| Event: | Men's 5000 metres |
| Games: | 1968 Summer |
| Venue: | Estadio Olímpico Universitario |
| Date: | October 15–17 |
| Competitors: | 39 |
| Nations: | 25 |
| Gold: | Mohammed Gammoudi |
| Goldnoc: | TUN |
| Silver: | Kipchoge Keino |
| Silvernoc: | KEN |
| Bronze: | Naftali Temu |
| Bronzenoc: | KEN |
| Win Value: | 14:05.0 |
| Longnames: | yes |
| Prev: | 1964 |
| Next: | 1972 |
The Men's 5000 metres competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. The event was held at the University Olympic Stadium on October 15–17.[1]
The Men's 5000m competition consisted of three heats (Round 1) and a Final. The top five runners from each heat advanced to the final.
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
| World record | 13:16.6 | Stockholm, Sweden | July 5, 1966 | ||
| Olympic record | 13:39.6 | Melbourne, Australia | November 26, 1956 |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14:28.4 | Q | |||
| 2 | 14:29.0 | Q | |||
| 3 | 14:29.8 | Q | |||
| 4 | 14:31.8 | Q | |||
| 5 | 14:34.6 | Q | |||
| 6 | 14:41.0 | ||||
| 7 | 14:44.0 | ||||
| 8 | 14:46.6 | ||||
| 9 | 15:00.8 | ||||
| 10 | 15:13.0 | ||||
| 11 | 15:13.6 | ||||
| 12 | 15:46.2 | ||||
| 13 | 17:33.0 | ||||
| 14 | 18:21.6 |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14:20.4 | Q | |||
| 2 | 14:20.8 | Q | |||
| 3 | 14:27.0 | Q | |||
| 4 | 14:31.0 | Q | |||
| 5 | 14:38.8 | Q | |||
| 6 | 14:54.0 | ||||
| 7 | 15:06.2 | ||||
| 8 | 15:08.2 | ||||
| 9 | 15:10.2 | ||||
| 10 | 15:13.8 | ||||
| 11 | 15:20.8 | ||||
| 12 | 15:41.4 | ||||
| 13 | 17:10.2 | ||||
| 14 | 18:40.2 |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean Wadoux | 14:19.8 | Q | ||
| 2 | Juan Máximo Martínez | 14:20.0 | Q | ||
| 3 | Harald Norpoth | 14:20.6 | Q | ||
| 4 | Rex Maddaford | 14:20.8 | Q | ||
| 5 | Fikru Deguefu | 14:21.6 | Q | ||
| 6 | Bob Day | 14:23.2 | |||
| 7 | Leonid Mykytenko | 14:44.0 | |||
| 8 | Allan Rushmer | 15:05.2 | |||
| 9 | Julio Quevedo | 15:23.0 | |||
| Dave Ellis | |||||
| Roland Brehmer |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Gammoudi | 14:05.0 | |||
| Kipchoge Keino | 14:05.2 | |||
| Naftali Temu | 14:06.4 | |||
| 4 | Juan Máximo Martínez | 14:10.8 | ||
| 5 | Ron Clarke | 14:12.4 | ||
| 6 | Wohib Masresha | 14:17.6 | ||
| 7 | Nikolay Sviridov | 14:18.4 | ||
| 8 | Fikru Deguefu | 14:19.0 | ||
| 9 | Jean Wadoux | 14:20.8 | ||
| 10 | Rex Maddaford | 14:39.8 | ||
| 11 | Bob Finlay | 14:45.0 | ||
| 12 | Emiel Puttemans | 14:59.6 | ||
| Harald Norpoth |
Notes: Q- Qualified by place
DNF - Did Not Finish