| | Event type

10,000 metres, Women

Date	27 July – 2 August 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	35 from 19 countries

Portugal’s Fernanda Ribeiro had won the 1994 European Championship and the 1995 World Championship in this event. The world record holder was China’s Wang Junxia, who had won the 5K earlier in the Games and, in 1993, had run 29:31.78 at the Chinese National Games. The mark destroyed the world record but raised many eyebrows concerning its legality and her chemical profile. However, she never tested positive in any doping control and was in Atlanta. The defending champion, Derartu Tulu, was also back.

In the final, Ribeiro led at the halfway point, but a pack of 10 was together at that point. With two laps left, the medals were to be decided from among Ribeiro, Wang, Tulu, and Ethiopia’s Gete Wami. Wang took the lead with 600 metres remaining and held it until the homestretch, as Wami and Tulu could not keep with them. Ribeiro appeared in trouble with 80 metres left when she darted by Wang on the inside and pulled away to win by one second.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	3643	Fernanda Ribeiro	POR	31:36.32 (3 h2)	31:01.63 (1)	Gold	OR
2	3154	Wang Junxia	CHN	32:36.53 (7 h1)	31:02.58 (2)	Silver
3	3263	Gete Wami	ETH	32:20.92 (1 h1)	31:06.65 (3)	Bronze
4	3262	Derartu Tulu	ETH	31:35.90 (1 h2)	31:10.46 (4)
5	3489	Masako Chiba	JPN	31:37.03 (4 h2)	31:20.62 (5)
6	3517	Tegla Loroupe	KEN	32:28.73 (4 h1)	31:23.22 (6)
7	3493	Yuko Kawakami	JPN	32:31.69 (5 h1)	31:23.23 (7)
8	3660	Iulia Negură	ROU	31:40.16 (5 h2)	31:26.46 (8)
9	3251	Julia Vaquero	ESP	32:27.05 (3 h1)	31:27.07 (9)
10	3510	Sally Barsosio	KEN	31:36.00 (2 h2)	31:53.38 (10)
11	3423	Catherina McKiernan	IRL	32:32.10 (6 h1)	32:00.38 (11)
12	3277	Annemari Sandell	FIN	31:40.42 (6 h2)	32:14.66 (12)
13	3668	Colleen de Reuck	RSA	32:39.19 (8 h1)	32:14.69 (13)
14	3705	Lyudmila Petrova	RUS	31:58.84 (9 h2)	32:25.89 (14)
15	3155	Wang Mingxia	CHN	32:10.26 (10 h2)	32:38.98 (15)
16	3498	Hiromi Suzuki	JPN	31:54.89 (7 h2)	32:43.39 (16)
17	3030	Sue Hobson	AUS	32:25.13 (12 h2)	32:47.71 (17)
18	3257	Berhane Adere	ETH	32:21.09 (2 h1)	32:57.35 (18)
19	3161	Yang Siju	CHN	32:22.77 (11 h2)	33:15.29 (19)
8 h2 r1/2	3447	Maria Guida	ITA	31:55.35 (8 h2)	– (DNS)
9 h1 r1/2	3832	Kate Fonshell	USA	32:48.05 (9 h1)	–
10 h1 r1/2	3612	Nyla Carroll	NZL	32:50.64 (10 h1)	–
11 h1 r1/2	3459	Silvia Sommaggio	ITA	32:59.40 (11 h1)	–
12 h1 r1/2	3686	Klara Kashapova	RUS	33:28.34 (12 h1)	–
13 h1 r1/2	3381	Kathrin Weßel	GER	33:31.67 (13 h1)	–
13 h2 r1/2	3861	Joan Nesbit	USA	32:33.48 (13 h2)	–
14 h1 r1/2	3635	Conceição Ferreira	POR	33:40.76 (14 h1)	–
14 h2 r1/2	3716	Firaya Sultanova	RUS	32:40.91 (14 h2)	–
15 h1 r1/2	3293	Farida Fatès	FRA	34:38.49 (15 h1)	–
15 h2 r1/2	3287	Chantal Dällenbach	FRA	33:22.35 (15 h2)	–
16 h2 r1/2	3756	Daria Nauer	SUI	33:56.95 (16 h2)	–
17 h2 r1/2	3815	Olga Ávalos-Appell	USA	34:12.54 (17 h2)	–
18 h2 r1/2	3065	Justine Nahimana	BDI	35:58.51 (18 h2)	–
AC h1 r1/2	3043	Kylie Risk	AUS	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r1/2	3754	Ursula Jeitziner	SUI	– (DNF h1)	–

Round One

Date	27 July 1996
Format	Top 8 in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the final.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)
1	3262	Derartu Tulu	ETH	31:35.90	Q
2	3510	Sally Barsosio	KEN	31:36.00	Q
3	3643	Fernanda Ribeiro	POR	31:36.32	Q
4	3489	Masako Chiba	JPN	31:37.03	Q
5	3660	Iulia Negură	ROU	31:40.16	Q
6	3277	Annemari Sandell	FIN	31:40.42	Q
7	3498	Hiromi Suzuki	JPN	31:54.89	Q
8	3447	Maria Guida	ITA	31:55.35	Q
9	3705	Lyudmila Petrova	RUS	31:58.84	q
10	3155	Wang Mingxia	CHN	32:10.26	q
11	3263	Gete Wami	ETH	32:20.92	Q
12	3257	Berhane Adere	ETH	32:21.09	Q
13	3161	Yang Siju	CHN	32:22.77	q
14	3030	Sue Hobson	AUS	32:25.13	q
15	3251	Julia Vaquero	ESP	32:27.05	Q
16	3517	Tegla Loroupe	KEN	32:28.73	Q
17	3493	Yuko Kawakami	JPN	32:31.69	Q
18	3423	Catherina McKiernan	IRL	32:32.10	Q
19	3861	Joan Nesbit	USA	32:33.48
20	3154	Wang Junxia	CHN	32:36.53	Q
21	3668	Colleen de Reuck	RSA	32:39.19	Q
22	3716	Firaya Sultanova	RUS	32:40.91
23	3832	Kate Fonshell	USA	32:48.05
24	3612	Nyla Carroll	NZL	32:50.64
25	3459	Silvia Sommaggio	ITA	32:59.40
26	3287	Chantal Dällenbach	FRA	33:22.35
27	3686	Klara Kashapova	RUS	33:28.34
28	3381	Kathrin Weßel	GER	33:31.67
29	3635	Conceição Ferreira	POR	33:40.76
30	3756	Daria Nauer	SUI	33:56.95
31	3815	Olga Ávalos-Appell	USA	34:12.54
32	3293	Farida Fatès	FRA	34:38.49
33	3065	Justine Nahimana	BDI	35:58.51
DNF	3754	Ursula Jeitziner	SUI	–
DNF	3043	Kylie Risk	AUS	–

Heat #1

Time	21:35

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	8	Gete Wami	ETH	32:20.92	Q
2	3	Berhane Adere	ETH	32:21.09	Q
3	7	Julia Vaquero	ESP	32:27.05	Q
4	9	Tegla Loroupe	KEN	32:28.73	Q
5	16	Yuko Kawakami	JPN	32:31.69	Q
6	1	Catherina McKiernan	IRL	32:32.10	Q
7	2	Wang Junxia	CHN	32:36.53	Q
8	17	Colleen de Reuck	RSA	32:39.19	Q
9	15	Kate Fonshell	USA	32:48.05
10	6	Nyla Carroll	NZL	32:50.64
11	11	Silvia Sommaggio	ITA	32:59.40
12	4	Klara Kashapova	RUS	33:28.34
13	10	Kathrin Weßel	GER	33:31.67
14	5	Conceição Ferreira	POR	33:40.76
15	13	Farida Fatès	FRA	34:38.49
DNF	14	Ursula Jeitziner	SUI	–
DNF	12	Kylie Risk	AUS	–

Heat #2

Time	22:15

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	13	Derartu Tulu	ETH	31:35.90	Q
2	11	Sally Barsosio	KEN	31:36.00	Q
3	2	Fernanda Ribeiro	POR	31:36.32	Q
4	17	Masako Chiba	JPN	31:37.03	Q
5	10	Iulia Negură	ROU	31:40.16	Q
6	9	Annemari Sandell	FIN	31:40.42	Q
7	5	Hiromi Suzuki	JPN	31:54.89	Q
8	14	Maria Guida	ITA	31:55.35	Q
9	1	Lyudmila Petrova	RUS	31:58.84	q
10	16	Wang Mingxia	CHN	32:10.26	q
11	3	Yang Siju	CHN	32:22.77	q
12	4	Sue Hobson	AUS	32:25.13	q
13	6	Joan Nesbit	USA	32:33.48
14	18	Firaya Sultanova	RUS	32:40.91
15	15	Chantal Dällenbach	FRA	33:22.35
16	7	Daria Nauer	SUI	33:56.95
17	12	Olga Ávalos-Appell	USA	34:12.54
18	8	Justine Nahimana	BDI	35:58.51

Final Round

Date	2 August 1996 — 21:30

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	18	Fernanda Ribeiro	POR	31:01.63	OR
2	20	Wang Junxia	CHN	31:02.58
3	2	Gete Wami	ETH	31:06.65
4	13	Derartu Tulu	ETH	31:10.46
5	10	Masako Chiba	JPN	31:20.62
6	5	Tegla Loroupe	KEN	31:23.22
7	17	Yuko Kawakami	JPN	31:23.23
8	14	Iulia Negură	ROU	31:26.46
9	9	Julia Vaquero	ESP	31:27.07
10	11	Sally Barsosio	KEN	31:53.38
11	12	Catherina McKiernan	IRL	32:00.38
12	3	Annemari Sandell	FIN	32:14.66
13	4	Colleen de Reuck	RSA	32:14.69
14	8	Lyudmila Petrova	RUS	32:25.89
15	6	Wang Mingxia	CHN	32:38.98
16	15	Hiromi Suzuki	JPN	32:43.39
17	16	Sue Hobson	AUS	32:47.71
18	7	Berhane Adere	ETH	32:57.35
19	19	Yang Siju	CHN	33:15.29
DNS	1	Maria Guida	ITA	–