The 10,000 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics programme were held at Stadium Australia on Friday 22 September, and Monday 25 September 2000. The winning margin was 0.09 seconds.

Without Haile Gebrselassie, Paul Tergat would have won everything since the previous Olympics. He was the silver medalist in the previous Olympics and the ensuing two world championships. He was the World Cross Country Champion five times in a row in Gebrselassie's absence. The final broke down to a team race, with three Kenyans vs Ethiopians Gebrselassie and Assefa Mezgebu. With a lap to go, John Korir held the lead marked by Gebrselassie, with Tergat marking him. Mezgebu moved from behind Tergat to Gebrselassie's shoulder, boxing Tergat along the rail through the penultimate turn. Down the backstretch, Tergat slowed down a step to get out of the box, then sprinting around the outside, past everyone. The sprint was on. Unlike previous finals, Tergat had the drop on Gebrselassie, making Geb chase, with only Mezgebu able to hold on behind. Down the homestretch both were in full sprint, Tergat ahead, Gebrselassie making progress but not advancing enough to pass. Gebrselassie continued to press, drawing even with less than ten metres to go. Tergat strained, his last several steps losing his balance while Gebrselassie held form to take the gold again.

Records + World and Olympic records prior to the Games World Record 26:22.75 Haile Gebrselassie Ethiopia Hengelo, Netherlands 1 June 1998 Olympic Record 27:07.34 Haile Gebrselassie Ethiopia Atlanta, United States 29 July 1996

Medalists Gold: Silver: Bronze: Haile Gebrselassie, Paul Tergat, Assefa Mezgebu,

Results All times shown are in seconds. Q denotes qualification by place in heat. q denotes qualification by overall place. DNS denotes did not start. DNF denotes did not finish. DQ denotes disqualification. NR denotes national record. OR denotes Olympic record. WR denotes world record. PB denotes personal best. SB denotes season best.

Qualifying heats The top eight runners in each of the initial two heats automatically qualified for the final. The next four fastest runners from across the heats also qualified. There were a total number of 34 participating athletes.

Heat 1 of 2 Date: Friday 22 September 2000 Place Athlete Nation Order Time Qual. Record Heat Overall 1 8 Haile Gebrselassie 2 27:50.01 Q 2 10 Patrick Ivuti 15 27:50.10 Q 3 11 John Korir 7 27:50.19 Q 4 12 Assefa Mezgebu 8 27:50.64 Q 5 16 Toshinari Takaoka 3 27:59.95 Q SB 6 19 Samir Moussaoui 4 28:08.22 Q 7 21 Abdihakim Abdirahman 9 28:09.04 Q 8 22 Enrique Molina 5 28:09.76 Q 9 23 Andres Jones 13 28:11.20 10 24 Armando Quintanilla 11 28:14.54 11 25 Sisay Bezabeh 10 28:21.63 12 27 Sean Kaley 16 28:36.07 13 28 Robert Denmark 1 28:43.74 14 29 Shaun Creighton 12 28:52.71 15 32 Daniele Caimmi 17 29:01.26 16 33 Teodoro Cuñado 14 29:10.90 17 34 Michael Aish 6 29:31.83 Heat 2 of 2 Date: Friday 22 September 2000 Place Athlete Nation Order Time Qual. Record Heat Overall 1 1 Girma Tolla 7 27:44.01 Q 2 2 Paul Tergat 10 27:44.07 Q 3 3 Katsuhiko Hanada 9 27:45.13 Q PB 4 4 Mohammed Mourhit 8 27:45.73 Q 5 5 Said Berioui 11 27:45.83 Q 6 6 Karl Keska 8 27:48:29 Q PB 7 7 David Galván 12 27:49.53 Q 8 9 Aloys Nizigama 2 27:50.09 Q SB 9 13 José Rios 6 27:51.40 q 10 14 José Ramos 13 27:56.30 q PB 11 15 Mebrahtom Keflezighi 15 27:58.96 q 12 17 Rachid Berradi 1 28:01.18 q 13 18 Mauricio Díaz 4 28:05.61 NR 14 20 Yonas Kifle 5 28:08.59 NR 15 26 Jeff Schiebler 3 28:30.46 16 30 Dmitry Maksimov 14 28:54.15 17 31 Alan Culpepper 16 29:00.71

Overall Results Semi-Finals Semi-Finals Overall Results Place Athlete NationHeatOrderPlaceTimeQual.Record 1 Girma Tolla 2 7 1 27:44.01 Q 2 Paul Tergat 2 10 2 27:44.07 Q 3 Katsuhiko Hanada 2 9 3 27:45.13 Q PB 4 Mohammed Mourhit 2 17 4 27:45.73 Q 5 Said Berioui 2 11 5 27:45.83 Q 6 Karl Keska 2 8 6 27:48:29 Q PB 7 David Galván 2 12 7 27:49.53 Q 8 Haile Gebrselassie 1 2 1 27:50.01 Q 9 Aloys Nizigama 2 2 8 27:50.09 Q SB 10 Patrick Ivuti 1 15 2 27:50.10 Q 11 John Korir 1 7 3 27:50.19 Q 12 Assefa Mezgebu 1 8 4 27:50.64 Q 13 José Rios 2 6 9 27:51.40 q 14 José Ramos 2 13 10 27:56.30 q PB 15 Mebrahtom Keflezighi 2 15 11 27:58.96 q 16 Toshinari Takaoka 1 3 6 27:59.95 Q SB 17 Rachid Berradi 2 1 12 28:01.18 q 18 Mauricio Díaz 2 4 13 28:05.61 NR 19 Samir Moussaoui 1 4 6 28:08.22 Q 20 Yonas Kifle 2 5 14 28:08.59 NR 21 Abdihakim Abdirahman 1 9 7 28:09.04 Q 22 Enrique Molina 1 5 8 28:09.76 Q 23 Andres Jones 1 13 9 28:11.20 24 Armando Quintanilla 1 11 10 28:14.54 25 Sisay Bezabeh 1 10 11 28:21.63 26 Jeff Schiebler 2 3 15 28:30.46 27 Sean Kaley 1 16 12 28:36.07 28 Robert Denmark 1 1 13 28:43.74 29 Shaun Creighton 1 12 14 28:52.71 30 Dmitry Maksimov 2 14 16 28:54.15 31 Alan Culpepper 2 16 17 29:00.71 32 Daniele Caimmi 1 17 15 29:01.26 33 Teodoro Cunado 1 14 16 29:10.90 34 Michael Aish 1 6 17 29:31.83

Final

Final Date: Monday 25 September 2000 Time: Place Athlete NationOrderTimeRecord 1 Haile Gebrselassie 19 27:18.20 SB 2 Paul Tergat 8 27:18.29 3 Assefa Mezgebu 2 27:19.75 SB 4 Patrick Ivuti 16 27:20.44 5 John Korir 20 27:24.75 PB 6 Said Berioui 7 27:37.83 SB 7 Toshinari Takaoka 9 27:40.44 PB 8 Karl Keska 6 27:44.09 PB 9 Aloys Nizigama 12 27:44.56 SB 10 Abdihakim Abdirahman 18 27:46.17 PB 11 Girma Tolla 15 27:49.75 12 Mebrahtom Keflezighi 13 27:53.63 PB 13 David Galvan 11 27:54.56 14 Jose Ramos 4 28:07.43 15 Katsuhiko Hanada 17 28:08.11 16 Samir Moussaoui 3 28:17.25 17 Rachid Berradi 10 28:45.96 18 Jose Rios 1 28:50.31 - Enrique Molina 14 DNF - Mohammed Mourhit 5 DNF

References

External links Official Report Full race (broadcast on YouTube)