# Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 10,000 metres

The 10,000 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics programme were held at Stadium Australia on Friday 22 September, and Monday 25 September 2000. The winning margin was 0.09 seconds.
Without Haile Gebrselassie, Paul Tergat would have won everything since the previous Olympics. He was the silver medalist in the previous Olympics and the ensuing two world championships. He was the World Cross Country Champion five times in a row in Gebrselassie's absence. The final broke down to a team race, with three Kenyans vs Ethiopians Gebrselassie and Assefa Mezgebu. With a lap to go, John Korir held the lead marked by Gebrselassie, with Tergat marking him. Mezgebu moved from behind Tergat to Gebrselassie's shoulder, boxing Tergat along the rail through the penultimate turn. Down the backstretch, Tergat slowed down a step to get out of the box, then sprinting around the outside, past everyone. The sprint was on. Unlike previous finals, Tergat had the drop on Gebrselassie, making Geb chase, with only Mezgebu able to hold on behind. Down the homestretch both were in full sprint, Tergat ahead, Gebrselassie making progress but not advancing enough to pass. Gebrselassie continued to press, drawing even with less than ten metres to go. Tergat strained, his last several steps losing his balance while Gebrselassie held form to take the gold again.

## Records

World and Olympic records prior to the Games :
| World Record | 26:22.75 | Haile Gebrselassie | Ethiopia | Hengelo, Netherlands | 1 June 1998 |
| Olympic Record | 27:07.34 | Haile Gebrselassie | Ethiopia | Atlanta, United States | 29 July 1996 |

## Medalists

| Gold: | Silver: | Bronze: |
| Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopia | Paul Tergat, Kenya | Assefa Mezgebu, Ethiopia |

## Results

All times shown are in seconds.
* Q denotes qualification by place in heat.
* q denotes qualification by overall place.
* DNS denotes did not start.
* DNF denotes did not finish.
* DQ denotes disqualification.
* NR denotes national record.
* OR denotes Olympic record.
* WR denotes world record.
* PB denotes personal best.
* SB denotes season best.

## Qualifying heats

The top eight runners in each of the initial two heats automatically qualified for the final. The next four fastest runners from across the heats also qualified. There were a total number of 34 participating athletes.
Heat 1 of 2 Date: Friday 22 September 2000 :
| Place | Place | Athlete | Nation | Order | Time | Qual. | Record |
| Heat | Overall | Athlete | Nation | Order | Time | Qual. | Record |
| 1 | 8 | Haile Gebrselassie | Ethiopia | 2 | 27:50.01 | Q | |
| 2 | 10 | Patrick Ivuti | Kenya | 15 | 27:50.10 | Q | |
| 3 | 11 | John Korir | Kenya | 7 | 27:50.19 | Q | |
| 4 | 12 | Assefa Mezgebu | Ethiopia | 8 | 27:50.64 | Q | |
| 5 | 16 | Toshinari Takaoka | Japan | 3 | 27:59.95 | Q | SB |
| 6 | 19 | Samir Moussaoui | Algeria | 4 | 28:08.22 | Q | |
| 7 | 21 | Abdihakim Abdirahman | United States | 9 | 28:09.04 | Q | |
| 8 | 22 | Enrique Molina | Spain | 5 | 28:09.76 | Q | |
| 9 | 23 | Andres Jones | Great Britain | 13 | 28:11.20 | | |
| 10 | 24 | Armando Quintanilla | Mexico | 11 | 28:14.54 | | |
| 11 | 25 | Sisay Bezabeh | Australia | 10 | 28:21.63 | | |
| 12 | 27 | Sean Kaley | Canada | 16 | 28:36.07 | | |
| 13 | 28 | Robert Denmark | Great Britain | 1 | 28:43.74 | | |
| 14 | 29 | Shaun Creighton | Australia | 12 | 28:52.71 | | |
| 15 | 32 | Daniele Caimmi | Italy | 17 | 29:01.26 | | |
| 16 | 33 | Teodoro Cuñado | Spain | 14 | 29:10.90 | | |
| 17 | 34 | Michael Aish | New Zealand | 6 | 29:31.83 | | |
Heat 2 of 2 Date: Friday 22 September 2000 :
| Place | Place | Athlete | Nation | Order | Time | Qual. | Record |
| Heat | Overall | Athlete | Nation | Order | Time | Qual. | Record |
| 1 | 1 | Girma Tolla | Ethiopia | 7 | 27:44.01 | Q | |
| 2 | 2 | Paul Tergat | Kenya | 10 | 27:44.07 | Q | |
| 3 | 3 | Katsuhiko Hanada | Japan | 9 | 27:45.13 | Q | PB |
| 4 | 4 | Mohammed Mourhit | Belgium | 8 | 27:45.73 | Q | |
| 5 | 5 | Said Berioui | Morocco | 11 | 27:45.83 | Q | |
| 6 | 6 | Karl Keska | Great Britain | 8 | 27:48:29 | Q | PB |
| 7 | 7 | David Galván | Mexico | 12 | 27:49.53 | Q | |
| 8 | 9 | Aloys Nizigama | Burundi | 2 | 27:50.09 | Q | SB |
| 9 | 13 | José Rios | Spain | 6 | 27:51.40 | q | |
| 10 | 14 | José Ramos | Portugal | 13 | 27:56.30 | q | PB |
| 11 | 15 | Mebrahtom Keflezighi | United States | 15 | 27:58.96 | q | |
| 12 | 17 | Rachid Berradi | Italy | 1 | 28:01.18 | q | |
| 13 | 18 | Mauricio Díaz | Chile | 4 | 28:05.61 | | NR |
| 14 | 20 | Yonas Kifle | Eritrea | 5 | 28:08.59 | | NR |
| 15 | 26 | Jeff Schiebler | Canada | 3 | 28:30.46 | | |
| 16 | 30 | Dmitry Maksimov | Russia | 14 | 28:54.15 | | |
| 17 | 31 | Alan Culpepper | United States | 16 | 29:00.71 | | |
Overall Results Semi-Finals
Semi-Finals Overall Results :
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Heat | Order | Place | Time | Qual. | Record |
| 1 | Girma Tolla | Ethiopia | 2 | 7 | 1 | 27:44.01 | Q | |
| 2 | Paul Tergat | Kenya | 2 | 10 | 2 | 27:44.07 | Q | |
| 3 | Katsuhiko Hanada | Japan | 2 | 9 | 3 | 27:45.13 | Q | PB |
| 4 | Mohammed Mourhit | Belgium | 2 | 17 | 4 | 27:45.73 | Q | |
| 5 | Said Berioui | Morocco | 2 | 11 | 5 | 27:45.83 | Q | |
| 6 | Karl Keska | Great Britain | 2 | 8 | 6 | 27:48:29 | Q | PB |
| 7 | David Galván | Mexico | 2 | 12 | 7 | 27:49.53 | Q | |
| 8 | Haile Gebrselassie | Ethiopia | 1 | 2 | 1 | 27:50.01 | Q | |
| 9 | Aloys Nizigama | Burundi | 2 | 2 | 8 | 27:50.09 | Q | SB |
| 10 | Patrick Ivuti | Kenya | 1 | 15 | 2 | 27:50.10 | Q | |
| 11 | John Korir | Kenya | 1 | 7 | 3 | 27:50.19 | Q | |
| 12 | Assefa Mezgebu | Ethiopia | 1 | 8 | 4 | 27:50.64 | Q | |
| 13 | José Rios | Spain | 2 | 6 | 9 | 27:51.40 | q | |
| 14 | José Ramos | Portugal | 2 | 13 | 10 | 27:56.30 | q | PB |
| 15 | Mebrahtom Keflezighi | United States | 2 | 15 | 11 | 27:58.96 | q | |
| 16 | Toshinari Takaoka | Japan | 1 | 3 | 6 | 27:59.95 | Q | SB |
| 17 | Rachid Berradi | Italy | 2 | 1 | 12 | 28:01.18 | q | |
| 18 | Mauricio Díaz | Chile | 2 | 4 | 13 | 28:05.61 | | NR |
| 19 | Samir Moussaoui | Algeria | 1 | 4 | 6 | 28:08.22 | Q | |
| 20 | Yonas Kifle | Eritrea | 2 | 5 | 14 | 28:08.59 | | NR |
| 21 | Abdihakim Abdirahman | United States | 1 | 9 | 7 | 28:09.04 | Q | |
| 22 | Enrique Molina | Spain | 1 | 5 | 8 | 28:09.76 | Q | |
| 23 | Andres Jones | Great Britain | 1 | 13 | 9 | 28:11.20 | | |
| 24 | Armando Quintanilla | Mexico | 1 | 11 | 10 | 28:14.54 | | |
| 25 | Sisay Bezabeh | Australia | 1 | 10 | 11 | 28:21.63 | | |
| 26 | Jeff Schiebler | Canada | 2 | 3 | 15 | 28:30.46 | | |
| 27 | Sean Kaley | Canada | 1 | 16 | 12 | 28:36.07 | | |
| 28 | Robert Denmark | Great Britain | 1 | 1 | 13 | 28:43.74 | | |
| 29 | Shaun Creighton | Australia | 1 | 12 | 14 | 28:52.71 | | |
| 30 | Dmitry Maksimov | Russia | 2 | 14 | 16 | 28:54.15 | | |
| 31 | Alan Culpepper | United States | 2 | 16 | 17 | 29:00.71 | | |
| 32 | Daniele Caimmi | Italy | 1 | 17 | 15 | 29:01.26 | | |
| 33 | Teodoro Cunado | Spain | 1 | 14 | 16 | 29:10.90 | | |
| 34 | Michael Aish | New Zealand | 1 | 6 | 17 | 29:31.83 | | |

## Final

Final Date: Monday 25 September 2000 Time: :
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Order | Time | Record |
| 1 | Haile Gebrselassie | Ethiopia | 19 | 27:18.20 | SB |
| 2 | Paul Tergat | Kenya | 8 | 27:18.29 | |
| 3 | Assefa Mezgebu | Ethiopia | 2 | 27:19.75 | SB |
| 4 | Patrick Ivuti | Kenya | 16 | 27:20.44 | |
| 5 | John Korir | Kenya | 20 | 27:24.75 | PB |
| 6 | Said Berioui | Morocco | 7 | 27:37.83 | SB |
| 7 | Toshinari Takaoka | Japan | 9 | 27:40.44 | PB |
| 8 | Karl Keska | Great Britain | 6 | 27:44.09 | PB |
| 9 | Aloys Nizigama | Burundi | 12 | 27:44.56 | SB |
| 10 | Abdihakim Abdirahman | United States | 18 | 27:46.17 | PB |
| 11 | Girma Tolla | Ethiopia | 15 | 27:49.75 | |
| 12 | Mebrahtom Keflezighi | United States | 13 | 27:53.63 | PB |
| 13 | David Galvan | Mexico | 11 | 27:54.56 | |
| 14 | Jose Ramos | Portugal | 4 | 28:07.43 | |
| 15 | Katsuhiko Hanada | Japan | 17 | 28:08.11 | |
| 16 | Samir Moussaoui | Algeria | 3 | 28:17.25 | |
| 17 | Rachid Berradi | Italy | 10 | 28:45.96 | |
| 18 | Jose Rios | Spain | 1 | 28:50.31 | |
| - | Enrique Molina | Spain | 14 | DNF | |
| - | Mohammed Mourhit | Belgium | 5 | DNF | |