10,000 metres at the World Athletics Championships

The 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by men since the inaugural edition in 1983 and by women since the subsequent edition in 1987. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 10,000 metres at the Olympics. The competition format is a straight final with typically between twenty and thirty participants. Before 1999, the event had two qualifying heats leading to a final.

GenderMen and women

Years heldMen: 1983 – 2023
Women: 1987 – 2023

Men26:46.31 Kenenisa Bekele (2009)

Women30:04.18 Berhane Adere (2003)

Quick facts 10,000 metres at the World Athletics Championships, Overview ...

10,000 metres at the World Athletics Championships
Ibrahim Jeilan and Mo Farah in the 2013 men's final
Overview
Gender	Men and women
Years held	Men: 1983 – 2023 Women: 1987 – 2023
Championship record
Men	26:46.31 Kenenisa Bekele (2009)
Women	30:04.18 Berhane Adere (2003)
Reigning champion
Men	Jimmy Gressier (FRA)
Women	Beatrice Chebet (KEN)

Close

The championship records for the event are 26:46.31 minutes for men, set by Kenenisa Bekele in 2009, and 30:04.18 minutes for women, set by Berhane Adere in 2003.^[1] The world record has never been broken or equalled at the competition by either men or women, reflecting the lack of pacemaking and athletes' more tactical approach to championship races.^[2]

Haile Gebrselassie is the most successful athlete of the event with four gold medals and also a silver and a bronze, spanning a period from 1993 to 2003. His Ethiopian compatriot Kenenisa Bekele matched his feat of four consecutive titles in 2009. Tirunesh Dibaba is the most successful woman, with three gold medals to her name (2005, 2007, 2013, plus a silver in 2017).

Ethiopia is by far the most successful nation in the discipline, with fifteen gold medals and 33 medals in total. Kenya is comfortably the next most successful with seven gold and 25 medals overall. Great Britain and Uganda are the only other nation to have won multiple gold medals, with three in the men's and one in the women's division for Great Britain.

Four winners of the 10,000 m have completed a long-distance double by also winning the 5000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics: Tirunesh Dibaba was the first to do so in 2005, Kenenisa Bekele became the first man to do so in 2009, and Vivian Cheruiyot (2011) and Mo Farah (2013/2015) followed at the subsequent editions. Of these, only Mo Farah has achieved the feat twice, in 2013 and 2015 - either side of which he performed the same feat in consecutive Olympic Games.

One athlete, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, has completed a rare 10,000 metres - 1500 metres double, in 2019.