Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres team race

The men's 5000 metres team race was the final track and field event on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was the first time that a team race was held at the Olympics. It was held on July 22, 1900.

Men's 5000 metres team race
at the Games of the II Olympiad
Charles Bennett, who finished first to lead the AAA team to victory
VenueBois de Boulogne
DateJuly 22
Competitors10 from 3 nations
Winning score26
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Amateur Athletic Association of England
 Mixed team
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Racing Club de France
 France

Two teams of five athletes competed: Racing Club de France from France and a team representing the Amateur Athletic Association of England, composed of four British athletes and Stan Rowley of Australia.

The AAA team won the competition by 26 points to 29 despite Rowley being unable to finish due to injury.

Background

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This was the first Olympic team race, but the only time the event was held at a distance of 5000 metres. The distance would vary at 4 miles in 1904 and 3 miles in 1908, before consistency was reached beginning in 1912, with the 3000 metres distance used that year as well as in 1920 and 1924.

After 1924, the team race was then removed from the program, and has not featured again since.

Competition format

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The event consisted of a single heat in which each of the ten runners completed ten laps of the 500 metre track. Runners scored points for their team equal to their place in the race, with the team with the lowest number of points winning.

Records

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This was the first major international 5000 metre race with team scoring, and one of the first major 5000 metres races in history overall.

Though the distance was relatively new, the fastest time recorded over a comparable distance was 15:54 for 314 miles (5230m), which was a split time in a 4-mile race by Walter George in 1884: though a specific 5000m split was not taken, this pace converts to about 15:12 for a 5000m.[1]

World record   Walter George (GBR) 15:54 (314 miles) London 17 May 1884 [2]
Olympic record N/A

Charles Bennett set the de facto Olympic and World records for the event in the competition, winning in 15:29.2.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Sunday, 22 July 1900 Final

Results

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Rimmer and Bennett led the entire way, followed by the first three Frenchmen not far behind. Tysoe and Robinson kept pace with Castanet and Champoudry in the third bunch of runners, while Rowley had been injured and began walking after completing the first lap.

Bennett pulled away from Rimmer in the final sprint, being followed by the first three Frenchmen.

When Champoudry crossed the finish line in ninth place, the injured Rowley finished his seventh lap, and was by now clearly in pain. While the rules of the event had stated that all five team members were required to finish for the team to score, race officials conceded it would be pointless for Rowley to walk the final 1500 metres, and allowed him to retire.

Individual standings

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Rank Athlete Team Nation Time Points
1 Charles Bennett Amateur Athletic Association of England   Mixed team 15:29.2 1
2 John Rimmer Amateur Athletic Association of England   Mixed team Unknown 2
3 Henri Deloge Racing Club de France   France Unknown 3
4 Gaston Ragueneau Racing Club de France   France Unknown 4
5 Jacques Chastanié Racing Club de France   France Unknown 5
6 Sidney Robinson Amateur Athletic Association of England   Mixed team Unknown 6
7 Alfred Tysoe Amateur Athletic Association of England   Mixed team Unknown 7
8 André Castanet Racing Club de France   France Unknown 8
9 Michel Champoudry Racing Club de France   France Unknown 9
Stan Rowley Amateur Athletic Association of England   Mixed team DNF 10

Team standings

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Rank Team Nation Points
  Amateur Athletic Association of England   Mixed team 26
  Racing Club de France   France 29

References

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  1. ^ "2015 Progression of IAAF World Records" (PDF). p. 85. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  2. ^ "2015 Progression of IAAF World Records" (PDF). p. 85. Retrieved 18 July 2023.