2011 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 5000 metres
The men's 5000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on September 1 and 4.
Jake Robertson of New Zealand was added to the [|final] field at the judges' discretion after twice being pushed in his qualifying race.
The tactical final was almost full contact, with a pack of 14 staying close into the penultimate lap. Galen Rupp tried to take the kick out early. As the pack began to break up, Eliud Kipchoge went down while the leaders began to string out the field. Mo Farah led through the final lap as a host of Kenyan and finally Ethiopian athletes Imane Merga and Dejen Gebremeskel took a charge at him. Bernard Lagat worked his way through the traffic, coming up behind the final two Ethiopian runners pulling past them in lane 3 on the final straight. Lagat couldn't catch Farah. Merga finished in third but was later disqualified for stepping on the curb, giving the bronze to Gebremeskel.
Medalists
Records
Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:| World record | 12:37.35 | Hengelo, Netherlands | 31 May 2004 | |
| Championship record | 12:52.79 | Paris, France | 31 August 2003 | |
| World leading | 12:53.11 | Monaco | 22 July 2011 | |
| African record | 12:37.35 | Hengelo, Netherlands | 31 May 2004 | |
| Asian record | 12:51.98 | Rome, Italy | 14 July 2006 | |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | 12:53.60 | Monaco | 22 July 2011 | |
| South American record | 13:19.43 | Kassel, Germany | 8 June 2006 | |
| European record | 12:49.71 | Brussels, Belgium | 25 August 2000 | |
| Oceanian record | 12:55.76 | London, Great Britain | 30 July 2004 |
Qualification standards
Schedule
Results
Heats
Qualification: First 5 in each heat and the next 5 fastest advance to the final.| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Bernard Lagat | 13:33.90 | Q | |
| 2 | 1 | Thomas Longosiwa | 13:34.46 | Q | |
| 3 | 1 | Dejen Gebremeskel | 13:34.48 | Q | |
| 4 | 1 | Isaiah Kiplangat Koech | 13:34.54 | Q | |
| 5 | 1 | Galen Rupp | 13:34.91 | Q | |
| 6 | 1 | Hussain Jamaan Alhamdah | 13:35.47 | q | |
| 7 | 1 | Bilisuma Shugi | 13:35.86 | q | |
| 8 | 2 | Imane Merga | 13:37.96 | Q | |
| 9 | 2 | Mo Farah | 13:38.03 | Q | |
| 10 | 2 | Abera Kuma | 13:38.41 | Q | |
| 11 | 2 | Eliud Kipchoge | 13:39.02 | Q | |
| 12 | 2 | Alistair Cragg | 13:39.36 | Q | |
| 13 | 1 | Daniele Meucci | 13:39.90 | q | |
| 14 | 2 | Amanuel Mesel | 13:39.97 | q | |
| 15 | 2 | Jesús España | 13:40.38 | q | |
| 16 | 2 | Abraham Kiplimo | 13:44.09 | ||
| 17 | 2 | Andrew Bumbalough | 13:44.38 | ||
| 18 | 1 | Javier Carriqueo | 13:47.51 | ||
| 19 | 1 | Collis Birmingham | 13:47.88 | ||
| 20 | 2 | Elroy Gelant | 13:48.33 | ||
| 21 | 1 | Mumin Gala | 13:48.19 | ||
| 22 | 1 | Rui Silva | 13:50.16 | ||
| 23 | 2 | Ben St Lawrence | 13:51.64 | ||
| 24 | 2 | Jake Robertson | 13:53.57 | q | |
| 25 | 2 | Geofrey Kusuro | 13:54.58 | ||
| 26 | 1 | Craig Mottram | 13:56.60 | ||
| 27 | 2 | Dejene Regassa | 13:56.83 | ||
| 28 | 2 | Sylvain Rukundo | 13:58.92 | ||
| 29 | 2 | Rabah Aboud | 14:00.34 | ||
| 30 | 1 | Moses Kibet | 14:05.15 | ||
| 31 | 1 | Goitom Kifle | 14:06.42 | ||
| 32 | 2 | Gérard Gahungu | 14:09.15 | PB | |
| 33 | 2 | Kazuya Watanabe | 14:20.64 | ||
| 34 | 2 | Baek Seung-ho | 15:01.37 | ||
| 35 | 1 | Abdishakur Nageye Abdulle | 15:13.64 | PB | |
| 36 | 2 | Christian Ngningba | 18:44.06 | PB | |
| 2 | Abdullah Abdulaziz Aljoud | ||||
| 1 | Francisco Javier Alves | ||||
| 1 | Mounir Miout | ||||
| 1 | Kenenisa Bekele | ||||
| 1 | Adrian Blincoe |
Final
- Ethiopia's Imane Merga was originally awarded the bronze medal, but he was later disqualified for having stepped onto the curb of the running track. His teammate Dejen Gebremeskel was elevated to the bronze medal as a result.