	618	Markus Ryffel	SUI	13:29.23	13:29.3	Q
4	28	Dietmar Millonig	AUT	13:29.35	13:29.4	Q
5	649	Suleiman Nyambui	TAN	13:30.12	13:30.2	q
6	222	Martti Vainio	FIN	13:30.38	13:30.4	q
7	665	Jiří Sýkora	TCH	13:30.97	13:31.0	q
8	701	Aleksandr Fedotkin	URS	13:31.87	13:31.9	q
9	284	Barry Smith	GBR	13:36.66	13:36.7
10	182	Yohannes Mohamed	ETH	13:39.40	13:39.4	Q
11	191	Miruts Yifter	ETH	13:39.93	13:40.0	Q
12	208	Kaarlo Maaninka	FIN	13:40.16	13:40.2	Q
13	409	John Treacy	IRL	13:40.29	13:40.3	Q
14	282	Nick Rose	GBR	13:40.55	13:40.6
15	685	Valery Abramov	URS	13:40.67	13:40.7
16	641	Zakariah Barie	TAN	13:44.83	13:44.9
17	42	Alex Hagelsteens	BEL	13:46.64	13:46.7
18	13	Steve Austin	AUS	13:47.51	13:47.6
19	46	Miel Puttemans	BEL	13:50.19	13:50.2
20	275	Dave Moorcroft	GBR	13:58.13	13:58.2
21	18	Dave Fitzsimons	AUS	13:58.22	13:58.3
22	313	Hansjörg Kunze	GDR	14:00.22	14:00.3
23	487	Enrique Aquino	MEX	14:01.33	14:01.4
24	1	Abdenouz El-Hachemi	ALG	14:15.85	14:15.9

Heat #1

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	182	Yohannes Mohamed	ETH	13:39.4	13:39.40	Q
2	191	Miruts Yifter	ETH	13:40.0	13:39.93	Q
3	208	Kaarlo Maaninka	FIN	13:40.2	13:40.16	Q
4	409	John Treacy	IRL	13:40.3	13:40.29	Q
5	282	Nick Rose	GBR	13:40.6	13:40.55
6	685	Valery Abramov	URS	13:40.7	13:40.67
7	641	Zakariah Barie	TAN	13:44.9	13:44.83
8	46	Miel Puttemans	BEL	13:50.2	13:50.19
9	275	Dave Moorcroft	GBR	13:58.2	13:58.13
10	18	Dave Fitzsimons	AUS	13:58.3	13:58.22
11	313	Hansjörg Kunze	GDR	14:00.3	14:00.22
12	487	Enrique Aquino	MEX	14:01.4	14:01.33

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	Result
1000 m	John Treacy	2:51.0
2000 m	Hansjörg Kunze	4:33.4
3000 m	John Treacy	8:20.5
4000 m	Zakariah Barie	11:08.5

Heat #2

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	178	Mohamed Kedir	ETH	13:28.6	13:28.54	Q
2	403	Eamonn Coghlan	IRL	13:28.8	13:28.79	Q
3	618	Markus Ryffel	SUI	13:29.3	13:29.23	Q
4	28	Dietmar Millonig	AUT	13:29.4	13:29.35	Q
5	649	Suleiman Nyambui	TAN	13:30.2	13:30.12	q
6	222	Martti Vainio	FIN	13:30.4	13:30.38	q
7	665	Jiří Sýkora	TCH	13:31.0	13:30.97	q
8	701	Aleksandr Fedotkin	URS	13:31.9	13:31.87	q
9	284	Barry Smith	GBR	13:36.7	13:36.66
10	42	Alex Hagelsteens	BEL	13:46.7	13:46.64
11	13	Steve Austin	AUS	13:47.6	13:47.51
12	1	Abdenouz El-Hachemi	ALG	14:15.9	14:15.85

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	Result
1000 m	Aleksandr Fedotkin	2:44.8
2000 m	Steve Austin	5:30.4
3000 m	Barry Smith	8:12.2
4000 m	Barry Smith	10:54.5

Final Round

Date	1 August 1980 — 18:35

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	191	Miruts Yifter	ETH	13:21.0	13:20.91
2	649	Suleiman Nyambui	TAN	13:21.6	13:21.60
3	208	Kaarlo Maaninka	FIN	13:22.0	13:22.00
4	403	Eamonn Coghlan	IRL	13:22.8	13:22.74
5	618	Markus Ryffel	SUI	13:23.1	13:23.03
6	28	Dietmar Millonig	AUT	13:23.3	13:23.25
7	409	John Treacy	IRL	13:23.7	13:23.62
8	701	Aleksandr Fedotkin	URS	13:24.1	13:24.10
9	665	Jiří Sýkora	TCH	13:25.0	13:24.99
10	182	Yohannes Mohamed	ETH	13:28.4	13:28.34
11	222	Martti Vainio	FIN	13:32.1	13:32.05
12	178	Mohamed Kedir	ETH	13:34.2	13:34.17

Split Times

Time	Athlete(s)	Result
1000 m	Aleksandr Fedotkin	2:38.4
2000 m	Mohamed Kedir	5:22.9
3000 m	Mohamed Kedir	8:08.1
4000 m	Kaarlo Maaninka	10:51.1