Women's 5000m world record history
Before the official world record era, Italian Paolo Pigni ran 16:17.4 at Formia in 1969 which she improved to 15:53.6 four months later in Milan. It lasted eight years but the mark (regarded as a world best rather than a record due to its infrequency) then gradually came down:
15:41.4 - Natalia Maracescu (ROM), Oradea 1977
15:37.0 - Janice Merrill (USA), Ingleheim 1977
15:35.52 - Kathy Mills (USA), Knoxville 1978
15:33.8 - Merrill, Durham 1979
15:30.6 - Merrill, Stanford 1980
15:28.43 - Ingrid Christensen (NOR), Oslo 1981
15:24.6 - Yelena Sipatova (URS), Podolsk 1981
It’s worth noting that Christensen is the maiden name of Ingrid Kristiansen and that Dane Loa Olafsson ran 15:08.8 in a mixed race in 1978.
The first official IAAF world record at 5000m was set by Britain’s Paula Fudge (the 1978 Commonwealth 3000m champion) with 15:14.51 at Knarvik in 1981 and she beat Kristiansen by 15 seconds.
It lasted six months until Kiwi Anne Audain, who was to later in the year inherit Fudge’s Commonwealth title by beating AW’s very own Wendy Sly, ran 15:13.22.
Three months later American Mary Tabb (better known as Mary Decker or Slaney) took five more seconds off with 15:08.26, with Fudge finishing second (15:19.63).
Zola Budd, who was to have a famous clash with Slaney at the 1984 Olympic 3000m, ran an unratified solo 15:01.83 in Stellenbosch in South Africa in January.
Kristiansen came back in the picture in Oslo 1984 when she ran a historic 14:58.89 but it needed a hard 33.3 last 200m to get inside the 15-minute-barrier.
The record lasted a year, until at Crystal Palace the Norwegian improved to 14:57.43 but she was well beaten by Budd, who was now running as a Briton and clocked 14:48.07.
A year later Kristiansen responded to take a massive 11 seconds off the mark with a sensational 14:37.33 at Stockholm in a race she won by 90 seconds.
The record was so good it lasted nine years. It fell in Hechtel in 1995 when 1996 Olympic 10,000m champion-to-be Fernanda Ribiero edged the record by running 14:36.45. She was chased home by Elana Meyer (14:44.05) and Liz McColgan (14:59.56).
Two years later in the Chinese National Games heat at Shanghai, Dong Yanmei ran 14:31.27 to finish a fraction ahead of Jiang Bo (14:31.30) who was also inside the previous world record, as was third placer Liu Shixiang (14:32.33).
Two days later in the final Jiang Bo gained her revenge as she ran 14:28.09, with this time Dong Yanmei (14:29.82) also breaking the old mark!
Seven years later Elvan Abeylegesse, an Ethiopian-born Turk, ran 14:24.68 at Bergen in Norway. In second Tirunesh Dibaba ran a world junior record of 14:30.88.
In sixth in 14:58.79 was Meseret Defar, who went on to win the Olympic 5000m ahead of Dibaba who was third, as Abeylegesse blew up and finished 12th.
Two years later in New York, Defar added world record-holder to her resume as she ran 14:24.53 with a notable 61.6 final lap.
The following year, Defar went to Oslo and ran a more even pace and she won in 14:16.63 as Vivian Cheruiyot went inside the old record with a Kenyan record 14:22.51.
Oslo was also the scene for the next record and one that would last for a record 12 years until this evening’s race at Valencia.
There Dibaba, many people’s choice as the greatest female distance runner of all-time, ran 14:11.15 as she won by 22 seconds from Lucy Wangui.
Despite the record she was not happy and blamed the pacing for having to run a 2:42 final kilometre to get the record.
Click here to read more about Letesenbet Gidey's world record of 14:06.62 run in Valencia.
(Lead photo by Mark Shearman)
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