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

1897 · 16:34.6 George Touquet-Daunis1899 · 16:29.2 George Touquet-Daunis1900 · 15:29.8 Charles Bennett1904 · 14:59.0 Alfred Shrubb1912 · 14:36.6 Hannes Kolehmainen1922 · 14:35.4 Paavo Nurmi1924 · 14:28.2 Paavo Nurmi1932 · 14:17.0 Lauri Lehtinen1939 · 14:08.8 Taisto Mäki1942 · 13:58.2 Gunder Hägg1954 · 13:57.2 Emil Zátopek1954 · 13:56.6 Vladimir Kuts1954 · 13:51.6 Chris Chataway1954 · 13:51.2 Vladimir Kuts1955 · 13:50.8 Sandor Iharos1955 · 13:46.8 Vladimir Kuts1955 · 13:40.6 Sandor Iharos1956 · 13:36.8 Gordon Pirie1957 · 13:35.0 Vladimir Kuts1965 · 13:34.8 Ron Clarke1965 · 13:33.6 Ron Clarke1965 · 13:25.8 Ron Clarke1965 · 13:24.2 Kipchoge Keino1966 · 13:16.6 Ron Clarke1972 · 13:16.4 Lasse Virén1972 · 13:13.0 Emiel Puttemans1977 · 13:12.9 Dick Quax1978 · 13:08.4 Henry Rono1981 · 13:06.20 Henry Rono1982 · 13:00.41 David Moorcroft1985 · 13:00.40 Saïd Aouita1987 · 12:58.39 Saïd Aouita1994 · 12:56.96 Haile Gebrselassie1995 · 12:55.30 Moses Kiptanui1995 · 12:44.39 Haile Gebrselassie1997 · 12:41.86 Haile Gebrselassie1997 · 12:39.74 Daniel Komen1998 · 12:39.36 Haile Gebrselassie2004 · 12:37.35 Kenenisa Bekele2020 · 12:35.36 Joshua Cheptegei 12:35.3616:34.60

18971954 · Zátopek 13:57.21965 · Clarke 13:33.61985 · Aouita 13:00.402020 · Cheptegei 12:35.36

Documented records

40 ratified · most recent first · Wikipedia (EN) revision 1352820146, imported 2 Sep 2026

MarkAthleteNationVenueDateStood
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.