| | Event type

10,000 metres, Men

Date	26 – 29 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	46 from 29 countries

Haile Gebrselassie was an overwhelming favorite in this event. He was the world record holder and had won the 1993 and 1995 World Championships. His biggest rival was expected to be Kenyan Paul Tergat, twice International Cross-Country champion.

The pace was taken for the first half of the race by Burundian Aloÿs Nizigama. The Kenyans then took up the pace, dropping all but six runners. At 8,000 metres, Tergat ran two laps in just over two minutes, and only Gebrselassie could stay with him. At the bell, he moved to Tergat’s shoulder and sprinted by him almost disdainfully. Tergat closed slightly in the stretch but it was an easy victory for Geb on the final lap.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	28:14.20 (1 h2)	27:07.34 (1)	Gold	OR
2	Paul Tergat	KEN	27:50.66 (2 h1)	27:08.17 (2)	Silver
3	Salah Hissou	MAR	27:53.32 (5 h1)	27:24.67 (3)	Bronze
4	Aloÿs Nizigama	BDI	27:53.21 (4 h1)	27:33.79 (4)
5	Josephat Machuka	KEN	28:14.27 (2 h2)	27:35.08 (5)
6	Paul Koech	KEN	28:17.48 (3 h2)	27:35.19 (6)
7	Khalid Skah	MAR	28:23.21 (6 h2)	27:46.98 (7)
8	Mathias Ntawulikura	RWA	27:51.69 (3 h1)	27:50.73 (8)
9	Stéphane Franke	GER	28:24.30 (7 h2)	27:59.08 (9)
10	Jon Brown	GBR	28:19.85 (4 h2)	27:59.72 (10)
11	Armando Quintanilla	MEX	28:27.28 (8 h2)	28:09.46 (11)
12	Marko Hhawu	TAN	28:14.08 (10 h1)	28:20.58 (12)
13	Abel Antón	ESP	27:56.26 (7 h1)	28:29.37 (13)
14	Carlos de la Torre	ESP	28:04.14 (8 h1)	28:32.11 (14)
15	Alejandro Gómez	ESP	28:28.16 (9 h2)	28:39.11 (15)
16	Zoltán Káldy	HUN	28:13.49 (9 h1)	28:45.48 (16)
17	Worku Bikila	ETH	27:50.57 (1 h1)	28:59.15 (17)
18	Stefano Baldini	ITA	27:55.79 (6 h1)	29:07.77 (18)
AC r2/2	Paul Evans	GBR	28:24.39 (11 h1)	– (DNF)
AC r2/2	Alyan Al-Qahtani	KSA	28:22.35 (5 h2)	– (DNF)
10 h2 r1/2	Silvio Guerra	ECU	28:30.15 (10 h2)	–
11 h2 r1/2	Abraham Assefa	ETH	28:32.24 (11 h2)	–
12 h1 r1/2	Robbie Johnston	NZL	28:40.60 (12 h1)	–
12 h2 r1/2	Toshinari Takaoka	JPN	28:38.18 (12 h2)	–
13 h1 r1/2	Katsuhiko Hanada	JPN	28:52.22 (13 h1)	–
13 h2 r1/2	Shaun Creighton	AUS	28:44.29 (13 h2)	–
14 h1 r1/2	Róbert Štefko	SVK	29:03.80 (14 h1)	–
14 h2 r1/2	Alfredo Brás	POR	28:50.28 (14 h2)	–
15 h1 r1/2	Carlos Patrício	POR	29:15.41 (15 h1)	–
15 h2 r1/2	Hendrick Ramaala	RSA	29:07.81 (15 h2)	–
16 h1 r1/2	Ronaldo da Costa	BRA	29:26.58 (16 h1)	–
16 h2 r1/2	Brad Barquist	USA	29:11.20 (16 h2)	–
17 h1 r1/2	Dan Middleman	USA	29:50.72 (17 h1)	–
17 h2 r1/2	Charles Mulinga	ZAM	29:14.99 (17 h2)	–
18 h1 r1/2	Mohamed Ezzher	FRA	29:55.34 (18 h1)	–
18 h2 r1/2	Miroslav Vanko	SVK	29:17.53 (18 h2)	–
19 h1 r1/2	Martín Pitayo	MEX	30:32.20 (19 h1)	–
19 h2 r1/2	Sean Dollman	IRL	29:19.03 (19 h2)	–
20 h1 r1/2	Herder Vásquez	COL	33:26.15 (20 h1)	–
20 h2 r1/2	Sayed Hamid Sajjadi	IRI	29:22.65 (20 h2)	–
21 h1 r1/2	Majed Abu Maraheel	PLE	34:40.50 (21 h1)	–
21 h2 r1/2	Jeff Schiebler	CAN	29:47.79 (21 h2)	–
AC h1 r1/2	Larbi Zéroual	MAR	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h2 r1/2	Abdellah Béhar	FRA	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	Paulo Guerra	POR	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	Todd Williams	USA	– (DNF h2)	–
DNS	Yasuyuki Watanabe	JPN	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	Julian Paynter	AUS	– (DNS h1)	–

Round One

Date	26 July 1996
Format	Top 8 in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the final.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)
1	Worku Bikila	ETH	27:50.57	Q
2	Paul Tergat	KEN	27:50.66	Q
3	Mathias Ntawulikura	RWA	27:51.69	Q
4	Aloÿs Nizigama	BDI	27:53.21	Q
5	Salah Hissou	MAR	27:53.32	Q
6	Stefano Baldini	ITA	27:55.79	Q
7	Abel Antón	ESP	27:56.26	Q
8	Carlos de la Torre	ESP	28:04.14	Q
9	Zoltán Káldy	HUN	28:13.49	q
10	Marko Hhawu	TAN	28:14.08	q
11	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	28:14.20	Q
12	Josephat Machuka	KEN	28:14.27	Q
13	Paul Koech	KEN	28:17.48	Q
14	Jon Brown	GBR	28:19.85	Q
15	Alyan Al-Qahtani	KSA	28:22.35	Q
16	Khalid Skah	MAR	28:23.21	Q
17	Stéphane Franke	GER	28:24.30	Q
18	Paul Evans	GBR	28:24.39	q
19	Armando Quintanilla	MEX	28:27.28	Q
20	Alejandro Gómez	ESP	28:28.16	q
21	Silvio Guerra	ECU	28:30.15
22	Abraham Assefa	ETH	28:32.24
23	Toshinari Takaoka	JPN	28:38.18
24	Robbie Johnston	NZL	28:40.60
25	Shaun Creighton	AUS	28:44.29
26	Alfredo Brás	POR	28:50.28
27	Katsuhiko Hanada	JPN	28:52.22
28	Róbert Štefko	SVK	29:03.80
29	Hendrick Ramaala	RSA	29:07.81
30	Brad Barquist	USA	29:11.20
31	Charles Mulinga	ZAM	29:14.99
32	Carlos Patrício	POR	29:15.41
33	Miroslav Vanko	SVK	29:17.53
34	Sean Dollman	IRL	29:19.03
35	Sayed Hamid Sajjadi	IRI	29:22.65
36	Ronaldo da Costa	BRA	29:26.58
37	Jeff Schiebler	CAN	29:47.79
38	Dan Middleman	USA	29:50.72
39	Mohamed Ezzher	FRA	29:55.34
40	Martín Pitayo	MEX	30:32.20
41	Herder Vásquez	COL	33:26.15
42	Majed Abu Maraheel	PLE	34:40.50
DNF	Larbi Zéroual	MAR	–
DNF	Abdellah Béhar	FRA	–
DNF	Paulo Guerra	POR	–
DNF	Todd Williams	USA	–
DNS	Yasuyuki Watanabe	JPN	–
DNS	Julian Paynter	AUS	–

Heat #1

Time	21:15

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	Worku Bikila	ETH	27:50.57	Q
2	Paul Tergat	KEN	27:50.66	Q
3	Mathias Ntawulikura	RWA	27:51.69	Q
4	Aloÿs Nizigama	BDI	27:53.21	Q
5	Salah Hissou	MAR	27:53.32	Q
6	Stefano Baldini	ITA	27:55.79	Q
7	Abel Antón	ESP	27:56.26	Q
8	Carlos de la Torre	ESP	28:04.14	Q
9	Zoltán Káldy	HUN	28:13.49	q
10	Marko Hhawu	TAN	28:14.08	q
11	Paul Evans	GBR	28:24.39	q
12	Robbie Johnston	NZL	28:40.60
13	Katsuhiko Hanada	JPN	28:52.22
14	Róbert Štefko	SVK	29:03.80
15	Carlos Patrício	POR	29:15.41
16	Ronaldo da Costa	BRA	29:26.58
17	Dan Middleman	USA	29:50.72
18	Mohamed Ezzher	FRA	29:55.34
19	Martín Pitayo	MEX	30:32.20
20	Herder Vásquez	COL	33:26.15
21	Majed Abu Maraheel	PLE	34:40.50
DNF	Larbi Zéroual	MAR	–
DNS	Yasuyuki Watanabe	JPN	–
DNS	Julian Paynter	AUS	–

Heat #2

Time	22:05

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	28:14.20	Q
2	Josephat Machuka	KEN	28:14.27	Q
3	Paul Koech	KEN	28:17.48	Q
4	Jon Brown	GBR	28:19.85	Q
5	Alyan Al-Qahtani	KSA	28:22.35	Q
6	Khalid Skah	MAR	28:23.21	Q
7	Stéphane Franke	GER	28:24.30	Q
8	Armando Quintanilla	MEX	28:27.28	Q
9	Alejandro Gómez	ESP	28:28.16	q
10	Silvio Guerra	ECU	28:30.15
11	Abraham Assefa	ETH	28:32.24
12	Toshinari Takaoka	JPN	28:38.18
13	Shaun Creighton	AUS	28:44.29
14	Alfredo Brás	POR	28:50.28
15	Hendrick Ramaala	RSA	29:07.81
16	Brad Barquist	USA	29:11.20
17	Charles Mulinga	ZAM	29:14.99
18	Miroslav Vanko	SVK	29:17.53
19	Sean Dollman	IRL	29:19.03
20	Sayed Hamid Sajjadi	IRI	29:22.65
21	Jeff Schiebler	CAN	29:47.79
DNF	Abdellah Béhar	FRA	–
DNF	Paulo Guerra	POR	–
DNF	Todd Williams	USA	–

Final Round

Date	29 July 1996 — 22:00

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	27:07.34	OR
2	Paul Tergat	KEN	27:08.17
3	Salah Hissou	MAR	27:24.67
4	Aloÿs Nizigama	BDI	27:33.79
5	Josephat Machuka	KEN	27:35.08
6	Paul Koech	KEN	27:35.19
7	Khalid Skah	MAR	27:46.98
8	Mathias Ntawulikura	RWA	27:50.73
9	Stéphane Franke	GER	27:59.08
10	Jon Brown	GBR	27:59.72
11	Armando Quintanilla	MEX	28:09.46
12	Marko Hhawu	TAN	28:20.58
13	Abel Antón	ESP	28:29.37
14	Carlos de la Torre	ESP	28:32.11
15	Alejandro Gómez	ESP	28:39.11
16	Zoltán Káldy	HUN	28:45.48
17	Worku Bikila	ETH	28:59.15
18	Stefano Baldini	ITA	29:07.77
DNF	Alyan Al-Qahtani	KSA	–
DNF	Paul Evans	GBR	–