The women's 5000 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 19–22 August at the Beijing National Stadium.

The qualifying standards were 15:09.00 (A standard) and 15:24.00 (B standard).

While the race was strategically different, the results were much the same as the 10,000m final a week earlier. Elvan Abeylegesse took the lead early, but the field did not dissipate behind her. Instead, Ethiopians, Kenyans and newly-crowned steeplechase world record holder, Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, countered each attempt to pull away. Going into the last lap, Abeylegesse of Turkey and three Ethiopians were at the front, with the Kenyan team and Russian Liliya Shobukhova trailing. Tirunesh Dibaba jumped into the lead with the expected chase coming from Meseret Defar, in one of the few head-to-head battles between these two stars. But Abeylegesse refused to get out of the picture. Through the final turn she caught Defar and swung wide into lane 2 as if to speed past Dibaba. She was able to match Dibaba's speed down the final straight but couldn't make up the ground she had lost, with Dibaba taking her second gold medal and Defar holding off the rest of the field to take bronze.

On 29 March 2017, IAAF confirmed that Abeylegesse had tested positive for a banned substance at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and that her results from 2007 to 2009, including her Olympic silvers, had been expunged.IAAF March 2017 Newsletter

Records Prior to this competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows:

No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.

Results

Round 1

Qualification: First 6 in each heat(Q) and the next 3 fastest(q) advance to the final.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 1 2 Meseret Defar 14:56.32 Q 2 2 Vivian Cheruiyot 14:57.27 Q, SB 3 2 Liliya Shobukhova 14:57.77 Q 4 2 Priscah Jepleting Cherono 14:58.07 Q 5 2 Elvan Abeylegesse 14:58.79 Q, SB 6 2 Shalane Flanagan 14:59.69 Q, SB 7 2 Kara Goucher 15:00.98 q, SB 8 1 Tirunesh Dibaba 15:09.89 Q 9 1 Sylvia Kibet 15:10.37 Q 10 1 Alemitu Bekele 15:10.92 Q 11 1 Meselech Melkamu 15:11.21 Q 12 2 Megan Metcalfe 15:11.23 q, PB 13 1 Gulnara Samitova-Galkina 15:11.46 Q 14 2 Xue Fei 15:13.25 q, SB 15 1 Jennifer Rhines 15:15.12 Q 16 1 Yuriko Kobayashi 15:15.87 17 1 Simret Sultan 15:16.25 NR 18 2 Kayoko Fukushi 15:20.46 19 2 Mariem Alaoui Selsouli 15:21.47 20 1 Volha Krautsova 15:21.85 SB 21 1 Silvia Weissteiner 15:23.45 22 1 Zhang Yingying 15:23.81 SB 23 1 Zakia Mrisho Mohamed 15:24.28 24 1 Dolores Checa 15:31.22 25 2 Yukiko Akaba 15:38.30 26 1 Jessica Augusto 16:05.71 27 2 Krisztina Papp 16:08.86 28 1 Lucia Chandamale 16:44.09 29 2 Francine Niyonizigiye 17:08.44 30 1 Celma Bonfim da Graça 17:25.99 NR 2 Yelena Zadorozhnaya DNF 2 Joanne Pavey DNS

Final

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Tirunesh Dibaba 15:41.40 Meseret Defar 15:44.12 Sylvia Kibet 15:44.964 Vivian Cheruiyot 15:46.325 Liliya Shobukhova 15:46.626 Alemitu Bekele 15:48.487 Meselech Melkamu 15:49.038 Kara Goucher 15:49.399 Shalane Flanagan 15:50.8010 Priscah Jepleting Cherono 15:51.7811 Gulnara Samitova-Galkina 15:56.9712 Xue Fei 16:09.8413 Jennifer Rhines 16:34.6314 Megan Metcalfe 17:06.82DSQ Elvan Abeylegesse 15:42.74

Splits Intermediate Athlete Country Mark 1000m Gulnara Samitova-Galkina 3:39.20 2000m Elvan Abeylegesse 6:45.41 3000m Gulnara Samitova-Galkina 9:58.13 4000m Tirunesh Dibaba 13:04.77

References