| | Event type

5,000 metres, Men

Date	9 – 10 July 1912
Status	Olympic
Location	Stockholms Olympiastadion, Stockholm
Participants	31 from 11 countries

The 5,000 metre individual race was held at the Olympics for the first time. A team event over this distance had been contested in 1900. The distance was rarely run internationally, and neither America nor Britain had contested a 5,000 metre or 3-mile championship as of 1912.

Finland’s Hannes Kolehmainen had won the 10,000 metres the day before the first round of this event but he was not pressed in winning heat four to advance to the final. In the final, Kolehmainen and France’s Jean Bouin quickly pulled away from the field. For the remainder of the race, until the final straight, Bouin led with Kolehmainen on his heels. Finally, after repeated attempts to pass Bouin, Kolehmainen pulled ahead only 20 metres from the finish. The two leaders shattered the previous world record, as nobody had previously broken 15 minutes for the distance.

In September 1914, both Bouin and the bronze medalist, Britain’s George Hutson were killed in World War I.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	Hannes Kolehmainen	FIN	15:38.9 (1 h4)	14:36.6 (1)	Gold	WR
2	–	Jean Bouin	FRA	15:05.0 (1 h5)	14:36.7 (2)	Silver
3	–	George Hutson	GBR	15:29.0 (3 h2)	15:07.6 (3)	Bronze
4	–	George Bonhag	USA	15:22.6 (1 h1)	15:09.8est (4)
5	–	Tell Berna	USA	15:53.3 (3 h4)	15:10.0est (5)
6	–	Alex Decouteau	CAN	15:24.2 (2 h1)	– (6)
7	–	Mauritz Carlsson	SWE	15:34.6 (1 h3)	15:18.6 (7)
AC	–	Joe Keeper	CAN	15:28.9 (2 h2)	– (AC)
AC	–	Cyril Porter	GBR	16:23.4 (3 h3)	– (AC)
AC	–	Louis Scott	USA	15:23.5 (1 h2)	– (AC)
2 h3 r1/2	–	Ernest Glover	GBR	16:09.1 (2 h3)	– (DNS)
2 h4 r1/2	–	Henrik Nordström	SWE	15:49.1 (2 h4)	– (DNS)
2 h5 r1/2	–	Thorild Olsson	SWE	15:25.2 (2 h5)	– (DNS)
3 h1 r1/2	–	Frederick Hibbins	GBR	15:27.6 (3 h1)	– (DNS)
3 h5 r1/2	–	Viljam Johansson	FIN	15:31.4 (3 h5)	– (DNS)
4 h1 r1/2	–	George Hill	ANZ	15:56.8 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r1/2	–	Bror Modigh	SWE	16:07.1 (4 h2)	–
4 h3 r1/2	–	Mikhail Nikolsky	RUS	17:21.7 (4 h3)	–
4 h4 r1/2	–	George Lee	GBR	– (4 h4)	–
AC h1 r1/2	–	Klas Lundström	SWE	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h2 r1/2	–	Charles Ruffell	GBR	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	–	Martin Persson	SWE	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	–	Eddie Fitzgerald	USA	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h3 r1/2	–	Aarne Lindholm	FIN	– (DNF h3)	–
AC h3 r1/2	–	Garnett Wikoff	USA	– (DNF h3)	–
AC h4 r1/2	–	Gregor Vietz	GER	– (DNF h4)	–
AC h5 r1/2	–	Alfonso Sánchez	CHI	– (DNF h5)	–
AC h5 r1/2	–	Gaston Heuet	FRA	– (DNF h5)	–
AC h5 r1/2	–	Arthur Treble	GBR	– (DNF h5)	–
AC h5 r1/2	–	Alfonso Orlando	ITA	– (DNF h5)	–
AC h5 r1/2	–	Wallace McCurdy	USA	– (DNF h5)	–
DNS	–	Mihály Váradi	HUN	–	–
DNS	–	Marcel Radigue	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Guglielmo Becattini	ITA	–	–
DNS	–	Pyotr Timofeyev	RUS	–	–
DNS	–	Lucien Fremont	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Jean-Marie Roche	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Pierre Lalaimode	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Iosif Zaytsev	RUS	–	–
DNS	–	Marcel Dudant	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Fred McNair	USA	–	–
DNS	–	Frank O'Neill	GBR	–	–
DNS	–	Filip Löwendahl	SWE	–	–
DNS	–	Grigory Voronkov	RUS	–	–
DNS	–	Sándor Kertész	HUN	–	–
DNS	–	Georges Dumonteil	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Anton Nilsson	SWE	–	–
DNS	–	Karl Hack	AUT	–	–
DNS	–	Felix Kwieton	AUT	–	–
DNS	–	Jack Tait	CAN	–	–
DNS	–	Efraim Harju	FIN	–	–
DNS	–	Henri Arnaud	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Alexandre Fayollat	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Gustave Lauvaux	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Paul Lizandier	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Billy Cottrill	GBR	–	–
DNS	–	Eddie Owen	GBR	–	–
DNS	–	William Scott	GBR	–	–
DNS	–	George Wallach	GBR	–	–
DNS	–	Iraklis Sakellaropoulos	GRE	–	–
DNS	–	Ferenc Forgács	HUN	–	–
DNS	–	Ödön Kárpáti	HUN	–	–
DNS	–	Antal Lovas	HUN	–	–
DNS	–	Carlo Speroni	ITA	–	–
DNS	–	Chris Gitsham	RSA	–	–
DNS	–	Len Richardson	RSA	–	–
DNS	–	John Victor	RSA	–	–
DNS	–	Nikolay Khorkov	RUS	–	–
DNS	–	John Eke	SWE	–	–
DNS	–	Bror Fock	SWE	–	–
DNS	–	Nils Frykberg	SWE	–	–
DNS	–	Albert Öberg	SWE	–	–
DNS	–	Vahram Papazyan	TUR	–	–
DNS	–	Lewis Anderson	USA	–	–
DNS	–	William Kramer	USA	–	–
DNS	–	Louis Madeira	USA	–	–
DNS	–	Harry Smith	USA	–	–
DNS	–	Norm Taber	USA	–	–

Round One (9 July 1912)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One (9:30)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	–	George Bonhag	USA	15:22.6	Q
2	–	Alex Decouteau	CAN	15:24.2	Q
3	–	Frederick Hibbins	GBR	15:27.6	Q
4	–	George Hill	ANZ	15:56.8
DNF	–	Klas Lundström	SWE	–

Heat Two (ca. 10:00)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	–	Louis Scott	USA	15:23.5	Q
2	–	Joe Keeper	CAN	15:28.9	Q
3	–	George Hutson	GBR	15:29.0	Q
4	–	Bror Modigh	SWE	16:07.1
DNF	–	Martin Persson	SWE	–
DNF	–	Charles Ruffell	GBR	–
DNF	–	Eddie Fitzgerald	USA	–

Heat Three (ca. 10:30)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	–	Mauritz Carlsson	SWE	15:34.6	Q
2	–	Ernest Glover	GBR	16:09.1	Q
3	–	Cyril Porter	GBR	16:23.4	Q
4	–	Mikhail Nikolsky	RUS	17:21.7
DNF	–	Garnett Wikoff	USA	–
DNF	–	Aarne Lindholm	FIN	–

Heat Four (ca. 16:45)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	–	Hannes Kolehmainen	FIN	15:38.9	Q
2	–	Henrik Nordström	SWE	15:49.1	Q
3	–	Tell Berna	USA	15:53.3	Q
4	–	George Lee	GBR	–
DNF	–	Gregor Vietz	GER	–

Heat Five (ca. 16:45)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	–	Jean Bouin	FRA	15:05.0	QOR
2	–	Thorild Olsson	SWE	15:25.2	Q
3	–	Viljam Johansson	FIN	15:31.4	Q
DNF	–	Alfonso Orlando	ITA	–
DNF	–	Alfonso Sánchez	CHI	–
DNF	–	Arthur Treble	GBR	–
DNF	–	Gaston Heuet	FRA	–
DNF	–	Wallace McCurdy	USA	–

Final (10 July 1912 — 14:00)

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time
1	–	Hannes Kolehmainen	FIN	14:36.6	WR
2	–	Jean Bouin	FRA	14:36.7
3	–	George Hutson	GBR	15:07.6
4	–	George Bonhag	USA	15:09.8est
5	–	Tell Berna	USA	15:10.0est
6	–	Alex Decouteau	CAN	–
7	–	Mauritz Carlsson	SWE	15:18.6
AC	–	Louis Scott	USA	–
AC	–	Joe Keeper	CAN	–
AC	–	Cyril Porter	GBR	–
DNS	–	Frederick Hibbins	GBR	–		1
DNS	–	Ernest Glover	GBR	–
DNS	–	Henrik Nordström	SWE	–
DNS	–	Thorild Olsson	SWE	–
DNS	–	Viljam Johansson	FIN	–

Splits

1500 m	4:17	Hannes Kolehmainen
2000 m	5:47	Hannes Kolehmainen
2500 m	7:17	Hannes Kolehmainen
3000 m	8:46	Hannes Kolehmainen
3 mile	14:07.2	Hannes Kolehmainen