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1980 Olympic Games Moscow - Men's 5000 m

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1980 Olympic Games Moscow - (Athletics); Last Updated: 30 July 2016; Hits: 1257

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Host City: Moskva, Soviet Union

Format: Top four in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the final.

Date Started: July 28, 1980

Format: Top six in each heat and next six fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Date Finished: August 1, 1980

(Competitors: 35; Countries: 22; Finalists: 12)

Venue(s): Grand Arena, Central Lenin Stadium Area, Moskva

Overview by IAAF

Despite there being fewer athletes than in 1976, an extra round was run. The three heats were won in the 13:42-45 range, and the semis were taken by Ethiopians Yohannes Mohammed (13:39.40) and Mohammed Kedir (13:28.54). Of possible medal winners, only Thomas Wessinghage (FRG) and Wilson Waigwa (KEN) were missing because of the boycott, and 1978 European medallists Martti Vainio (FIN, m), Aleksandr Fedotkin (URS, 5000m) and Dave Moorcroft (GBR, 1500m) all failed to qualify. Treacy led the finalists through 1000m (2:38.4), with Yifter, then Kedir taking over, the latter passing 2000m in 5:22.9 and 3000m in 8:08.1. Other than a brief interruption by Maaninka at 4000m (10:51.1) the Ethiopians took turns to lead, “running a team race until the last lap”, as Yifter later said. Coghlan made the first break with 300m to go, but looked to his right and was passed on the inside by Yifter with 250m remaining. Yifter, whose age was thought to be 36 at the time of the ’80 Olympics, was uncatchable, and he streaked home with a last lap of 54.9 (last 200 in 27.2) to win by 6m from Nyambui, Maaninka passed Coghlan in the home straight to hand the Irishman another Olympic fourth place finish.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

Two-time defending champion Lasse Virén was in Moskva but ran only the 10K and marathon. The favorite was Ethiopia's Miruts Yifter who had known only Olympic heartbreak prior to 1980. He was expected to contend in this event in both 1972 and 1976. But in 1972 he had missed his heat when he could not get into the stadium in time, choosing the wrong entry gate. In 1976 he was pulled out by the ridiculous African boycott, costing him a chance to compete. But in Moskva, he had already won the 10,000 metres gold medal. Three Ethiopians qualified for the final – Yifter, Mohamed Kedir and Yohannes Mohamed. Yifter noted that they ran a team race in the final, setting it up for him to win. On the final lap, Ireland's Eamonn Coghlan took the lead and his great mile speed made him a formidable challenger. But Yifter, also known for his kick, moved past on the inside of the backstretch and pulled away for a comfortable win.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics.

World Record	13:08.4	Henry Rono	Berkeley United States	April 8, 1978
Olympic Record	13:20.34	Brendan Foster	Montreal (Canada)	July 28, 1976

		Results

*5000 m*	Men	Final	1 August

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	13.20.91	Miruts Yifter	Ethiopia	ETH	28 Jun 44
2	13.21.60	Suleiman Nyambui	Tanzania	TAN	13 Feb 53
3	13.22.00	Kaarlo Maaninka	Finland	FIN	25 Dec 53
4	13.22.74	Eamonn Coghlan	Ireland	IRL	24 Nov 52
5	13.23.03	Markus Ryffel	Switzerland	SUI	5 Feb 55
6	13.23.25	Dietmar Millonig	Austria	AUT	1 Jun 55
7	13.23.62	John Treacy	Ireland	IRL	4 Jun 57
8	13.24.10	Aleksandr Fedotkin	Soviet Union	URS	3 Nov 55
9	13.24.99	Jirí Sykora	Czechoslovakia	TCH	1 Jul 54	NR
10	13.28.34	Yohannes Mohamed	Ethiopia	ETH	21 Jan 48
11	13.32.05	Martti Vainio	Finland	FIN	30 Dec 50
12	13.34.17	Mohamed Kedir	Ethiopia	ETH	18 Sep 53
*5000 m*	Men	Semifinal 1	30 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	13.39.40	Yohannes Mohamed	Ethiopia	ETH	21 Jan 48
2	13.39.93	Miruts Yifter	Ethiopia	ETH	28 Jun 44
3	13.40.16	Kaarlo Maaninka	Finland	FIN	25 Dec 53
4	13.40.29	John Treacy	Ireland	IRL	4 Jun 57
5	13.40.55	Nick Rose	Great Britain	GBR	30 Dec 51
6	13.40.67	Valeriy Abramov	Soviet Union	URS	22 Aug 56
7	13.44.83	Zakariah Barie	Tanzania	TAN	29 May 53
8	13.50.19	Emiel Puttemans	Belgium	BEL	8 Oct 47
9	13.58.13	Dave Moorcroft	Great Britain	GBR	10 Apr 53
10	13.58.22	David Fitzsimmons	Australia	AUS	23 Apr 50
11	14.00.22	Hansjörg Kunze	East Germany	GDR	28 Dec 59
12	14.01.33	Enrique Aquino	Mexico	MEX	1 May 50
*5000 m*	Men	Semifinal 2	30 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	13.28.54	Mohamed Kedir	Ethiopia	ETH	18 Sep 53
2	13.28.79	Eamonn Coghlan	Ireland	IRL	24 Nov 52
3	13.29.23	Markus Ryffel	Switzerland	SUI	5 Feb 55
4	13.29.35	Dietmar Millonig	Austria	AUT	1 Jun 55
5	13.30.12	Suleiman Nyambui	Tanzania	TAN	13 Feb 53
6	13.30.38	Martti Vainio	Finland	FIN	30 Dec 50
7	13.30.97	Jirí Sykora	Czechoslovakia	TCH	1 Jul 54
8	13.31.87	Aleksandr Fedotkin	Soviet Union	URS	3 Nov 55
9	13.36.66	Barry Smith	Great Britain	GBR	16 Apr 53
10	13.46.64	Alex Hagelsteens	Belgium	BEL	15 Jul 56
11	13.47.51	Steve Austin	Australia	AUS	14 Feb 51
12	14.15.85	El Hachemi Abdenouz	Algeria	ALG	1 Jul 56
*5000 m*	Men	Heat 1	28 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	13.44.31	Miruts Yifter	Ethiopia	ETH	28 Jun 44
2	13.44.40	Hansjörg Kunze	East Germany	GDR	28 Dec 59
3	13.44.65	Nick Rose	Great Britain	GBR	30 Dec 51
4	13.44.74	John Treacy	Ireland	IRL	4 Jun 57
5	13.44.82	Alex Hagelsteens	Belgium	BEL	15 Jul 56
6	13.45.52	Aleksandr Fedotkin	Soviet Union	URS	3 Nov 55
7	13.46.60	David Fitzsimmons	Australia	AUS	23 Apr 50
8	13.48.93	Enrique Aquino	Mexico	MEX	1 May 50
9	14.06.53	Gopal Singh Saini	India	IND	18 Apr 54
10	14.47.11	Robert Chideka	Botswana	BOT	1 May 56
11	16.11.7a	Laxaman Basnet	Nepal	NEP	21 Feb 57
*5000 m*	Men	Heat 2	28 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	13.42.07	El Hachemi Abdenouz	Algeria	ALG	1 Jul 56
2	13.42.62	Mohamed Kedir	Ethiopia	ETH	18 Sep 53
3	13.42.86	Valeriy Abramov	Soviet Union	URS	22 Aug 56
4	13.42.91	Emiel Puttemans	Belgium	BEL	8 Oct 47
5	13.42.96	Dave Moorcroft	Great Britain	GBR	10 Apr 53
6	13.43.04	Jirí Sykora	Czechoslovakia	TCH	1 Jul 54
7	13.43.15	Steve Austin	Australia	AUS	14 Feb 51
8	13.45.20	Martti Vainio	Finland	FIN	30 Dec 50
9	13.49.88	Zakariah Barie	Tanzania	TAN	29 May 53
10	14.02.97	Mick O'Shea	Ireland	IRL	16 Sep 54
11	14.51.34	Bernardo Manuel	Angola	ANG	27 Dec 54
12	15.08.2a	Saleh El Ali	Syria	SYR	14 Jul 56
*5000 m*	Men	Heat 3	28 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	13.44.95	Markus Ryffel	Switzerland	SUI	5 Feb 55
2	13.45.37	Suleiman Nyambui	Tanzania	TAN	13 Feb 53
3	13.45.39	Eamonn Coghlan	Ireland	IRL	24 Nov 52
4	13.45.64	Dietmar Millonig	Austria	AUT	1 Jun 55
5	13.45.77	Yohannes Mohamed	Ethiopia	ETH	21 Jan 48
6	13.45.78	Kaarlo Maaninka	Finland	FIN	25 Dec 53
7	13.46.28	Barry Smith	Great Britain	GBR	16 Apr 53
8	13.52.34	Enn Sellik	Soviet Union	URS	10 Dec 54
9	13.59.85	Rachid Habchaoui	Algeria	ALG	4 Jul 50
10	14.06.70	Zephaniah Ncube	Zimbabwe	ZIM	10 Jan 57
11	15.11.9a	Pedro Mulomo	Mozambique	MOZ	54
12	15.44.0a	Amadou Alimi	Benin	BEN