# 2013 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 5000 metres

The men's 5000 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Luzhniki Stadium on 13 and 16 August.
Fifteen qualified for the final. Of the ten automatic qualifiers, three each were from Kenya, Ethiopia and the United States. But all eyes were on the one from England, the defending champion, Olympic champion and 10000 winner from these championships all rolled up into one Mo Farah.
The first lap of the final started off at a jog for these world class competitors. On the second lap, the Kenyans as a group pushed the pace, but it didn't last long and the pack reformed. At such a leisurely pace, nobody was at risk of getting dropped. Instead confusion. Hagos Gebrhiwet literally a step behind Farah near the back of the pack, watching his every step. At 2000 meters, Farah decided to take a chance at the lead, but it was not to advance the pace but to slow it down. With Farah at the front the pace slowed to 68 seconds, then almost 70 seconds and the rest of the field obediently crowded up behind him, not willing to go out alone against the king. With 5 laps to go, Isiah Koech decided to make the break and took off. The race accelerated to 62-second laps with all the players covering each other's move and jockeying for position. For a lap Yenew Alamirew held the lead, accelerating as anyone looked to try to pass. With 650 to go, Farah made his move, successfully passing Alamirew he only gained a step on the field but that was enough, now he wouldn't let anybody pass him, the field stinging out behind him, the suitors dwindling. Through the final lap in 53 seconds, Koech made repeated attempts to get past Farah but each time Farah was able to go that much faster. Two steps behind at the beginning of the straight, Gebrhiwet weaved his way around the other two Kenyans and came flying down the outside as Koech let up in defeat, Gebrhiwet taking silver by one thousandth of a second after 5000 meters.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:
| World record | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | 12:37.35 | Hengelo, Netherlands | 31 May 2004 |
| Championship record | Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) | 12:52.79 | Saint-Denis, France | 31 August 2003 |
| World Leading | Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (KEN) | 12:51.34 | Monaco | 19 July 2013 |
| African Record | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | 12:37.35 | Hengelo, Netherlands | 31 May 2004 |
| Asian Record | Saif Saaeed Shaheen (QAT) | 12:51.98 | Rome, Italy | 14 July 2006 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Bernard Lagat (USA) | 12:53.60 | Monaco | 22 July 2011 |
| South American Record | Marilson dos Santos (BRA) | 13:19.43 | Kassel, Germany | 8 June 2006 |
| European Record | Mohammed Mourhit (BEL) | 12:49.71 | Brussels, Belgium | 25 August 2000 |
| Oceanian record | Craig Mottram (AUS) | 12:55.76 | London, Great Britain | 30 July 2004 |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 13:15.00 | 13:20.00 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| 13 August 2013 | 10:20 | Heats |
| 16 August 2013 | 20:45 | Final |
All times are local times (UTC+4)

## Results

| KEY: | q | Fastest non-qualifiers | Q | Qualified | NR | National record | PB | Personal best | SB | Seasonal best |

### Heats

Qualification: First 5 in each heat (Q) and the next 5 fastest (q) advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Muktar Edris | Ethiopia (ETH) | 13:20.82 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Edwin Soi | Kenya (KEN) | 13:21.44 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Isaiah Koech | Kenya (KEN) | 13:22.19 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Hagos Gebrhiwet | Ethiopia (ETH) | 13:23.22 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Yenew Alamirew | Ethiopia (ETH) | 13:23.48 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Bernard Lagat | United States (USA) | 13:23.59 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | Galen Rupp | United States (USA) | 13:23.91 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Mo Farah | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 13:23.93 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Thomas Longosiwa | Kenya (KEN) | 13:23.94 | Q |
| 10 | 1 | Ryan Hill | United States (USA) | 13:24.19 | Q |
| 11 | 1 | Elroy Gelant | South Africa (RSA) | 13:25.07 | q |
| 12 | 2 | Dejenee Regassa | Bahrain (BHR) | 13:25.21 | q |
| 13 | 1 | Brett Robinson | Australia (AUS) | 13:25.38 | q |
| 14 | 1 | Sindre Buraas | Norway (NOR) | 13:26.69 | q |
| 15 | 1 | Zane Robertson | New Zealand (NZL) | 13:27.89 | q |
| 16 | 2 | Othmane El Goumri | Morocco (MAR) | 13:31.08 | |
| 17 | 1 | John Kipkoech | Kenya (KEN) | 13:31.21 | |
| 18 | 2 | Ben St Lawrence | Australia (AUS) | 13:33.64 | |
| 19 | 1 | Phillip Kipyeko | Uganda (UGA) | 13:33.68 | |
| 20 | 1 | Arne Gabius | Germany (GER) | 13:34.26 | |
| 21 | 2 | Alemayehu Bezabeh | Spain (ESP) | 13:34.68 | |
| 22 | 2 | Byron Piedra | Ecuador (ECU) | 13:35.38 | |
| 23 | 2 | Yuki Sato | Japan (JPN) | 13:37.07 | |
| 24 | 1 | Aziz Lahbabi | Morocco (MAR) | 13:37.75 | |
| 25 | 2 | Diego Estrada | Mexico (MEX) | 13:48.38 | |
| 26 | 1 | Sergio Sánchez | Spain (ESP) | 13:52.05 | |
| 27 | 2 | Rinas Akhmadeev | Russia (RUS) | 13:58.38 | |
| 28 | 2 | Jake Robertson | New Zealand (NZL) | 14:09.50 | |
| 29 | 1 | Grevazio Mpani | Malawi (MAW) | 14:15.65 | |
| | 1 | Abdoulaye Abdelkarim | Chad (CHA) | DNS | |
| | 2 | Moses Ndiema Kipsiro | Uganda (UGA) | DNS | |

### Final

The final was started at 20:45.
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | Mo Farah | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 13:26.98 |
| | Hagos Gebrhiwet | Ethiopia (ETH) | 13:27.26 |
| | Isiah Koech | Kenya (KEN) | 13:27.26 |
| 4 | Thomas Longosiwa | Kenya (KEN) | 13:27.67 |
| 5 | Edwin Soi | Kenya (KEN) | 13:29.01 |
| 6 | Bernard Lagat | United States (USA) | 13:29.24 |
| 7 | Muktar Edris | Ethiopia (ETH) | 13:29.56 |
| 8 | Galen Rupp | United States (USA) | 13:29.87 |
| 9 | Yenew Alamirew | Ethiopia (ETH) | 13:31.27 |
| 10 | Ryan Hill | United States (USA) | 13:32.69 |
| 11 | Dejenee Regassa | Bahrain (BHR) | 13:34.54 |
| 12 | Elroy Gelant | South Africa (RSA) | 13:43.68 |
| 13 | Sindre Buraas | Norway (NOR) | 13:45.67 |
| 14 | Zane Robertson | New Zealand (NZL) | 13:46.55 |
| 15 | Brett Robinson | Australia (AUS) | 14:03.77 |