Host City: Atlanta, United States |
Format: Top four in each heat and next three fastest advanced to the final. |
Date Started: July 26, 1996 |
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Date Finished: July 28, 1996 |
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(Competitors: 46; Countries: 25; Finalists: 15) |
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Venue(s): Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
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Overview by IAAF |
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Fearsome finisher Sonia O’Sullivan (IRL), the World Champion, and Gabriela Szabo (ROU) were the favourites, but Szabo ran poorly in her heat and was eliminated. The same fate befell Mary Slaney (USA), who had made the US team 23 years after first competing for her country. Slaney’s result was later annulled when a doping violation earlier in 1996 was confirmed. O’Sullivan set the inaugural Olympic record with 15:15.80, but the fastest in the heats was Konga who ran 15:07.01. The lead changed hands a number of times in the early stages of the final, but Konga led at 1000m (3:06.2), 2000m (6:08.9) and 3000m (9:08.02) points. O’Sullivan had held second place in the early stages, but was soon suffering in the heat (28°C) and eventually dropped out. Konga continued to lead, with only Wang able to keep in contact. The 3000m and 10,000m world record holder struck with two laps to go. Her penultimate circuit took 67.5 seconds and gave her a 30m margin. Wang eased down in the last lap, saving herself for the m. |
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Summary by Sports-reference.com |
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After three Olympics in which the women had run 3,000 metres as a shorter distance race, the event was moved up to 5,000 metres in 1996, putting them on a par with the men. The 1995 Worlds had been conducted at 5K, won by Sonia O'Sullivan, but the European Championship would not move up to 5,000 until 1998. O'Sullivan had also won the 1994 European 3K and was favored with Romania's Gabriela Szabo. Mary Decker-Slaney (USA) was back, still trying for an Olympic medal after her trauma in 1984 and failure in the 1988 final. But she would not get out of the heats. O'Sullivan did not run well in the Atlanta heat and dropped out of the final. Kenya's Pauline Konga took the lead at 1,000 and held it until two laps to go when Wang Junxia passed her in the decisive move. Wang held on to win the gold medal, Konga not really challenging her on the last lap, but Konga did get the silver medal. |
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Results |
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5000 m |
Women |
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Final |
28 July |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
1 |
14.59.88 |
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Wang Junxia |
China |
CHN |
9 Jan 73 |
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2 |
15.03.49 |
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Pauline Konga |
Kenya |
KEN |
10 Apr 70 |
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3 |
15.07.52 |
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Roberta Brunet |
Italy |
ITA |
20 May 65 |
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4 |
15.09.05 |
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Michiko Shimizu |
Japan |
JPN |
22 Sep 70 |
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5 |
15.13.11 |
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Paula Radcliffe |
Great Britain |
GBR |
17 Dec 73 |
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6 |
15.14.09 |
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Yelena Romanova |
Russia |
RUS |
20 Mar 63 |
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7 |
15.16.71 |
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Elena Fidatov |
Romania |
ROU |
24 Jul 60 |
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8 |
15.17.33 |
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Rose Cheruiyot |
Kenya |
KEN |
21 Jul 76 |
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9 |
15.17.50 |
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Lynn Jennings |
United States |
USA |
1 Jul 60 |
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10 |
15.19.77 |
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Amy Rudolph |
United States |
USA |
18 Sep 73 |
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11 |
15.22.98 |
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Sara Wedlund |
Sweden |
SWE |
27 Dec 75 |
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12 |
15.28.81 |
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Ayelech Worku |
Ethiopia |
ETH |
12 Jun 79 |
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13 |
15.29.11 |
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Anne Hare |
New Zealand |
NZL |
7 Jun 64 |
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14 |
15.44.40 |
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Anita Weyermann |
Switzerland |
SUI |
8 Dec 77 |
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DNF |
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Sonia O'Sullivan |
Ireland |
IRL |
28 Nov 69 |
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5000 m |
Women |
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Heat 1 |
26 July |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
1 |
15.15.80 |
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Sonia O'Sullivan |
Ireland |
IRL |
28 Nov 69 |
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2 |
15.17.89 |
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Elena Fidatov |
Romania |
ROU |
24 Jul 60 |
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3 |
15.19.66 |
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Lynn Jennings |
United States |
USA |
1 Jul 60 |
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4 |
15.19.91 |
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Anita Weyermann |
Switzerland |
SUI |
8 Dec 77 |
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5 |
15.20.61 |
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Sara Wedlund |
Sweden |
SWE |
27 Dec 75 |
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6 |
15.22.31 |
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Anne Hare |
New Zealand |
NZL |
7 Jun 64 |
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7 |
15.37.73 |
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Petra Wassiluk |
Germany |
GER |
27 Oct 69 |
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8 |
15.40.41 |
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Yang Siju |
China |
CHN |
19 Apr 73 |
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9 |
15.41.63 |
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Roseli Machado |
Brazil |
BRA |
27 Dec 68 |
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10 |
15.49.85 |
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Lydia Cheromei |
Kenya |
KEN |
11 May 77 |
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11 |
15.50.43 |
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Harumi Hiroyama |
Japan |
JPN |
2 Sep 68 |
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12 |
15.59.42 |
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Marisa Martínez |
Spain |
ESP |
28 Dec 72 |
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13 |
16.04.29 |
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Luchia Yisak |
Ethiopia |
ETH |
8 Apr 73 |
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14 |
16.17.83 |
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Kate Richardson |
Australia |
AUS |
5 Nov 73 |
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15 |
16.24.74 |
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Alison Wyeth |
Great Britain |
GBR |
26 May 64 |
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16 |
19.17.87 |
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Rachida Mahamane |
Niger |
NIG |
25 Sep 81 |
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5000 m |
Women |
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Heat 2 |
26 July |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
1 |
15.22.58 |
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Roberta Brunet |
Italy |
ITA |
20 May 65 |
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2 |
15.23.56 |
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Michiko Shimizu |
Japan |
JPN |
22 Sep 70 |
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3 |
15.23.90 |
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Paula Radcliffe |
Great Britain |
GBR |
17 Dec 73 |
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4 |
15.24.28 |
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Wang Junxia |
China |
CHN |
9 Jan 73 |
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5 |
15.26.87 |
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Rose Cheruiyot |
Kenya |
KEN |
21 Jul 76 |
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6 |
15.28.35 |
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Claudia Lokar |
Germany |
GER |
9 Feb 64 |
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7 |
15.47.50 |
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Kathy Butler |
Canada |
CAN |
22 Oct 73 |
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8 |
15.48.35 |
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Merima Denboba |
Ethiopia |
ETH |
21 Aug 74 |
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9 |
15.56.38 |
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Nina Christiansen |
Denmark |
DEN |
7 Jun 64 |
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10 |
15.57.35 |
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Ana Dias |
Portugal |
POR |
15 Jan 74 |
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11 |
15.58.28 |
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Stela Olteanu |
Romania |
ROU |
25 Feb 72 |
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12 |
15.59.00 |
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Jeļena Prokopčuka |
Latvia |
LAT |
21 Sep 76 |
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13 |
15.59.12 |
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Marie Davenport |
Ireland |
IRL |
24 Jan 75 |
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14 |
16.06.45 |
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Natalie Harvey |
Australia |
AUS |
19 Jan 75 |
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DQ |
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Mary Slaney |
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5000 m |
Women |
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Heat 3 |
26 July |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
1 |
15.07.01 |
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Pauline Konga |
Kenya |
KEN |
10 Apr 70 |
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2 |
15.21.59 |
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Ayelech Worku |
Ethiopia |
ETH |
12 Jun 79 |
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3 |
15.21.90 |
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Amy Rudolph |
United States |
USA |
18 Sep 73 |
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4 |
15.23.37 |
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Yelena Romanova |
Russia |
RUS |
20 Mar 63 |
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5 |
15.33.49 |
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Wei Li |
China |
CHN |
29 Jun 72 |
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6 |
15.33.63 |
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Silvia Sommaggio |
Italy |
ITA |
20 Nov 69 |
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7 |
15.42.35 |
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Gabriela Szabo |
Romania |
ROU |
14 Nov 75 |
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8 |
15.48.63 |
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Cristina Petite |
Spain |
ESP |
10 May 72 |
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9 |
15.55.03 |
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Zahra Ouaziz |
Morocco |
MAR |
20 Dec 69 |
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10 |
15.55.66 |
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Katy McCandless |
Ireland |
IRL |
22 Jun 70 |
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11 |
15.57.67 |
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Irina Mikitenko |
Kazakhstan |
KAZ |
23 Aug 72 |
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12 |
15.58.90 |
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Yoshiko Ichikawa |
Japan |
JPN |
18 Apr 76 |
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13 |
16.01.92 |
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Sonia McGeorge |
Great Britain |
GBR |
2 Nov 64 |
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14 |
16.24.49 |
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Robyn Meagher |
Canada |
CAN |
17 Jun 67 |
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15 |
16.42.78 |
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Martha Portobanco |
Nicaragua |
NCA |
29 Jan 71 |
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