Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres

Men's 5000 metres
at the Games of the X Olympiad
VenueLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
DatesAugust 2 and August 5
Competitors18 from 11 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Lauri Lehtinen
 Finland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ralph Hill
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Lasse Virtanen
 Finland
← 1928
1936 →

The men's 5000 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1932 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Tuesday, August 2, 1932, and on Friday, August 5, 1932.[1]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1932 Summer Olympics.

World Record 14:17.0 Finland Lauri Lehtinen Helsinki (FIN) June 19, 1932
Olympic Record 14:31.2 Finland Paavo Nurmi Paris (FRA) July 10, 1924

In the final Lauri Lehtinen set a new Olympic record with 14:30.0 minutes.

Results

Semifinals

Both semi-finals were held on Tuesday, August 2, 1932, and started at 4:45 p.m.

The best seven finishers of every heat qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1  Ralph Hill (USA) 14:59.6 Q
2  Lauri Lehtinen (FIN) 15:05.5 Q
3  Jean-Gunnar Lindgren (SWE) 15:06.0 Q
4  Lauri Virtanen (FIN) 15:06.4 Q
5  Billy Savidan (NZL) 15:08.2 Q
6  Alex Hillhouse (AUS) 15:14.0 Q
7  Daniel Dean (USA) 15:19.6 Q
8  George Bailey (GBR)
9  Masamichi Kitamoto (JPN)
10  Juan Morales (MEX) DNF

Semifinal 2

Place Athlete Time Qual.
1  Alec Burns (GBR) 15:25.8 Q
2  Paul Rekers (USA) 15:34.6 Q
3  Erik Pettersson (SWE) 15:36.4 Q
4  Roger Rochard (FRA) 15:37.8 Q
5  Scotty Rankine (CAN) 15:39.6 Q
6  Max Syring (GER) 15:48.5 Q
7  Shoichiro Takenaka (JPN) 15:56.0 Q
8  Valentín González (MEX) 16:00.0

Final

The final was held on Friday, August 5, 1932, and started at 3:15 p.m.

In a controversial move Lehtinen blocked Hill when he tried to pass Lehtinen on the final straight. Both runners broke the Olympic record but Lehtinen finished 30 cm in front.

Place Athlete Time
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Lauri Lehtinen (FIN) 14:30.0 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Ralph Hill (USA) 14:30.0
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Lauri Virtanen (FIN) 14:44.0
4  Billy Savidan (NZL) 14:49.6
5  Jean-Gunnar Lindgren (SWE) 14:54:7
6  Max Syring (GER) 14:59.0
7  Alec Burns (GBR) 15:04.4
8  Daniel Dean (USA) 15:08.5
9  Erik Pettersson (SWE) 15:13.4
10  Alex Hillhouse (AUS) 15:15.0
11  Scotty Rankine (CAN) 15:24.0
12  Shoichiro Takenaka (JPN) 17:20.0
 Paul Rekers (USA) DNF
 Roger Rochard (FRA) DNF

References

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1932 Los Angeles Games: Men's 5000 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2017.