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| Event type

5,000 metres, Men

Date22 – 24 July 1952
StatusOlympic
LocationHelsingin Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Participants45 from 24 countries

The favorite was the 1948 silver medalist, Emil Zátopek. He had already won the 10K and was also the 1950 European Champion at this distance, having doubled at 5K/10K at that meet. The final was full of action with Zátopek setting the early pace but he four other runners stayed in contact with him until the final laps – Alain Mimoun (FRA/ALG), Herbert Schade (FRG), Gordon Pirie (GBR), and Chris Chataway (GBR). Pirie was broken at about 4,500 metres, with the other four reaching the bell lap together. Chataway then took the lead, followed by Schade and Mimoun. Zátopek made a furious rush on the final curve and took the lead back. Chataway was wasted and stepped on the curve coming to the home stretch and fell. He would get up and finish fifth, passed also by Pirie. Zátopek was not challenged on the straight, with Mimoun holding on for the silver medal ahead of Schade. Zátopek’s wife, Dana Zátopkova, won the women’s javelin gold medal later in the afternoon. Zátopek himself would return a few days later to win the marathon, completing an unmatched Olympic distance triple. Chataway is also well known as one of the two pacers (with Chris Brasher) who helped Roger Bannister break the 4-minute mile barrier in 1954. He would also set a world record in the 5,000 in 1954. Mimoun’s silver was the third time he had finished second to Zátopek in an Olympic distance final – 1948 10K, and both 1948 5 and 10K. He would return to win the marathon in 1956 at Melbourne.

PosNrAthleteNOCR1Final
1903Emil ZátopekTCH14:26.0 (3 h3)14:06.6 (1)GoldOR
2607Alain MimounFRA14:19.0 (1 h1)14:07.4 (2)Silver
3740Herbert SchadeGER14:15.4 (1 h2)14:08.6 (3)Bronze
4182Gordon PirieGBR14:26.2 (5 h1)14:18.0 (4)
5180Chris ChatawayGBR14:27.8 (5 h3)14:18.0 (5)
623Les PerryAUS14:27.0 (4 h3)14:23.6 (6)
7940Ernő BéresHUN14:19.6 (3 h2)14:24.8 (7)
8680Åke AnderssonSWE14:25.0 (4 h1)14:26.0 (8)
9679Bertil AlbertssonSWE14:26.0 (2 h3)14:27.8 (9)
10425Aleksandr AnufriyevURS14:23.6 (1 h3)14:31.4 (10)
11181Alan ParkerGBR14:18.2 (2 h2)14:37.0 (11)
12786Ilmari TaipaleFIN14:22.8 (2 h1)14:40.0 (12)
13784Eero TuomaalaFIN14:26.8 (5 h2)14:54.2 (13)
1445Lucien TheysBEL14:22.2 (4 h2)14:59.0 (14)
AC r2/243Gaston ReiffBEL14:23.8 (3 h1)– (DNF)
6 h1 r1/2426Nikifor PopovURS14:28.5 (6 h1)
6 h2 r1/2427Ivan SemyonovURS14:28.8 (6 h2)
6 h3 r1/2872Ib PlanckDEN14:31.6 (6 h3)
7 h1 r1/2996Charlie CapozzoliUSA14:39.0 (7 h1)
7 h2 r1/2570Alojzy GrajPOL14:30.0 (7 h2)
7 h3 r1/2506Martin StokkenNOR14:39.0 (7 h3)
8 h1 r1/2851August SutterSUI14:45.2 (8 h1)
8 h2 r1/2920Osman CoşgülTUR14:36.2 (8 h2)
8 h3 r1/2994Curt StoneUSA14:42.8 (8 h3)
9 h1 r1/2505Øistein SaksvikNOR14:55.4 (9 h1)
9 h2 r1/2678Bertil KarlssonSWE14:45.8 (9 h2)
9 h3 r1/2608Jean SchlegelFRA14:45.6 (9 h3)
10 h1 r1/221John LandyAUS14:56.4 (10 h1)
10 h2 r1/2850Pierre PageSUI14:57.0 (10 h2)
10 h3 r1/2278Kurt RötzerAUT14:49.4 (10 h3)
11 h1 r1/2277Helmut PerzAUT14:57.2 (11 h1)
11 h2 r1/2145Ali BaghbanbashiIRI15:03.0 (11 h2)
11 h3 r1/2785Väinö KoskelaFIN14:50.8 (11 h3)
12 h1 r1/2306Osamu InoueJPN14:59.0 (12 h1)
12 h2 r1/2609Ben Ahmed AbdelkrimFRA15:10.2 (12 h2)
12 h3 r1/2321Velimir IlićYUG14:51.6 (12 h3)
13 h1 r1/2323Stevan PavlovićYUG14:59.2 (13 h1)
13 h2 r1/2995Wes SanteeUSA15:10.4 (13 h2)
13 h3 r1/2402Paul FriedenLUX15:23.2 (13 h3)
14 h1 r1/2941József KovácsHUN17:09.2 (14 h1)
14 h2 r1/2322Zdravko CerajYUG15:17.8 (14 h2)
14 h3 r1/2158Kristján JóhannssonISL15:23.8 (14 h3)
15 h3 r1/244Alphonse VandenrydtBEL15:51.2 (15 h3)
AC h2 r1/2353Rich FergusonCAN– (DNF h2)
AC h3 r1/2969George HoskinsNZL– (DNF h3)
DNS571Jan SzwargotPOL– (DNS h1)
DNS902Milan ŠvajgrTCH– (DNS h1)
DNS99José CollESP– (DNS h2)
DNS98Antonio AmorósESP– (DNS h3)
DNS76Raúl InostrozaCHI– (DNS h1)
DNS377Vasilis MavrapostolosGRE– (DNS h2)
DNS128Wim SlijkhuisNED– (DNS h2)

Round One (22 July 1952 — 17:10)

Top five in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1607Alain MimounFRA14:19.014:19.15Q
2786Ilmari TaipaleFIN14:22.814:22.83Q
343Gaston ReiffBEL14:23.814:23.92Q
4680Åke AnderssonSWE14:25.014:25.09Q
5182Gordon PirieGBR14:26.214:26.47Q
6426Nikifor PopovURS14:28.514:28.84
7996Charlie CapozzoliUSA14:39.0
8851August SutterSUI14:45.2
9505Øistein SaksvikNOR14:55.4
1021John LandyAUS14:56.4
11277Helmut PerzAUT14:57.2
12306Osamu InoueJPN14:59.0
13323Stevan PavlovićYUG14:59.2
14941József KovácsHUN17:09.2
DNS571Jan SzwargotPOL
DNS902Milan ŠvajgrTCH
DNS76Raúl InostrozaCHI

Splits

1000 m2:46.4Gordon Pirie
1500 m4:14.0Gordon Pirie
2000 m5:41.2Gordon Pirie
3000 m8:36.4Gordon Pirie
4000 m11:33.0Gordon Pirie

Heat Two

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1740Herbert SchadeGER14:15.414:15.44QOR
2181Alan ParkerGBR14:18.214:18.47Q
3940Ernő BéresHUN14:19.614:19.66Q
445Lucien TheysBEL14:22.214:21.62Q
5784Eero TuomaalaFIN14:26.8Q
6427Ivan SemyonovURS14:28.8
7570Alojzy GrajPOL14:30.0
8920Osman CoşgülTUR14:36.2
9678Bertil KarlssonSWE14:45.8
10850Pierre PageSUI14:57.0
11145Ali BaghbanbashiIRI15:03.0
12609Ben Ahmed AbdelkrimFRA15:10.2
13995Wes SanteeUSA15:10.4
14322Zdravko CerajYUG15:17.8
DNF353Rich FergusonCAN
DNS99José CollESP
DNS377Vasilis MavrapostolosGRE
DNS128Wim SlijkhuisNED

Splits

1000 m2:43.0Herbert Schade
1500 m4:06.6Herbert Schade
2000 m5:33.6Herbert Schade
3000 m8:28.4Herbert Schade
4000 m11:25.2Herbert Schade

Heat Three

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1425Aleksandr AnufriyevURS14:23.614:23.83Q
2679Bertil AlbertssonSWE14:26.014:25.80Q
3903Emil ZátopekTCH14:26.014:25.81Q
423Les PerryAUS14:27.014:27.18Q
5180Chris ChatawayGBR14:27.814:27.35Q
6872Ib PlanckDEN14:31.614:31.66
7506Martin StokkenNOR14:39.0
8994Curt StoneUSA14:42.8
9608Jean SchlegelFRA14:45.6
10278Kurt RötzerAUT14:49.4
11785Väinö KoskelaFIN14:50.8
12321Velimir IlićYUG14:51.6
13402Paul FriedenLUX15:23.2
14158Kristján JóhannssonISL15:23.8
1544Alphonse VandenrydtBEL15:51.2
DNF969George HoskinsNZL
DNS98Antonio AmorósESP

Splits

1000 m2:48.2Aleksandr Anufriyev
1500 m4:16.8Aleksandr Anufriyev
2000 m5:45.5Aleksandr Anufriyev
3000 m8:38.8Emil Zátopek
4000 m11:33.2Emil Zátopek

Final (24 July 1952 — 16:40)

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1903Emil ZátopekTCH14:06.614:06.72OR
2607Alain MimounFRA14:07.414:07.58
3740Herbert SchadeGER14:08.614:08.80
4182Gordon PirieGBR14:18.014:18.31
5180Chris ChatawayGBR14:18.014:18.38
623Les PerryAUS14:23.614:23.16
7940Ernő BéresHUN14:24.8
8680Åke AnderssonSWE14:26.0
9679Bertil AlbertssonSWE14:27.8
10425Aleksandr AnufriyevURS14:31.4
11181Alan ParkerGBR14:37.0
12786Ilmari TaipaleFIN14:40.0
13784Eero TuomaalaFIN14:54.2
1445Lucien TheysBEL14:59.0
DNF43Gaston ReiffBEL

Splits

1000 m2:47.0Herbert Schade
1500 m4:12.0Herbert Schade
2000 m5:37.4Herbert Schade
3000 m8:30.4Herbert Schade
4000 m11:24.8Herbert Schade