1978 European Athletics Championships – Men's 5000 metres

Events at the 1978 European Athletics Championships
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men		women
3000 m				women
5000 m		men
10,000 m		men
100 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men		women
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men		women
Road events
Marathon		men
20 km walk		men
50 km walk		men
Field events
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men
Javelin throw		men		women
Combined events
Pentathlon				women
Decathlon		men

The men's 5000 metres at the 1978 European Athletics Championships was held in Praha, then Czechoslovakia, at Stadion Evžena Rošického on 31 August and 2 September 1978.

Medalists

Gold	Venanzio Ortis Italy
Silver	Markus Ryffel Switzerland
Silver	Aleksandr Fedotkin Soviet Union

Results

Final

2 September

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Venanzio Ortis	Italy	13:28.52
	Markus Ryffel	Switzerland	13:28.60
	Aleksandr Fedotkin	Soviet Union	13:28.60
4	John Treacy	Ireland	13:28.83
5	Ilie Floroiu	Romania	13:29.27
6	Martti Vainio	Finland	13:29.67
7	Nick Rose	United Kingdom	13:32.8
8	Enn Sellik	Soviet Union	13:35.8
9	Boris Kuznetsov	Soviet Union	13:36.5
10	Frank Zimmermann	West Germany	13:39.1
11	Léon Schots	Belgium	13:47.4
12	Jörg Peter	East Germany	13:48.6
13	Karl Fleschen	West Germany	13:50.3
14	Christoph Herle	West Germany	13:55.4
15	Fernando Mamede	Portugal	13:58.2

Heats

31 August

Heat 1

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Frank Zimmermann	West Germany	13:32.42	Q
2	Martti Vainio	Finland	13:33.6	Q
3	Léon Schots	Belgium	13:34.1	Q
4	Jörg Peter	East Germany	13:34.3	Q
5	Boris Kuznetsov	Soviet Union	13:34.8	q
6	Brendan Foster	United Kingdom	13:38.3
7	Knut Kvalheim	Norway	13:43.6
8	Radhouane Bouster	France	14:09.3
9	John Charvetto	Gibraltar	14:18.4	NR
	Karel Gaba	Czechoslovakia	DNF

Heat 2

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Karl Fleschen	West Germany	13:34.45	Q
2	Fernando Mamede	Portugal	13:34.8	Q
3	Nick Rose	United Kingdom	13:35.7	Q
4	Enn Sellik	Soviet Union	13:36.2	Q
5	Gerard Tebroke	Netherlands	13:37.0
6	Fernando Cerrada	Spain	13:40.4
7	Pierre Levisse	France	13:44.1
8	Stanislav Tábor	Czechoslovakia	13:45.0
9	Dietmar Millonig	Austria	13:50.4
10	Necdet Ayaz	Turkey	13:55.7
	Justin Gloden	Luxembourg	DNF

Heat 3

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Aleksandr Fedotkin	Soviet Union	13:24.10	Q
2	Markus Ryffel	Switzerland	13:24.71	Q
3	Venanzio Ortis	Italy	13:26.67	Q
4	John Treacy	Ireland	13:28.85	Q
5	Christoph Herle	West Germany	13:30.59	q
6	Ilie Floroiu	Romania	13:32.5	q
7	Mike McLeod	United Kingdom	13:42.9
8	Jerzy Kowol	Poland	13:49.1
9	Aniceto Simões	Portugal	13:52.1
10	Willy Polleunis	Belgium	14:24.5
	Klaas Lok	Netherlands	DNF

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 32 athletes from 21 countries participated in the event.

• Austria (1)
• Belgium (2)
• Czechoslovakia (2)
• East Germany (1)
• Finland (1)
• France (2)

• Gibraltar (1)
• Ireland (1)
• Italy (1)
• Luxembourg (1)
• Netherlands (2)

• Norway (1)
• Poland (1)
• Portugal (2)
• Romania (1)
• Soviet Union (3)

• Spain (1)
• Switzerland (1)
• Turkey (1)
• United Kingdom (3)
• West Germany (3)