# Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 10,000 metres

The women's 10,000 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics were held as part of the athletics program at the Athens Olympic Stadium on August 27. No preliminary rounds were held at this distance, since the number of competitors allowed a direct final.
Like Fernanda Ribeiro at the 2000 Summer Olympics, defending champion Derartu Tulu was not able to maintain her title, finishing in the third place behind compatriot (and cousin) Ejegayehu Dibaba and the winner Xing Huina. In Athens, Ribeiro did not finish the race due to fatigue, along with British marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe. Throughout the race, Xing marked the Ethiopian favorites, not taking the lead until the home stretch with a final kick Dibabba could not match. Xing's final lap was just under 63 seconds.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows.
| World record | Wang Junxia (CHN) | 29:31.78 | Beijing, China | 8 September 1993 |
| Olympic record | Derartu Tulu (ETH) | 30:17.49 | Sydney, Australia | 30 September 2000 |
| World Leading | Paula Radcliffe (GBR) | 30:17.15 | Gateshead, United Kingdom | 27 June 2004 |
No new records were set during the competition.

## Qualification

The qualification period for athletics was 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. For the women's 5000 metres, each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had run the race in 31:45.00 or faster during the qualification period. If an NOC had no athletes that qualified under that standard, one athlete that had run the race in 32:17.00 or faster could be entered.

## Schedule

All times are Greece Standard Time (UTC+2)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 27 August 2004 | 21:50 | Final |

## Results

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Xing Huina | China | 30:24.36 | PB |
| | Ejegayehu Dibaba | Ethiopia | 30:24.98 | PB |
| | Derartu Tulu | Ethiopia | 30:26.42 | SB |
| 4 | Werknesh Kidane | Ethiopia | 30:28.30 | |
| 5 | Lornah Kiplagat | Netherlands | 30:31.92 | |
| 6 | Sun Yingjie | China | 30:54.37 | SB |
| 7 | Jeļena Prokopčuka | Latvia | 31:04.10 | NR |
| 8 | Lidiya Grigoryeva | Russia | 31:04.62 | |
| 9 | Lucy Wangui | Kenya | 31:05.90 | PB |
| 10 | Helena Javornik | Slovenia | 31:06.63 | NR |
| 11 | Mihaela Botezan | Romania | 31:11.24 | NR |
| 12 | Kathy Butler | Great Britain | 31:41.13 | |
| 13 | Megumi Oshima | Japan | 31:42.18 | |
| 14 | Marie Davenport | Ireland | 31:50.49 | |
| 15 | Sabrina Mockenhaupt | Germany | 32:00.85 | |
| 16 | Alice Timbilil | Kenya | 32:12.57 | |
| 17 | Sally Barsosio | Kenya | 32:14.00 | |
| 18 | Harumi Hiroyama | Japan | 32:15.12 | |
| 19 | Elva Dryer | United States | 32:18.16 | |
| 20 | Anikó Kálovics | Hungary | 32:21.47 | |
| 21 | Kate O'Neill | United States | 32:24.04 | |
| 22 | Galina Bogomolova | Russia | 32:25.10 | |
| 23 | Adriana Fernández | Mexico | 32:29.57 | |
| 24 | Benita Johnson | Australia | 32:32.01 | |
| 25 | Haley McGregor | Australia | 33:35.27 | |
| 26 | Kayoko Fukushi | Japan | 33:48.66 | |
| 27 | Natalia Cercheș | Moldova | 34:04.97 | |
| | Souad Aït Salem | Algeria | DNF | |
| | Natalya Berkut | Ukraine | DNF | |
| | Paula Radcliffe | Great Britain | DNF | |
| | Fernanda Ribeiro | Portugal | DNF | |