| Landmarks |
First under 15
min: 14:36.6 Hannes Kolehmainen FIN 1912
First under 14 min: 13:58.2 Gunder Hägg SWE 1942
First under 13:30: 13:25.8 Ron Clarke AUS 1965
First under 13 min: 12:58.39 Said Aouita MAR 1987
First under 12:45: 12:44.39 Haile Gebrselassie ETH 1995Subsequent record progression:
12:41.86 Haile Gebrselassie 1997
12:39.74 Daniel Komen KEN 1997
12:39.36 Haile Gebrselassie 1998
Most durable world record: 13:58.2 Gunder Hägg 1942 (11
years)
Most times under 13:00: Haile Gebrselassie 15 (as at 24 Aug 2000) |
| Superlatives |
Most Olympic
titles: 2 Lasse Viren FIN 1972/1976
Most World titles: 2 Ismael Kirui KEN 1993/1995
Youngest Olympic/World champion: Ismael Kirui 1993 (18)
Oldest: Miruts Yifter ETH 1980 (36) |
| Three all time greats |
 Paavo Nurmi (FIN): Among nine
Olympic titles he won was the 5000m in 1924 which, astonishingly, came less than an hour
after he had triumphed in the 1500m! |
 Ron Clarke (AUS): A prolific world
record breaker at all distances from 2 miles to the hour, and the first to break 13:30 for
5000m and 28:00 for 10,000m, he never succeeded in winning a major title. |
 Said Aouita (MAR): The first man to
break 13 minutes and Olympic champion in 1984, he was unbeaten at the distance for ten
years and established world records also at 1500m, 2000m and 3000m. |
|
 |
|
|
|
