Men · World record
5000 Metres
The current record and its documented progression: 40 ratified records from 1897 to 2020.
Current record
12:35.36
Joshua CheptegeiUGAMonaco · 14 Aug 2020
6 years standing1.99 s improvementAll-time top 25 →
Record progression
Each step is a documented record; red marks the fully automatic timing era
12:35.3616:34.60
Documented records
40 ratified · most recent first · Wikipedia (EN) revision 1352820146, imported 2 Sep 2026
| Mark | Athlete | Nation | Venue | Date | Stood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:35.36 | Joshua Cheptegei | UGA | Monaco | 14 Aug 2020 | 6 yrs |
| 12:37.35 | Kenenisa Bekele | ETH | Hengelo, Netherlands | 31 May 2004 | 16 yrs |
| 12:39.36 | Haile Gebrselassie | ETH | Helsinki, Finland | 13 Jun 1998 | 5 yrs |
| 12:39.74 | Daniel Komen | KEN | Brussels, Belgium | 22 Aug 1997 | 295 d |
| 12:41.86 | Haile Gebrselassie | ETH | Zürich, Switzerland | 13 Aug 1997 | 9 d |
| 12:44.39 | Haile Gebrselassie | ETH | Zürich, Switzerland | 16 Aug 1995 | 1 yr |
| 12:55.30 | Moses Kiptanui | KEN | Rome, Italy | 8 Jun 1995 | 69 d |
| 12:56.96 | Haile Gebrselassie | ETH | Hengelo, Netherlands | 4 Jun 1994 | 1 yr |
| 12:58.39 | Saïd Aouita | MAR | Rome, Italy | 27 Jul 1987 | 6 yrs |
| 13:00.40 | Saïd Aouita | MAR | Oslo, Norway | 27 Jul 1985 | 2 yrs |
| 13:00.41 | David Moorcroft | GBR | Oslo, Norway | 7 Jul 1982 | 3 yrs |
| 13:06.20 | Henry Rono | KEN | Knarvik, Norway | 13 Sep 1981 | 297 d |
| 13:08.4 | Henry Rono | KEN | Berkeley, California, USA | 8 Apr 1978 | 3 yrs |
| 13:12.9 | Dick Quax | NZL | Stockholm, Sweden | 5 Jul 1977 | 277 d |
| 13:13.0 | Emiel Puttemans | BEL | Brussels, Belgium | 20 Sep 1972 | 4 yrs |
| 13:16.4 | Lasse Virén | FIN | Helsinki, Finland | 14 Sep 1972 | 6 d |
| 13:16.6 | Ron Clarke | AUS | Stockholm, Sweden | 5 Jul 1966 | 6 yrs |
| 13:24.2 | Kipchoge Keino | KEN | Auckland, New Zealand | 30 Nov 1965 | 217 d |
| 13:25.8 | Ron Clarke | AUS | Compton, USA | 4 Jun 1965 | 179 d |
| 13:33.6 | Ron Clarke | AUS | Auckland, New Zealand | 1 Feb 1965 | 123 d |
| 13:34.8 | Ron Clarke | AUS | Hobart, Australia | 16 Jan 1965 | 16 d |
| 13:35.0 | Vladimir Kuts | URS | Rome, Italy | 13 Oct 1957 | 7 yrs |
| 13:36.8 | Gordon Pirie | GBR | Bergen, Norway | 19 Jun 1956 | 1 yr |
| 13:40.6 | Sandor Iharos | HUN | Budapest, Hungary | 23 Oct 1955 | 240 d |
| 13:46.8 | Vladimir Kuts | URS | Belgrade, Yugoslavia | 18 Sep 1955 | 35 d |
| 13:50.8 | Sandor Iharos | HUN | Budapest, Hungary | 10 Sep 1955 | 8 d |
| 13:51.2 | Vladimir Kuts | URS | Prague, Czechoslovakia | 23 Oct 1954 | 322 d |
| 13:51.6 | Chris Chataway | GBR | London, United Kingdom | 13 Oct 1954 | 10 d |
| 13:56.6 | Vladimir Kuts | URS | Bern, Switzerland | 29 Aug 1954 | 45 d |
| 13:57.2 | Emil Zátopek | TCH | Paris, France | 30 May 1954 | 91 d |
| 13:58.2 | Gunder Hägg | SWE | Gothenburg, Sweden | 20 Sep 1942 | 11 yrs |
| 14:08.8 | Taisto Mäki | FIN | Helsinki, Finland | 16 Jun 1939 | 3 yrs |
| 14:17.0 | Lauri Lehtinen | FIN | Helsinki, Finland | 19 Jun 1932 | 6 yrs |
| 14:28.2 | Paavo Nurmi | FIN | Helsinki, Finland | 19 Jun 1924 | 8 yrs |
| 14:35.4 | Paavo Nurmi | FIN | Stockholm, Sweden | 12 Sep 1922 | 1 yr |
| 14:36.6 | Hannes Kolehmainen | FIN | Stockholm, Sweden | 10 Jul 1912 | 10 yrs |
| 14:59.0 | Alfred Shrubb | GBR | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 13 Jun 1904 | 8 yrs |
| 15:29.8 | Charles Bennett | GBR | Paris, France | 22 Jul 1900 | 3 yrs |
| 16:29.2 | George Touquet-Daunis | FRA | Lyon, France | 22 May 1899 | 1 yr |
| 16:34.6 | George Touquet-Daunis | FRA | Paris, France | 31 Oct 1897 | 1 yr |
Rows link to a profile only where the athlete appears on a published list. Struck marks were rescinded or never ratified, and A marks a performance at altitude; both come from the source article's own key and markers, and eras are kept as it lists them. Nothing is inferred.