Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres


The men's 5000 metres event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place July 31 and August 2. The final was won by Gaston Reiff of Belgium.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
World record13:58.2Gothenburg, Sweden20 September 1942
Olympic record14:22.2Berlin, Germany7 August 1936

The following new Olympic record was set during this competition:
DateEventAthleteTimeNotes
2 AugustFinal14:17.6OR

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time.
DateTime
Saturday, 31 July 194816:00Round 1
Monday, 2 August 194817:00Final

Results

The first four runners from each heat qualified to the final.

Heats

Heat 1
RankCountryAthletesTime
1Evert Nyberg14:58.2
2Väinö Koskela14:58.3
2Curt Stone14:58.6
4Marcel Vandewattyne15:14.0
5Jacques Vernier15:29.8
6Harold Nelson15:34.4
7Jef Lataster15:39.0
8Jack Braughton
9Cliff Salmond16:05.0
10Manny Ramjohn
-Aage PoulsenDNF
-John Joe BarryDNF

Heat 2
RankCountryAthletesTime
1Erik Ahldén14:34.2
2Emil Zátopek14:34.4
2Väinö Mäkelä14:45.8
4Martin Stokken15:04.4
5Maurice Pouzieux15:09.8
6Gregorio Rojo15:19.0
7Bill Lucas
8Lou Wen-ngau
9Vasilios Mavrapostolos
10Sim Bok-seok
-Mustafa ÖzcanDNF
-Clarence RobisonDNF

Heat 3
RankCountryAthletesTime
1Willem Slijkhuis15:06.8
2Gaston Reiff15:07.0
2Bertil Albertsson15:07.8
4Helge Perälä15:07.8
5Jerry Thompson15:08.4
6Alain Mimoun15:11.2
7Alec Olney
8Martín Alarcón
9Ernst Günther

Final

RankNameNationalityTime Notes
Gaston Reiff14:17.6OR
Emil Zátopek14:17.8
Willem Slijkhuis14:26.8
4Erik Ahldén14:28.6
5Bertil Albertsson14:39.0
6Curt Stone14:39.4
7Väinö Koskela14:41.0
8Väinö Mäkelä14:43.0
9Marcel Vandewattyne
10Martin Stokken
11Helge Perälä
Evert NybergDNF

Key: DNF = Did not finish, OR = Olympic record