(Note from a prior post that the 5000M was not added to the women’s Olympic program until 1996 and they started ratifying women’s world records in 1981.)
The early days of the ratified men’s 5000M were dominated by Finland. In his book The Five and Ten Men, Richard Amery acknowledges the unlikelihood of distance running prowess emerging from Finland but the results are the proof. In the six Olympic games from 1912-1936, Finnish men won ten of the eighteen medals in the 5000, including five golds. Swedish runners nabbed four of the others so there was something good in the Scandinavian water those days.
In the six Olympic games after 1936 (no games were held in 1940 or 1944) runners from twelve unique countries earned medals at the distance, compared to the five from 1912-1936. Finland enjoyed more success in the 1970s when Lasse Viren won gold at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and Kaarlo Maaninka earned bronze at the 1980s games. It wasn’t until later in the 20th century that African domination of distance running emerged.
From 1912 until late 1942, only Finnish runners held the world record at the 5000M and Viren held it for five days in 1972. An African-born runner has held the men’s world record at the 5000M since 1985 and on the women’s side, since 2006. The last time a runner who was not African-born earned a medal in the 5000M at the Olympics was in 1992 for the men and 2000 for women.
In the time periods between Finnish and African domination, it’s interesting to note that a wide variety of countries had athletes who set world records and earned Olympic medals; there was no country or region in that timeframe that could claim the top of the podium in terms of overall success.
Sources used:
Amery, Richard. The Five and Ten Men. Distancedreaming, 2019.
5000 metres – Wikipedia
5000 metres world record progression – Wikipedia
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