# Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres

The men's 5000 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Monday, August 16, 1920, and on Tuesday, August 17, 1920. Thirty-eight runners from 16 nations competed.

## Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds. First four semifinals were held of 9 to 10 runners with the top four in each heat advancing. The final race was then held the next day with 16 competitors.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 14:36.6 | Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) | Stockholm (SWE) | July 10, 1912 |
| Olympic Record | 14:36.6 | Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) | Stockholm (SWE) | July 10, 1912 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Monday, 16 August 1920 | 10:00 | Round 1 |
| Tuesday, 17 August 1920 | 15:15 | Final |

## Results
### Semifinals

Semifinal 1
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Rudolf Falk (SWE) | 15:17.8 | Q |
| 2 | Herbert Irwin (GBR) | 15:17.8 | Q |
| 3 | Teodor Koskenniemi (FIN) | 15:22.0 | Q |
| 4 | Clifford Furnas (USA) | 15:23.0 | Q |
| 5 | Augusto Maccario (ITA) | 15:23.2 | |
| 6 | Alfred Gaschen (SUI) | 15:38.0 | |
| 7 | Jean-Baptiste Manhès (FRA) | 16:17.8 | |
| — | Pierre Trullemans (BEL) | DNF | |
| — | Panagiotis Retelas (GRE) | DNF | |
| — | Tommy Town (CAN) | DNF | |
Semifinal 2
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Joe Blewitt (GBR) | 15:19.8 | Q |
| 2 | Julien Van Campenhout (BEL) | 15:22.6 | Q |
| 3 | Hal Brown (USA) | 15:31.8 | Q |
| 4 | Nils Bergström (SWE) | 15:39.2 | Q |
| 5 | Lucien Duquesne (FRA) | 16:08.2 | |
| 6 | Juan Muguerza (ESP) | | |
| 7 | Konosuke Sano (JPN) | | |
| — | Artur Nielsen (DEN) | DNF | |
| — | Teodoro Pons (ESP) | DNF | |
| — | Carlo Martinenghi (ITA) | DNF | |
Semifinal 3
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Carlo Speroni (ITA) | 15:27.6 | Q |
| 2 | Paavo Nurmi (FIN) | 15:33.0 | Q |
| 3 | William Seagrove (GBR) | 15:53.6 | Q |
| 4 | Emanuel Lundström (SWE) | 16:04.2 | Q |
| 5 | Charles Hunter (USA) | | |
| 6 | Alexandros Kranis (GRE) | | |
| 7 | François Vyncke (BEL) | | |
| 8 | Karel Pacák (TCH) | | |
| 9 | Abdul Ali Maghoub (EGY) | | |
Semifinal 4
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Joseph Guillemot (FRA) | 15:33.0 | Q |
| 2 | Eric Backman (SWE) | 15:34.0 | Q |
| 3 | Ivan Dresser (USA) | 15:41.6 | Q |
| 4 | Alfred Nichols (GBR) | 15:54.0 | Q |
| 5 | Ilmari Vesamaa (FIN) | 15:54.4 | |
| 6 | Tomeichi Ohura (JPN) | | |
| 7 | Jón Jónsen (DEN) | | |
| 8 | Henri Smets (BEL) | | |
| 9 | Gerardus van der Wel (NED) | | |

### Final

| Place | Athlete | Time |
| | Joseph Guillemot (FRA) | 14:55.6 |
| | Paavo Nurmi (FIN) | 15:00.0 |
| | Eric Backman (SWE) | 15:13.0 |
| 4 | Teodor Koskenniemi (FIN) | 15:17.0 |
| 5 | Joe Blewitt (GBR) | 15:19.0 |
| 6 | William Seagrove (GBR) | 15:21.0 |
| 7 | Carlo Speroni (ITA) | 15:21.2 |
| 8 | Alfred Nichols (GBR) | 15:24.0 |
| 9 | Julien Van Campenhout (BEL) | 15:25.0 |
| 10 | Nils Bergström (SWE) | 15:29.5 |
| 11 | Rudolf Falk (SWE) | |
| 12 | Herbert Irwin (GBR) | |
| 13 | Emanuel Lundström (SWE) | |
| — | Clifford Furnas (USA) | DNF |
| — | Hal Brown (USA) | DNF |
| — | Ivan Dresser (USA) | DNF |