| | Event type

5,000 metres, Women

Date	22 – 25 September 2000
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympic Stadium, Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales
Participants	49 from 32 countries

Gabriela Szabo (ROM) was the heavy favorite, having won the 1997 and 1999 World Championships, and most major invitationals in the past year. She only lost once at 5,000 since the 1996 Olympics, that coming in the 1998 European Championship when Sonia O’Sullivan (IRL) won that title, until two weeks before the Sydney Olympics. In early September she had been defeated by Leah Malot of Kenya, but she did not make the Kenyan Olympic team. In the final, the Ethiopians Gete Wami and Ayelech Worku set the early pace, with their third teammates, Werknesh Kidane, took the lead at 4K. But in the penultimate lap, Szabo made her move and took the lead, and O’Sullivan moved to her shoulder. For the last 600 metres, it was a battle between these two as Szabo kept holding off O’Sullivan, finally getting a bit of daylight less than 30 metres from the line.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	Final
1	2832	Gabriela Szabo	ROU	15:08.36 (1 h3)	14:40.79 (1)	Gold	OR
2	2155	Sonia O'Sullivan	IRL	15:07.91 (1 h1)	14:41.02 (2)	Silver
3	1676	Gete Wami	ETH	15:08.92 (3 h1)	14:42.23 (3)	Bronze
4	1677	Ayelech Worku	ETH	15:13.26 (2 h2)	14:42.67 (4)
5	1915	Irina Mikitenko	GER	15:14.76 (4 h2)	14:43.59 (5)
6	2398	Lydia Cheromei	KEN	15:09.32 (4 h1)	14:47.35 (6)
7	1671	Werknesh Kidane	ETH	15:08.62 (2 h3)	14:47.40 (7)
8	2985	Olga Yegorova	RUS	15:14.34 (3 h2)	14:50.31 (8)
9	2459	Jeļena Prokopčuka	LAT	15:09.45 (4 h3)	14:55.46 (9)
10	1296	Daniela Yordanova	BUL	15:10.08 (5 h1)	14:56.95 (10)
11	2399	Rose Cheruiyot	KEN	15:13.18 (1 h2)	14:58.07 (11)
12	1841	Jo Pavey	GBR	15:08.82 (2 h1)	14:58.27 (12)
13	2980	Tatyana Tomashova	RUS	15:08.92 (3 h3)	15:01.28 (13)
14	2400	Vivian Cheruiyot	KEN	15:11.11 (5 h3)	15:33.66 (14)
AC r2/2	3441	Olivera Jevtić	SCG	15:11.25 (6 h3)	– (DNF)
5 h2 r1/2	1155	Susanne Pumper	AUT	15:16.66 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r1/2	1142	Benita Willis	AUS	15:21.37 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r1/2	2227	Roberta Brunet	ITA	15:27.32 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r1/2	3345	Elva Dryer	USA	15:23.99 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r1/2	3374	Amy Rudolph	USA	15:28.91 (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r1/2	2331	Yoshiko Ichikawa	JPN	15:23.41 (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r1/2	2157	Rosemary Ryan	IRL	15:33.05 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r1/2	3449	Sonja Stolić	SCG	15:38.96 (8 h2)	–
8 h3 r1/2	1642	Beatriz Santiago	ESP	15:31.94 (8 h3)	–
9 h1 r1/2	2576	Nora Rocha	MEX	15:38.72 (9 h1)	–
9 h2 r1/2	2339	Megumi Tanaka	JPN	15:39.83 (9 h2)	–
9 h3 r1/2	1131	Kate Richardson	AUS	15:45.34 (9 h3)	–
10 h1 r1/2	2336	Michiko Shimizu	JPN	15:48.20 (10 h1)	–
10 h2 r1/2	1622	Marta Domínguez	ESP	15:45.07 (10 h2)	–
10 h3 r1/2	2493	Inga Juodeškienė	LTU	15:46.37 (10 h3)	–
11 h1 r1/2	2577	Dulce María Rodríguez	MEX	15:54.17 (11 h1)	–
11 h2 r1/2	1993	Chrysostomia Iakovou	GRE	15:46.48 (11 h2)	–
11 h3 r1/2	3360	Anne Marie Lauck	USA	15:47.78 (11 h3)	–
12 h1 r1/2	1751	Yamna Belkacem	FRA	16:08.49 (12 h1)	–
12 h2 r1/2	3460	Samukeliso Moyo	ZIM	15:47.76 (12 h2)	–
12 h3 r1/2	3184	Ebru Kavaklioğlu	TUR	15:49.15 (12 h3)	–
13 h1 r1/2	3034	Helena Javornik	SLO	16:09.60 (13 h1)	–
13 h2 r1/2	2534	Zhor El-Kamch	MAR	16:02.50 (13 h2)	–
13 h3 r1/2	2148	Breda Dennehy-Willis	IRL	15:49.58 (13 h3)	–
14 h1 r1/2	1040	Elisa Cobañea	ARG	16:16.58 (14 h1)	–
14 h2 r1/2	1105	Anne Cross	AUS	16:07.18 (14 h2)	–
14 h3 r1/2	1201	Diane Nukuri	BDI	16:38.30 (14 h3)	–
15 h1 r1/2	1560	Nebiat Habtemariam	ERI	16:30.41 (15 h1)	–
15 h2 r1/2	1847	Andrea Whitcombe	GBR	16:15.82 (15 h2)	–
15 h3 r1/2	2541	Catherine Chikwakwa	MAW	16:39.82 (15 h3)	–
16 h1 r1/2	2162	Maysa Hussain Matrood	IRQ	17:17.58 (16 h1)	–
16 h2 r1/2	2037	Maggie Chan	HKG	16:20.43 (16 h2)	–
16 h3 r1/2	3116	Priscilla Mamba	SWZ	17:30.04 (16 h3)	–
17 h3 r1/2	2580	Baatarkhüügiin Battsetseg	MGL	18:22.98 (17 h3)	–
DNS	3122	Restituta Joseph	TAN	– (DNS h1)	–

Round One (22 September 2000)

Top four in each heat and next three fastest advanced to the final.

Heat One (18:00)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	12	Sonia O'Sullivan	IRL	15:07.91	Q
2	6	Jo Pavey	GBR	15:08.82	Q
3	2	Gete Wami	ETH	15:08.92	Q
4	8	Lydia Cheromei	KEN	15:09.32	Q
5	3	Daniela Yordanova	BUL	15:10.08	q
6	13	Benita Willis	AUS	15:21.37
7	9	Elva Dryer	USA	15:23.99
8	17	Rosemary Ryan	IRL	15:33.05
9	5	Nora Rocha	MEX	15:38.72
10	16	Michiko Shimizu	JPN	15:48.20
11	15	Dulce María Rodríguez	MEX	15:54.17
12	11	Yamna Belkacem	FRA	16:08.49
13	7	Helena Javornik	SLO	16:09.60
14	14	Elisa Cobañea	ARG	16:16.58
15	4	Nebiat Habtemariam	ERI	16:30.41
16	1	Maysa Hussain Matrood	IRQ	17:17.58
DNS	10	Restituta Joseph	TAN	–

Heat Two (18:25)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	7	Rose Cheruiyot	KEN	15:13.18	Q
2	4	Ayelech Worku	ETH	15:13.26	Q
3	10	Olga Yegorova	RUS	15:14.34	Q
4	5	Irina Mikitenko	GER	15:14.76	Q
5	2	Susanne Pumper	AUT	15:16.66
6	16	Roberta Brunet	ITA	15:27.32
7	12	Amy Rudolph	USA	15:28.91
8	13	Sonja Stolić	SCG	15:38.96
9	15	Megumi Tanaka	JPN	15:39.83
10	3	Marta Domínguez	ESP	15:45.07
11	6	Chrysostomia Iakovou	GRE	15:46.48
12	14	Samukeliso Moyo	ZIM	15:47.76
13	8	Zhor El-Kamch	MAR	16:02.50
14	1	Anne Cross	AUS	16:07.18
15	9	Andrea Whitcombe	GBR	16:15.82
16	11	Maggie Chan	HKG	16:20.43

Heat Three (18:50)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	14	Gabriela Szabo	ROU	15:08.36	Q
2	4	Werknesh Kidane	ETH	15:08.62	Q
3	15	Tatyana Tomashova	RUS	15:08.92	Q
4	11	Jeļena Prokopčuka	LAT	15:09.45	Q
5	9	Vivian Cheruiyot	KEN	15:11.11	q
6	17	Olivera Jevtić	SCG	15:11.25	q
7	10	Yoshiko Ichikawa	JPN	15:23.41
8	3	Beatriz Santiago	ESP	15:31.94
9	1	Kate Richardson	AUS	15:45.34
10	12	Inga Juodeškienė	LTU	15:46.37
11	6	Anne Marie Lauck	USA	15:47.78
12	16	Ebru Kavaklioğlu	TUR	15:49.15
13	8	Breda Dennehy-Willis	IRL	15:49.58
14	2	Diane Nukuri	BDI	16:38.30
15	5	Catherine Chikwakwa	MAW	16:39.82
16	7	Priscilla Mamba	SWZ	17:30.04
17	13	Baatarkhüügiin Battsetseg	MGL	18:22.98

Final (25 September 2000 — 20:55)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	10	Gabriela Szabo	ROU	14:40.79	OR
2	7	Sonia O'Sullivan	IRL	14:41.02
3	11	Gete Wami	ETH	14:42.23
4	14	Ayelech Worku	ETH	14:42.67
5	1	Irina Mikitenko	GER	14:43.59
6	15	Lydia Cheromei	KEN	14:47.35
7	2	Werknesh Kidane	ETH	14:47.40
8	12	Olga Yegorova	RUS	14:50.31
9	6	Jeļena Prokopčuka	LAT	14:55.46
10	5	Daniela Yordanova	BUL	14:56.95
11	13	Rose Cheruiyot	KEN	14:58.07
12	3	Jo Pavey	GBR	14:58.27
13	4	Tatyana Tomashova	RUS	15:01.28
14	8	Vivian Cheruiyot	KEN	15:33.66
DNF	9	Olivera Jevtić	SCG	–

Splits

1000 m	3:03.84	Gabriela Szabo
2000 m	5:57.33	Gete Wami
3000 m	8:58.33	Gete Wami
4000 m	11:53.60	Werknesh Kidane