Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 5000 metres

The women's 5000 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 July and 2 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 45 athletes competed; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 42 qualifying through time or ranking (1 universality place was used in 2016).

Summary
Sifan Hassan had already announced her intention to attempt to win the 1500, 5000, and 10,000 metres triple at the Olympics. Prior to the Olympics, she had won the 1500 and 10,000 metres at the World Championships. Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya had won the previous 5000 metres at the 2016 Olympics, but did not compete in the 2020 Olympics. Hellen Obiri, also of Kenya, was second in Rio and had won the 5000 metres at the 2019 World Championships

Earlier in the day, during the qualifying heat for the 1500 metres, Hassan suffered a fall but was able to continue, winning her heat to qualify for the semi-finals. The race started off slowly, with Elise Cranny taking an early lead as Hassan dropped to the back of the pack. Wanting a faster pace, Ririka Hironaka ran around the pack and assumed the lead. Over the next three laps, the pack let Hironaka breakaway to as much as a 10 metre lead. Then the Kenyan trio of Hellen Obiri, Agnes Jebet Tirop, and Lilian Kasait Rengeruk; the Ethiopian trio of Gudaf Tsegay, Senbere Teferi, and Ejgayehu Taye; and Kenyan-born Turkish athlete Yasemin Can moved forward.

With three laps to go, the lead group accelerated, with Hassan moving up from her position at the rear of the race to the back of the lead group. With Rengeruk falling off, the lead group consisted of the three Ethiopians, two Kenyans, Can, and Hassan. On the penultimate lap, Hassan moved up a further two positions, as Can and Teferi could not match the pace of the lead group All the leaders strived to be first at the bell, going four wide across the track, followed by Hassan.

At the start of the final lap Hassan moved to the outside, and began increasing her pace to pass the runners in front of her; Tirop, Taye, and Tsegay were passed during the turn, and finally mid-backstretch she passed the leader Obiri who went into full sprint to try to hold her off. It didn't match Hassan's speed, and Hassan carried the lead going into the final turn. Coming out of the final turn, Hassan accelerated again, opening up a 12 metre gap down the final straight, winning gold with a time 14:36.79. Obiri finished second some 1.57 seconds behind; 14:38.36, Tsegay completed the podium in third finishing in 14:38.87. It was Obiri's second straight silver.

Background
This was the seventh time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since 1996.

Qualification
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the women's 5000 metres event if all athletes meet the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard is 15:10.00. This standard was "set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 42 is reached.

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2020; athletes who had met the qualifying standard during that time were still qualified, but those using world rankings would not be able to count performances during that time. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both indoor and outdoor meets were eligible for qualifying. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.

NOCs can also use their universality place—each NOC can enter one female athlete regardless of time if they had no female athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the 5000 metres.

Competition format
The event continued to use the two-round format introduced in 2012.

Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

The following national records were established during the competition:

Schedule
All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The women's 5000 metres took place over two separate days.

Round 1
Qualification Rules: First 5 in each heat (Q) and the next 5 fastest (q) advance to the Final.