Women · World record

5000 Metres

The current record and its documented progression: 27 ratified records from 1969 to 2025, with 1 rescinded shown in place.

Current record

13:58.06

Beatrice ChebetKENEugene · 5 Jul 2025

1 year standing2.15 s improvementAll-time top 50 →

Record progression

Each step is a documented record; red marks the fully automatic timing era; hollow marks were rescinded, not ratified or are pending

1969 · 16:17.4 Paola Pigni1969 · 15:53.6 Paola Pigni1977 · 15:41.4 Natalia Mărășescu1977 · 15:37.0 Janice Merrill1978 · 15:35.52 Kathy Mills1978 · 15:08.8 Loa Olafsson1979 · 15:33.8 Janice Merrill1980 · 15:30.6 Janice Merrill1981 · 15:28.43 Ingrid Kristiansen1981 · 15:24.6 Yelena Sipatova1981 · 15:14.51 Paula Fudge1982 · 15:13.22 Anne Audain1982 · 15:08.26 Mary Tabb1984 · 15:01.83 Zola Budd (Rescinded)1984 · 14:58.89 Ingrid Kristiansen1985 · 14:48.07 Zola Budd1986 · 14:37.33 Ingrid Kristiansen1995 · 14:36.45 Fernanda Ribeiro1997 · 14:31.27 Dong Yanmei1997 · 14:28.09 Jiang Bo2004 · 14:24.68 Elvan Abeylegesse2006 · 14:24.53 Meseret Defar2007 · 14:16.63 Meseret Defar2008 · 14:11.15 Tirunesh Dibaba2020 · 14:06.62 Letesenbet Gidey2023 · 14:05.20 Faith Kipyegon2023 · 14:00.21 Gudaf Tsegay2025 · 13:58.06 Beatrice Chebet 13:58.0616:17.40

19691980 · Merrill 15:30.61984 · Kristiansen 14:58.892006 · Defar 14:24.532025 · Chebet 13:58.06

Documented records

27 ratified · 1 rescinded · most recent first · Wikipedia (EN) revision 1352820146, imported 2 Sep 2026

MarkAthleteNationVenueDateStood
15:24.6 Yelena Sipatova URS Podolsk, Soviet Union 6 Sep 1981 7 d
15:30.6 Janice Merrill USA Stanford, United States 22 Mar 1980 1 yr
15:33.8 Janice Merrill USA Durham, United States 19 May 1979 308 d
15:08.8 Loa Olafsson DEN Sollerod, Denmark 30 May 1978 354 d
15:37.0 Janice Merrill USA Mainz, Germany 11 Jul 1977 319 d
15:41.4 Natalia Mărășescu ROU Oradea, Romania 16 Mar 1977 117 d
15:53.6 Paola Pigni ITA Milan, Italy 2 Sep 1969 7 yrs
16:17.4 Paola Pigni ITA Formia, Italy 11 May 1969 114 d

Rows link to a profile only where the athlete appears on a published list. Struck marks were rescinded or never ratified, and A marks a performance at altitude; both come from the source article's own key and markers, and eras are kept as it lists them. Nothing is inferred.