# Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres

These are the official results of the men's 5000 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The event took place between 31 July and 3 August.

## Medalists

| Gold | Vénuste Niyongabo Burundi |
| Silver | Paul Bitok Kenya |
| Bronze | Khalid Boulami Morocco |

## Summary

After a diverse semi-final round where one heat ran a modes 14 minute strategic race and the other ran over thirty seconds faster, some athletes had an easier time of qualifying for the final.
At the gun, the entire Moroccan team went to the front, but then controlled the pace. After a lap at the back of the pack, Kenyan Tom Nyariki ran around the field to take the lead. German Dieter Baumann hung on his shoulder as it looked like an early attempt to steal the race with a quick breakaway. Several others in the field scrambled forward while Nyariki, shadowed by his teammate Shem Kororia pushed the pace, exchanging the lead position and stringing out the field into single file. American Bob Kennedy marked this action hovering around second place. With four laps to go, after an exchange of Kenyan leaders, Burundi's Vénuste Niyongabo moved into second place, squeezing back Kennedy into third. Over the next lap, Nyariki and Moroccan Brahim Lahlafi got past Kennedy. Just before two laps to go, Kennedy ran around the group and into the lead. Kennedy led for the first 300 metres of the penultimate lap before Niyongabo passed him coming off the turn, followed by the designated kickers who had protected their interests at the back of the pack; Paul Bitok (Kenya), Khalid Boulami (Morocco) and Baumann. But as one of the fastest 1500 meter runners in the world at the time, Niyongabo had the position and more speed, opening up a 5-metre gap on Boulami. At the beginning of the final turn, Bitok got around Boulami and everybody sprinted for home. Nobody was able to make any progress except that Niyongabo slowed on the final straight to celebrate Burundi's first gold medal.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 12:44.39 | Haile Gebrselassie | Zürich (SUI) | August 16, 1995 |
| Olympic Record | 13:05.59 | Saïd Aouita | Los Angeles (USA) | August 11, 1984 |

## Results
### Heats

Qualification: First 8 in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) qualified to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Fita Bayisa | Ethiopia | 13:50.61 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Brahim Lahlafi | Morocco | 13:51.25 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Tom Nyariki | Kenya | 13:51.47 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Enrique Molina | Spain | 13:51.55 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Aïssa Belaout | Algeria | 13:51.96 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Dieter Baumann | Germany | 13:52.00 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | John Nuttall | Great Britain | 13:52.16 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Jonathan Wyatt | New Zealand | 13:52.56 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | Jim Spivey | United States | 13:53.16 | q |
| 10 | 2 | Cormac Finnerty | Ireland | 13:54.01 | q |
| 11 | 3 | John Morapedi | South Africa | 13:54.30 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | Paul Bitok | Kenya | 13:54.45 | Q |
| 13 | 3 | Vénuste Niyongabo | Burundi | 13:54.53 | Q |
| 14 | 3 | Bob Kennedy | United States | 13:54.57 | Q |
| 15 | 3 | Khalid Boulami | Morocco | 13:54.72 | Q |
| 16 | 3 | Miroslav Vanko | Slovakia | 13:54.88 | Q |
| 17 | 3 | Assefa Mezgebu | Ethiopia | 13:54.89 | Q |
| 18 | 3 | Stefano Baldini | Italy | 13:55.41 | Q |
| 19 | 3 | Manuel Pancorbo | Spain | 13:57.42 | q |
| 20 | 2 | Julian Paynter | Australia | 14:00.25 | q |
| 21 | 1 | Ismaïl Sghyr | Morocco | 14:02.71 | Q |
| 22 | 1 | Shem Kororia | Kenya | 14:02.75 | Q |
| 23 | 1 | Réda Benzine | Algeria | 14:03.06 | Q |
| 24 | 1 | Gennaro Di Napoli | Italy | 14:03.56 | Q |
| 25 | 1 | Shaun Creighton | Australia | 14:04.08 | Q |
| 26 | 1 | Shadrack Hoff | South Africa | 14:05.97 | Q |
| 27 | 3 | Stéphane Franke | Germany | 14:06.34 | q |
| 28 | 3 | Luís Jesus | Portugal | 14:08.87 | q |
| 29 | 3 | Khmees Abdalla Seif Eldin | Sudan | 14:15.21 | |
| 30 | 1 | Anacleto Jiménez | Spain | 14:16.57 | Q |
| 31 | 1 | José Ramos | Portugal | 14:17.26 | Q |
| 32 | 2 | Adalberto García | Brazil | 14:28.64 | |
| 33 | 2 | Henry Moyo | Malawi | 14:30.53 | |
| 34 | 1 | Matt Giusto | United States | 14:30.76 | |
| 35 | 1 | William Roldán | Colombia | 14:39.50 | |
| 36 | 3 | Aboukar Hassan Adani | Somalia | 15:19.80 | |
| 37 | 1 | Sid'Ahmed Ould Mohamedou | Mauritania | 15:29.16 | |
| | 1 | Haile Gebrselassie | Ethiopia | DNS | |
| | 1 | Armando Quintanilla | Mexico | DNS | |
| | 2 | Aloÿs Nizigama | Burundi | DNS | |
| | 3 | Alyan Al-Qahtani | Saudi Arabia | DNS | |

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 6 in each heat (Q) and the next 3 fastest (q) qualified to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Shem Kororia | Kenya | 13:27.50 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Paul Bitok | Kenya | 13:27.61 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Brahim Lahlafi | Morocco | 13:27.73 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Bob Kennedy | United States | 13:27.90 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Gennaro Di Napoli | Italy | 13:28.80 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Khalid Boulami | Morocco | 13:29.72 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Fita Bayisa | Ethiopia | 13:30.88 | q |
| 8 | 1 | Réda Benzine | Algeria | 13:37.52 | q |
| 9 | 1 | Stéphane Franke | Germany | 13:40.94 | q |
| 10 | 1 | Jonathan Wyatt | New Zealand | 13:47.81 | |
| 11 | 1 | Anacleto Jiménez | Spain | 13:50.90 | |
| 12 | 1 | Miroslav Vanko | Slovakia | 13:51.45 | |
| 13 | 1 | John Morapedi | South Africa | 13:54.43 | |
| 14 | 1 | Shaun Creighton | Australia | 13:55.23 | |
| 15 | 2 | Tom Nyariki | Kenya | 14:03.21 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | Vénuste Niyongabo | Burundi | 14:03.48 | Q |
| 17 | 2 | Dieter Baumann | Germany | 14:03.75 | Q |
| 18 | 2 | Enrique Molina | Spain | 14:04.08 | Q |
| 19 | 2 | Ismaïl Sghyr | Morocco | 14:04.23 | Q |
| 20 | 2 | Aïssa Belaout | Algeria | 14:04.56 | Q |
| 21 | 2 | Assefa Mezgebu | Ethiopia | 14:05.48 | |
| 22 | 2 | Stefano Baldini | Italy | 14:06.45 | |
| 23 | 2 | John Nuttall | Great Britain | 14:08.39 | |
| 24 | 2 | Cormac Finnerty | Ireland | 14:08.88 | |
| 25 | 2 | Shadrack Hoff | South Africa | 14:16.14 | |
| 26 | 1 | José Ramos | Portugal | 14:24.81 | |
| 27 | 2 | Jim Spivey | United States | 14:27.72 | |
| 28 | 2 | Julian Paynter | Australia | 14:23.60 | |
| 29 | 2 | Manuel Pancorbo | Spain | 14:39.64 | |
| | 2 | Luís Jesus | Portugal | DNS | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | Vénuste Niyongabo | Burundi | 13:07.96 |
| | Paul Bitok | Kenya | 13:08.16 |
| | Khalid Boulami | Morocco | 13:08.37 |
| 4 | Dieter Baumann | Germany | 13:08.81 |
| 5 | Tom Nyariki | Kenya | 13:12.29 |
| 6 | Bob Kennedy | United States | 13:12.35 |
| 7 | Enrique Molina | Spain | 13:12.91 |
| 8 | Brahim Lahlafi | Morocco | 13:13.26 |
| 9 | Shem Kororia | Kenya | 13:14.63 |
| 10 | Fita Bayisa | Ethiopia | 13:18.30 |
| 11 | Ismaïl Sghyr | Morocco | 13:22.89 |
| 12 | Gennaro Di Napoli | Italy | 13:28.36 |
| 13 | Réda Benzine | Algeria | 13:42.34 |
| 14 | Stéphane Franke | Germany | 13:44.64 |
| 15 | Aïssa Belaout | Algeria | 14:06.52 |