Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres
The Men's 5000 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 20 and 23 August at the Beijing National Stadium.
The qualifying standards were 13:21.50 and 13:28.00.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world record was:| World record | 12:37.35 | Hengelo, Netherlands | 31 May 2004 |
Results
Heat 1
Qualification: First 4 in each heat and the next 3 fastest advance to the [|Final].To sort this table by heat, athlete, or any other column, click on the icon next to the column title.
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Matthew Tegenkamp | 13:37.36 | Q | |
| 2 | Eliud Kipchoge | 13:37.50 | Q | |
| 3 | Tariku Bekele | 13:37.63 | Q | |
| 4 | Kidane Tadasse | 13:37.72 | Q | |
| 5 | Alemayehu Bezabeh | 13:37.88 | q | |
| 6 | Alistair Ian Cragg | 13:38.57 | q | |
| 7 | Juan Luis Barrios | 13:42.39 | q | |
| 8 | Anis Selmouni | 13:43.70 | ||
| 9 | Aadam Ismaeel Khamis | 13:44.76 | ||
| 10 | Collis Birmingham | 13:44.90 | ||
| 11 | Geofrey Kusuro | 13:50.50 | ||
| 12 | Sultan Khamis Zaman | 13:53.38 | ||
| 13 | Takayuki Matsumiya | 14:20.24 | ||
| 14 | Soe Min Thu | 15:50.56 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Edwin Cheruiyot Soi | 13:46.41 | Q | |
| 2 | Moses Ndiema Kipsiro | 13:46.58 | Q | |
| 3 | Abreham Cherkos | 13:47.60 | Q | |
| 4 | Jesús España | 13:48.88 | Q | |
| 5 | Ali Abdalla | 13:49.68 | ||
| 6 | Mo Farah | 13:50.95 | ||
| 7 | Adrian Blincoe | 13:55.27 | ||
| 8 | Mourad Marofit | 14:00.76 | ||
| 9 | Ian Dobson | 14:05.47 | ||
| 10 | Tonny Wamulwa | 14:06.96 | ||
| 11 | Kevin Sullivan | 14:09.16 | ||
| 12 | Ali Saïdi-Sief | 14:15.00 | ||
| 13 | Nader Almassri | 14:41.10 | ||
| Rashid Ramzi |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Bernard Lagat | 13:39.70 | Q | |
| 2 | James Kwalia C'Kurui | 13:39.96 | Q | |
| 3 | Kenenisa Bekele | 13:40.13 | Q | |
| 4 | Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa | 13:41.30 | Q | |
| 5 | Craig Mottram | 13:44.39 | ||
| 6 | Moukheld Al-Outaibi | 13:47.00 | ||
| 7 | Kensuke Takezawa | 13:49.42 | SB | |
| 8 | Monder Rizki | 13:54.41 | ||
| 9 | Alberto García | 13:58.20 | ||
| 10 | Philippe Bandi | 13:59.68 | ||
| 11 | Abdelaziz Ennaji El Idrissi | 14:05.30 | ||
| 12 | Abdinasir Said Ibrahim | 14:21.58 | ||
| Selim Bayrak | ||||
| Hasan Mahboob | ||||
| David Galván |
Final
23 August 2008 - 20:10| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Kenenisa Bekele | 12:57.82 | |||
| Eliud Kipchoge | 13:02.80 | |||
| Edwin Cheruiyot Soi | 13:06.22 | SB | ||
| 4 | Moses Ndiema Kipsiro | 13:10.56 | ||
| 5 | Abreham Cherkos | 13:16.46 | ||
| 6 | Tariku Bekele | 13:19.06 | ||
| 7 | Juan Luis Barrios | 13:19.79 | SB | |
| 8 | James Kwalia C'Kurui | 13:23.48 | ||
| 9 | Bernard Lagat | 13:26.89 | ||
| 10 | Kidane Tadasse | 13:28.40 | ||
| 11 | Alemayehu Bezabeh | 13:30.48 | ||
| 12 | Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa | 13:31.34 | ||
| 13 | Matthew Tegenkamp | 13:33.13 | ||
| 14 | Jesús España | 13:55.94 | ||
| Alistair Cragg |