The men's 5000 metres

5000 metres

The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...

event was part of the track and field athletics programme

Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics

At the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, 29 athletics events were contested, 23 for men and 6 for women. It was the first time the 50 kilometre walk appeared in the men's athletics at the Games. This was only the second time women's events in athletics were included in the Olympic Games program...

 at the 1932 Summer Olympics

1932 Summer Olympics

The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...

. The competition was held on Tuesday, August 2, 1932 and on Friday, August 5, 1932.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1932 Summer Olympics.

World Record	14:17.0	Lauri Lehtinen Lauri Lehtinen Lauri Aleksanteri Lehtinen was a Finnish athlete, winner of a controversial 5000 m at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles....	Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...  (FIN Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... )	June 19, 1932
Olympic Record	14:31.2	Paavo Nurmi Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi was a Finnish runner. Born in Turku, he was known as one of the "Flying Finns," a term given to him, Hannes Kolehmainen, Ville Ritola, and others for their distinction in running...	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...  (FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... )	July 10, 1924

In the final Lauri Lehtinen

Lauri Lehtinen

Lauri Aleksanteri Lehtinen was a Finnish athlete, winner of a controversial 5000 m at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles....

 set a new Olympic record with 14:30.0 minutes.

Semifinals

Both semi-finals were held on Tuesday, August 2, 1932 and started at 4:45 p.m.

12-hour clock

The 12-hour clock is a time conversion convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem and post meridiem...

The best seven finishers of every heat qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1		14:59.6	Q
2		15:05.5	Q
3		15:06.0	Q
4		15:06.4	Q
5		15:08.2	Q
6		15:14.0	Q
7		15:19.6	Q
8
9
10		DNF

Semifinal 2

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1		15:25.8	Q
2		15:34.6	Q
3		15:36.4	Q
4		15:37.8	Q
5		15:39.6	Q
6		15:48.5	Q
7		15:56.0	Q
8		16:00.0

Final

The final was held on Friday, August 5, 1932 and started at 3:15 p.m.

12-hour clock

The 12-hour clock is a time conversion convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem and post meridiem...

In a controversial move Lehtinen

Lauri Lehtinen

Lauri Aleksanteri Lehtinen was a Finnish athlete, winner of a controversial 5000 m at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles....

 blocked Hill

Ralph Hill

Ralph Anthony Hill was an American long distance runner.Hill studied at the University of Oregon when competing in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles on the 5000 m. In an exciting race on Aug 5 1932, he came in second behind Lauri Lehtinen, with each runner recording a time of 14.30,0...

 when he tried to pass Lehtinen on the final straight. Both runners broke the Olympic record but Lehtinen

Lauri Lehtinen

Lauri Aleksanteri Lehtinen was a Finnish athlete, winner of a controversial 5000 m at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles....

finished 30 cm in front.

Place	Athlete	Time
		14:30.0 OR
		14:30.0
		14:44.0
4		14:49.6
5		14:54:7
6		14:59.0
7		15:04.4
8		15:08.5
9		15:13.4
10		15:15.0
11		15:24.0
12		17:20.0
—		DNF
		DNF