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1996 Olympic Games Atlanta - Men's 5000 m

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1996 Olympic Games Atlanta - (Athletics); Last Updated: 27 June 2019; Hits: 714

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Host City: Atlanta, United States

Format: Top six in each heat and next three fastest advanced to the final.

Date Started: July 31, 1996

Format: Top eight in each heat and next six fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Date Finished: August 3, 1996

(Competitors: 37; Countries: 22; Finalists: 15)

Venue(s): Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Overview by IAAF

The first round eliminated just eight athletes in three heats with winning times which ranged from 13:50.61 to 14:02.71. The semi-finals were won by Kenyans Shem Kororia in 13:27.50 and Tom Nyariki in a slow 14:03.21, a time beaten by 14 of the 15 runners in the first semifinal. The finalists included Baumann and Bitok, the big finishers in 1992, and Niyongabo, who had a 3:30.09 time for 1500m to his credit. Despite this, no-one was willing to take on the pace at the start, with 69.0 sufficing for the lead for the first lap. Kororia and Nyariki took over the pacemaking duties, the former passing through the first three kilometres in 2:45.4, 5:20.7 and 8:00.1, and the latter leading at 4000m in 10:40.5. Kennedy, a strong runner with no big kick, took over with two laps to go and led until 500m remained, at which point Niyongabo moved to the front, and passed the bell in 12:13.1 after a 60.0 lap. The miler from Burundi went 10m clear along the final back straight, but had slightly mistimed his kick. With 130m to go his lead began to shrink, and Bitok started to close in. Behind him Boulami was gaining on the Kenyan, and in a concertina effect Baumann was finishing fastest of all. The Burundian got home one and a half metres ahead of Bitok, with Boulami a similar distance behind. Baumann slowed up in the last 40m when he realised a medal was out of range. Niyongabo was the first ever Olympic medal winner from Burundi.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

Vénuste Niyongabo of Burundi was the first great runner from that nation. He was considered a medal favorite in the 1,500 but withdrew from that event to allow his countryman, Dieudonné Kwizéra to run in that event. Niyongabo had only twice before competed at 5K but he had the best speed in the event. The last two World Championships had been won by Kenya’s Ismael Kirui but he did not compete in Atlanta. In August 1995, Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie had shattered the world record by 11 seconds, running 12:44.39, but he chose to run only 10K in Atlanta. The defending gold and silver medalists, Dieter Baumann (FRG) and Paul Bitok (KEN), were back and qualified for the final. The final was started at a slow pace, playing into Niyangabo’s speed. America’s Bob Kennedy, a strong runner with no kick, moved to the front after 4,000 metres, trying to hold on for a medal but the attempt was futile. The final lap came down to Niyongabo, Bitok, Baumann, and Morocco’s Khalid Boulami. None of them could match Niyongabo’s speed as he won the gold medal, with Bitok finishing second as he had in 1992.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.

World Record	12:44.39	Haile Gebrselassie	Zürich (SUI)	August 16, 1995
Olympic Record	13:05.59	Saïd Aouita	Los Angeles (USA)	August 11, 1984

		Results

*5000 m*	Men	Final	3 August

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	13.07.96	Vénuste Niyongabo	Burundi	BDI	9 Dec 73
2	13.08.16	Paul Bitok	Kenya	KEN	26 Jun 70
3	13.08.37	Khalid Boulami	Morocco	MAR	7 Aug 69
4	13.08.81	Dieter Baumann	Germany	GER	9 Feb 65
5	13.12.29	Thomas Nyariki	Kenya	KEN	27 Sep 71
6	13.12.35	Bob Kennedy	United States	USA	18 Aug 70
7	13.12.91	Enrique Molina	Spain	ESP	25 Feb 68
8	13.13.26	Brahim Lahlafi	Morocco	MAR	15 Apr 68
9	13.14.63	Shem Kororia	Kenya	KEN	25 Sep 72
10	13.18.30	Fita Bayissa	Ethiopia	ETH	15 Dec 72
11	13.22.89	Ismaïl Sghyr	Morocco	MAR	16 Mar 72
12	13.28.36	Gennaro Di Napoli	Italy	ITA	5 Mar 68
13	13.42.34	Réda Benzine	Algeria	ALG	19 Apr 71
14	13.44.64	Stéphane Franke	Germany	GER	12 Feb 64
15	14.06.52	Aïssa Belaout	Algeria	ALG	12 Aug 68
*5000 m*	Men	Semifinal 1	1 August

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	13.27.50	Shem Kororia	Kenya	KEN	25 Sep 72
2	13.27.61	Paul Bitok	Kenya	KEN	26 Jun 70
3	13.27.73	Brahim Lahlafi	Morocco	MAR	15 Apr 68
4	13.27.90	Bob Kennedy	United States	USA	18 Aug 70
5	13.28.80	Gennaro Di Napoli	Italy	ITA	5 Mar 68
6	13.29.72	Khalid Boulami	Morocco	MAR	7 Aug 69
7	13.30.88	Fita Bayissa	Ethiopia	ETH	15 Dec 72
8	13.37.52	Réda Benzine	Algeria	ALG	19 Apr 71
9	13.40.94	Stéphane Franke	Germany	GER	12 Feb 64
10	13.47.81	Jonathon Wyatt	New Zealand	NZL	20 Dec 72
11	13.50.90	Anacleto Jiménez	Spain	ESP	24 Feb 67
12	13.51.45	Miroslav Vanko	Slovakia	SVK	14 Feb 73
13	13.54.43	John Morapedi	South Africa	RSA	30 Nov 76
14	13.55.23	Shaun Creighton	Australia	AUS	14 May 67
15	14.24.81	José Ramos	Portugal	POR	27 Jul 68
*5000 m*	Men	Semifinal 2	1 August

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	14.03.21	Thomas Nyariki	Kenya	KEN	27 Sep 71
2	14.03.48	Vénuste Niyongabo	Burundi	BDI	9 Dec 73
3	14.03.75	Dieter Baumann	Germany	GER	9 Feb 65
4	14.04.08	Enrique Molina	Spain	ESP	25 Feb 68
5	14.04.23	Ismaïl Sghyr	Morocco	MAR	16 Mar 72
6	14.04.56	Aïssa Belaout	Algeria	ALG	12 Aug 68
7	14.05.48	Assefa Mezegebu	Ethiopia	ETH	19 Jun 78
8	14.06.45	Stefano Baldini	Italy	ITA	25 May 71
9	14.08.39	John Nuttall	Great Britain	GBR	11 Jan 67
10	14.08.88	Cormac Finnerty	Ireland	IRL	14 Jan 70
11	14.16.14	Shadrack Hoff	South Africa	RSA	19 May 73
12	14.23.60	Julian Paynter	Australia	AUS	15 Jul 70
13	14.27.72	Jim Spivey	United States	USA	7 Mar 60
14	14.39.64	Manuel Pancorbo	Spain	ESP	7 Jul 66
	DNS	Luís Jesús	Portugal	POR	19 Nov 68
*5000 m*	Men	Heat 1	31 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	14.02.71	Ismaïl Sghyr	Morocco	MAR	16 Mar 72
2	14.02.75	Shem Kororia	Kenya	KEN	25 Sep 72
3	14.03.06	Réda Benzine	Algeria	ALG	19 Apr 71
4	14.03.56	Gennaro Di Napoli	Italy	ITA	5 Mar 68
5	14.04.08	Shaun Creighton	Australia	AUS	14 May 67
6	14.05.97	Shadrack Hoff	South Africa	RSA	19 May 73
7	14.16.57	Anacleto Jiménez	Spain	ESP	24 Feb 67
8	14.17.26	José Ramos	Portugal	POR	27 Jul 68
9	14.30.76	Matt Giusto	United States	USA	25 Oct 66
10	14.39.50	William Roldán	Colombia	COL	23 May 73
11	15.29.16	Sidi Ahmed Ould Ahmedou	Mauritania	MTN	66
*5000 m*	Men	Heat 2	31 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	13.50.61	Fita Bayissa	Ethiopia	ETH	15 Dec 72
2	13.51.25	Brahim Lahlafi	Morocco	MAR	15 Apr 68
3	13.51.47	Thomas Nyariki	Kenya	KEN	27 Sep 71
4	13.51.55	Enrique Molina	Spain	ESP	25 Feb 68
5	13.51.96	Aïssa Belaout	Algeria	ALG	12 Aug 68
6	13.52.00	Dieter Baumann	Germany	GER	9 Feb 65
7	13.52.16	John Nuttall	Great Britain	GBR	11 Jan 67
8	13.52.56	Jonathon Wyatt	New Zealand	NZL	20 Dec 72
9	13.53.16	Jim Spivey	United States	USA	7 Mar 60
10	13.54.01	Cormac Finnerty	Ireland	IRL	14 Jan 70
11	14.00.25	Julian Paynter	Australia	AUS	15 Jul 70
12	14.28.64	Adalberto García	Brazil	BRA	31 Aug 67
13	14.30.53	Henry Moyo	Malawi	MAW	8 Oct 72
*5000 m*	Men	Heat 3	31 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	13.54.30	John Morapedi	South Africa	RSA	30 Nov 76
2	13.54.45	Paul Bitok	Kenya	KEN	26 Jun 70
3	13.54.53	Vénuste Niyongabo	Burundi	BDI	9 Dec 73
4	13.54.57	Bob Kennedy	United States	USA	18 Aug 70
5	13.54.72	Khalid Boulami	Morocco	MAR	7 Aug 69
6	13.54.88	Miroslav Vanko	Slovakia	SVK	14 Feb 73
7	13.54.89	Assefa Mezegebu	Ethiopia	ETH	19 Jun 78
8	13.55.41	Stefano Baldini	Italy	ITA	25 May 71
9	13.57.42	Manuel Pancorbo	Spain	ESP	7 Jul 66
10	14.06.34	Stéphane Franke	Germany	GER	12 Feb 64
11	14.08.87	Luís Jesús	Portugal	POR	19 Nov 68
12	14.15.21	Khamis Abdulla Saifeldin	Sudan	SUD	1 Dec 76
13	15.19.80	Hassan Abokar Adani	Somalia	SOM	30 Jun 68