| | Event type

5,000 metres, Men

Date	31 July – 3 August 1928
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam
Participants	38 from 18 countries

The favorites were the three medalists from 1924 – Finland’s Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola, and Edvin Wide (SWE) –, with Nurmi a slight favorite over Ritola.

In the final, the three of them broke away from the field by 3,000 metres. Ritola and Nurmi dropped Wide with 600 metres remaining, and ran together on the final lap until the last curve, when Ritola pulled away and won by 15 metres, Nurmi slowing in the straight.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	800	Ville Ritola	👁 Image FIN	15:10.8 (2 h2)	14:38.0 (1)	Gold
2	797	Paavo Nurmi	👁 Image FIN	15:08.0 (4 h3)	14:40.0 (2)	Silver
3	866	Edvin Wide	👁 Image SWE	15:05.0 (2 h3)	14:41.2 (3)	Bronze
4	545	Leo Lermond	👁 Image USA	15:02.6 (1 h1)	14:50.0 (4)
5	857	Ragnar Magnusson	👁 Image SWE	15:03.8 (4 h1)	14:59.6 (5)
6	780	Armas Kinnunen	👁 Image FIN	15:10.8 (3 h2)	15:02.0 (6)
7	150	Staņislavs Petkevičs	👁 Image LAT	15:03.0 (2 h1)	– (7)
8	465	Bert Johnston	👁 Image GBR	15:06.3 (3 h3)	– (8)
9	476	Brian Oddie	👁 Image GBR	15:16.0 (4 h2)	– (9)
10	562	Macauley Smith	👁 Image USA	15:04.0 (1 h3)	– (10)
799	Eino Purje	👁 Image FIN	15:03.6 (3 h1)	– ()
844	Nils Eklöf	👁 Image SWE	15:07.4 (1 h2)	– ()
5 h1 r1/2	439	Wally Beavers	👁 Image GBR	– (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r1/2	376	Jesús Oyarbide	👁 Image ESP	15:22.0 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r1/2	720	Otto Kohn	👁 Image GER	– (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r1/2	701	Carl Axel Holger Petersen	👁 Image DEN	15:13.0 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r1/2	97	Roger Pelé	👁 Image FRA	– (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r1/2	311	Arie Klaase	👁 Image NED	– (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r1/2	467	Fred Light	👁 Image GBR	– (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r1/2	704	Willi Boltze	👁 Image GER	15:33.0 (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r1/2	377	Arturo Peña	👁 Image ESP	15:45.0 (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r1/2	60	Lucien Duquesne	👁 Image FRA	– (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r1/2	386	Jozef Koščak	👁 Image TCH	15:42.0 (8 h2)	–
8 h3 r1/2	648	Vincent Callard	👁 Image CAN	– (8 h3)	–
9 h1 r1/2	53	Seghir Beddari	👁 Image FRA	– (9 h1)	–
9 h2 r1/2	142	Andreas Paouris	👁 Image GRE	– (9 h2)	–
10 h2 r1/2	156	Julius Petraitis	👁 Image LTU	– (10 h2)	–
11 h2 r1/2	494	Dave Abbott	👁 Image USA	– (11 h2)	–
AC h1 r1/2	656	Billy Kibblewhite	👁 Image CAN	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r1/2	168	Ciro Chapa	👁 Image MEX	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r1/2	335	Nol Wolf	👁 Image NED	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r1/2	388	Karel Nedobitý	👁 Image TCH	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r1/2	539	Charles Haworth	👁 Image USA	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r1/2	626	Julien Serwy	👁 Image BEL	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h2 r1/2	599	George Hyde	👁 Image AUS	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	657	Art Keay	👁 Image CAN	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	303	Pieter Gerbrands	👁 Image NED	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h3 r1/2	209	Gurbachan Singh	👁 Image IND	– (DNF h3)	–
254	Juichi Nagatani	👁 Image JPN	– (DNS h1)	–
205	D. B. Chavan	👁 Image IND	– (DNS h1)	–
833	Jozé Slapnicar	👁 Image YUG	– (DNS h1)	–
194	Erling Pedersen	👁 Image NOR	– (DNS h1)	–
37	Elek Szerb	👁 Image HUN	– (DNS h2)	–
260	Seiichiro Tsuda	👁 Image JPN	– (DNS h2)	–
300	Frédéric du Hen	👁 Image NED	– (DNS h2)	–
185	Hans Gundhus	👁 Image NOR	– (DNS h2)	–
432	António de Almeida	👁 Image POR	– (DNS h2)	–
91	Jules Ladoumègue	👁 Image FRA	– (DNS h3)	–
401	Ch. B. Mehmed Bey	👁 Image TUR	– (DNS h3)	–
285	Danie Jacobs	👁 Image RSA	– (DNS h3)	–
179	Robert Masino	👁 Image MON	– (DNS h3)	–
595	José Ribas	👁 Image ARG	– (DNS h3)	–
127	Athanassios Bekiaris	👁 Image GRE	– (DNS h3)	–
851	Jean-Gunnar Lindgren	👁 Image SWE	– (DNS h3)	–
653	David Griffin	👁 Image CAN	– (DNS h3)	–
221	Luigi Boero	👁 Image ITA	– (DNS h3)	–
814	Felix Beldsinsky	👁 Image EST	– (DNS h3)	–

Round One

Date	31 July 1928 — 17:10
Format	Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat #1

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	545	Leo Lermond	👁 Image USA	15:02.6
2	150	Staņislavs Petkevičs	👁 Image LAT	15:03.0
3	799	Eino Purje	👁 Image FIN	15:03.6
4	857	Ragnar Magnusson	👁 Image SWE	15:03.8
5	439	Wally Beavers	👁 Image GBR	–
6	701	Carl Axel Holger Petersen	👁 Image DEN	15:13.0
7	467	Fred Light	👁 Image GBR	–
8	60	Lucien Duquesne	👁 Image FRA	–
9	53	Seghir Beddari	👁 Image FRA	–
168	Ciro Chapa	👁 Image MEX	–
539	Charles Haworth	👁 Image USA	–
388	Karel Nedobitý	👁 Image TCH	–
656	Billy Kibblewhite	👁 Image CAN	–
335	Nol Wolf	👁 Image NED	–
626	Julien Serwy	👁 Image BEL	–
254	Juichi Nagatani	👁 Image JPN	–
205	D. B. Chavan	👁 Image IND	–
833	Jozé Slapnicar	👁 Image YUG	–
194	Erling Pedersen	👁 Image NOR	–

Heat #2

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	844	Nils Eklöf	👁 Image SWE	15:07.4
2	800	Ville Ritola	👁 Image FIN	15:10.8
3	780	Armas Kinnunen	👁 Image FIN	15:10.8
4	476	Brian Oddie	👁 Image GBR	15:16.0
5	376	Jesús Oyarbide	👁 Image ESP	15:22.0
6	97	Roger Pelé	👁 Image FRA	–
7	704	Willi Boltze	👁 Image GER	15:33.0
8	386	Jozef Koščak	👁 Image TCH	15:42.0
9	142	Andreas Paouris	👁 Image GRE	–
10	156	Julius Petraitis	👁 Image LTU	–
11	494	Dave Abbott	👁 Image USA	–
657	Art Keay	👁 Image CAN	–
599	George Hyde	👁 Image AUS	–
303	Pieter Gerbrands	👁 Image NED	–
37	Elek Szerb	👁 Image HUN	–
260	Seiichiro Tsuda	👁 Image JPN	–
300	Frédéric du Hen	👁 Image NED	–
185	Hans Gundhus	👁 Image NOR	–
432	António de Almeida	👁 Image POR	–

Heat #3

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	562	Macauley Smith	👁 Image USA	15:04.0
2	866	Edvin Wide	👁 Image SWE	15:05.0
3	465	Bert Johnston	👁 Image GBR	15:06.3
4	797	Paavo Nurmi	👁 Image FIN	15:08.0
5	720	Otto Kohn	👁 Image GER	–
6	311	Arie Klaase	👁 Image NED	–
7	377	Arturo Peña	👁 Image ESP	15:45.0
8	648	Vincent Callard	👁 Image CAN	–
209	Gurbachan Singh	👁 Image IND	–
91	Jules Ladoumègue	👁 Image FRA	–
401	Ch. B. Mehmed Bey	👁 Image TUR	–
285	Danie Jacobs	👁 Image RSA	–
179	Robert Masino	👁 Image MON	–
595	José Ribas	👁 Image ARG	–
127	Athanassios Bekiaris	👁 Image GRE	–
851	Jean-Gunnar Lindgren	👁 Image SWE	–
653	David Griffin	👁 Image CAN	–
221	Luigi Boero	👁 Image ITA	–
814	Felix Beldsinsky	👁 Image EST	–

Final Round

Date	3 August 1928 — 14:30

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	800	Ville Ritola	👁 Image FIN	14:38.0
2	797	Paavo Nurmi	👁 Image FIN	14:40.0
3	866	Edvin Wide	👁 Image SWE	14:41.2
4	545	Leo Lermond	👁 Image USA	14:50.0
5	857	Ragnar Magnusson	👁 Image SWE	14:59.6
6	780	Armas Kinnunen	👁 Image FIN	15:02.0
7	150	Staņislavs Petkevičs	👁 Image LAT	–
8	465	Bert Johnston	👁 Image GBR	–
9	476	Brian Oddie	👁 Image GBR	–
10	562	Macauley Smith	👁 Image USA	–
844	Nils Eklöf	👁 Image SWE	–
799	Eino Purje	👁 Image FIN	–