Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres team race

The men's 5000 metres team race was the final track and field event on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was the first time that a team race was held at the Olympics. It was held on July 22, 1900.

Two teams of five athletes competed: Racing Club de France from France and a team representing the Amateur Athletic Association of England, composed of four British athletes and Stan Rowley of Australia.

The AAA team won the competition by 26 points to 29 despite Rowley being unable to finish due to injury.

Background
This was the first Olympic team race, but the only time the event was held at a distance of 5000 metres. The distance would vary at 4 miles in 1904 and 3 miles in 1908, before consistency was reached beginning in 1912, with the 3000 metres distance used that year as well as in 1920 and 1924.

After 1924, the team race was then removed from the program, and has not featured again since.

Competition format
The event consisted of a single heat in which each of the ten runners completed ten laps of the 500 metre track. Runners scored points for their team equal to their place in the race, with the team with the lowest number of points winning.

Records
This was the first major international 5000 metre race with team scoring, and one of the first major 5000 metres races in history overall.

Though the distance was relatively new, the fastest time recorded over a comparable distance was 15:54 for 3$1/4$ miles (5230m), which was a split time in a 4-mile race by Walter George in 1884: though a specific 5000m split was not taken, this pace converts to about 15:12 for a 5000m.

Charles Bennett set the de facto Olympic and World records for the event in the competition, winning in 15:29.2.

Results
Rimmer and Bennett led the entire way, followed by the first three Frenchmen not far behind. Tysoe and Robinson kept pace with Castanet and Champoudry in the third bunch of runners, while Rowley had been injured and began walking after completing the first lap.

Bennett pulled away from Rimmer in the final sprint, being followed by the first three Frenchmen.

When Champoudry crossed the finish line in ninth place, the injured Rowley finished his seventh lap, and was by now clearly in pain. While the rules of the event had stated that all five team members were required to finish for the team to score, race officials conceded it would be pointless for Rowley to walk the final 1500 metres, and allowed him to retire.