The men's 5000 metres

5000 metres

The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...

was a track and field athletics

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics

These are the results of athletics competition at the 1912 Summer Olympics. 30 events were contested, all for men only.The athletics programme grew by 4 events since the 1908 Summer Olympics. The 5000 and 10000 metre races were introduced for the first time, as the 5 mile event was eliminated...

 programme. It was the debut of the event, which along with the 10000 metre event

Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics - Men's 10000 metres

The men's 10,000 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the debut of the event, which along with the 5000 metres replaced the 5 mile race held at the 1908 Summer Olympics...

 replaced the 5 mile race

Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics - Men's 5 miles

The men's 5 miles race was held at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. It was discontinued after that in favour of the metric races of 5,000 and 10,000 metres. The competition was held on July 15, 1908 and July 18, 1908...

 held at the 1908 Summer Olympics

1908 Summer Olympics

The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...

. The competition was held on Tuesday, July 9, 1912 and on Wednesday, July 10, 1912.

Thirty-one long distance runners from eleven nations competed.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World Record	14:59.0(*)	Alfred Shrubb Alfred Shrubb Alfred "Alfie" Shrubb was an English middle distance runner. During an amateur career lasting from 1899 to 1905 and a professional career from 1905 to 1912 he won over 1,000 races of about 1,800 started...	Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...  (GBR Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles... )	June 13, 1904
Olympic Record	-	none	-	-

(*) unofficial

George Bonhag

George Bonhag

George Valentine Bonhag was an American athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department.He was born in Boston and died in New York City....

, in winning the first semifinal, set the Olympic record at 15:22.6. It lasted until the 5th and last semifinal, in which Jean Bouin

Jean Bouin

Jean Bouin was a French athlete and rugby union footballer. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm....

 broke it by finishing in 15:05.0. Unsurprisingly, that record stood only until the next race—Hannes Kolehmainen

Hannes Kolehmainen

Juho Pietari "Hannes" Kolehmainen was a Finnish long-distance runner. He is considered to be the first of a generation of great Finnish long distance runners, often named the "Flying Finns". Kolehmainen competed for a number of years in the United States, wearing the Winged Fist of the Irish...

won the final at 14:36.6 as both he and Bouin (just behind Kolehmainen, at 14:36.7) surpassed the best time of the semifinals. This record became the first official world record for the 5000 metres.

Semifinals

All semi-finals were held on Tuesday, July 9, 1912.

Semifinal 1

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1		15:22.6 OR	QF
2		15:24.2	QF
3		15:27.6	QF
4		15:56.8
—		Did not finish

Semifinal 2

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1		15:23.5	QF
2		15:28.9	QF
3		15:29.0	QF
4		16:07.1
—		Did not finish
		Did not finish
		Did not finish

Semifinal 3

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1		15:34.6	QF
2		16:09.1	QF
3		16:23.4	QF
4		17:21.7
—		Did not finish
		Did not finish

Semifinal 4

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1		15:38.9	QF
2		15:49.1	QF
3		15:53.3	QF
4
—		Did not finish

Semifinal 5

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1		15:05.0 OR	QF
2		15:25.2	QF
3		15:31.4	QF
—		Did not finish
		Did not finish
		Did not finish
		Did not finish
		Did not finish

Final

The final was held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912.

Place	Athlete	Time
1		14:36.6 OR
2		14:36.7
3		15:07.6
4		15:09.8
5		15:10.0
6
7		15:18.6
8-11
—		Did not start
		Did not start
		Did not start
		Did not start