2000 metres facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Athletics 2000 metres
World records
Men	Jakob Ingebrigtsen 4:43.13 (2023)
Women	Francine Niyonsaba 5:21.56 (2021)

The 2000 metres or 2000-metre run is a track running event where five laps are completed around an outdoor 400 m track, or ten laps around a 200 m indoor track - the distance is 11.68 meters short of 1¼ miles.

The global governing body World Athletics recognises official world records for the distance, and it is also recorded in continental and national record settings. The men's world record is held by Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who ran a time of 4:43.13 in 2023, while the women's world record is held by Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba who ran a time of 5:21.56 in 2021.

The distance sparsely features on event programmes of professional one-day track and field meetings, serving as a comparatively novel event with greater scope for record-breaking performances. It is also used at lower-level competitions, such as school and youth tournaments. Since 2017, a 2000-metre run is one of the events held to test the fitness of potential draftees at the AFL Draft Combine.

Despite its world record status, it has not yet featured as a world championship level event indoors or outdoors; however, the event was briefly held at national level in the mid-1960s at the Spanish Indoor and Soviet Indoor Athletics Championships.

Records

World records

Division	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place
Men	4:43.13	Jakob Ingebrigtsen	Norway	8 September 2023	Brussels
Women	5:21.56	Francine Niyonsaba	Burundi	14 September 2021	Zagreb

Continental records

Area	Men's time	Men's athlete	Men's nationality	Women's time	Women's athlete	Women's nationality
African	4:44.79	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	5:21.56	Francine Niyonsaba	Burundi
Asian	4:55.57	Mohamed Suleiman	Qatar	5:29.41	Wang Junxia	China
European	4:43.13	Jakob Ingebrigtsen	Norway	5:25.36	Sonia O'Sullivan	Ireland
North, Central American and Caribbean	4:51.54	Charles Philibert-Thiboutot	Canada	5:32.7	Mary Slaney	United States
Oceanian	4:50.76	Craig Mottram	Australia	5:37.71	Benita Willis	Australia
South American	5:03.34	Hudson de Souza	Brazil	5:59.96	Niusha Mancilla	Bolivia

All-time top 25

Men (outdoor)

• Correct as of December 2023.

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref
1	1	4:43.13	Jakob Ingebrigtsen	Norway	8 September 2023	Brussels
2	2	4:44.79	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	7 September 1999	Berlin
3	3	4:46.88	Ali Saïdi-Sief	Algeria	19 June 2001	Strasbourg
4	4	4:47.88	Noureddine Morceli	Algeria	3 July 1995	Paris
5	5	4:48.14	Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot	Kenya	8 September 2023	Brussels
	6	4:48.36	El Guerrouj #2		19 July 1998	Gateshead
6	7	4:48.69	Vénuste Niyongabo	Burundi	12 July 1995	Nice
7	8	4:48.74	John Kibowen	Kenya	1 August 1998	Hechtel
8	9	4:48.77	Stewart McSweyn	Australia	8 September 2023	Brussels
	10	4:49.00	Niyongabo #2		3 September 1997	Rieti
	11	4:49.55	Morceli #2		10 July 1996	Nice
9	12	4:49.68	Niels Laros	Netherlands	8 September 2023	Brussels
10	13	4:49.85	Mario García	Spain	8 September 2023	Brussels
11	14	4:49.99	Kenenisa Bekele	Ethiopia	17 February 2007	Birmingham
	15	4:50.01	Ingebrigsten #2		11 June 2020	Oslo
12	16	4:50.08	Noah Ngeny	Kenya	30 July 1999	Stockholm
13	17	4:50.64	Narve Gilje Nordås	Norway	8 September 2023	Brussels
14	18	4:50.68	Abel Kipsang	Kenya	8 September 2023	Brussels
15	19	4:50.76	Craig Mottram	Australia	9 March 2006	Melbourne
16	20	4:50.81	Saïd Aouita	Morocco	16 July 1987	Paris
	21	4:51:17	El Guerrouj #3		31 August 2001	Berlin
17	22	4:51.30	Daniel Komen	Kenya	5 June 1998	Milan
18	23	4:51.39	Steve Cram	Great Britain	4 August 1985	Budapest
19	24	4:51.52	John Walker	New Zealand	30 June 1976	Oslo
20	25	4:51.54	Charles Philibert-Thiboutot	Canada	8 September 2023	Brussels
21		4:52.20	Thomas Wessinghage	West Germany	31 August 1982	Ingelheim
22		4:52.37	Ruben Verheyden	Belgium	8 September 2023	Brussels
23		4:52.40	José Manuel Abascal	Spain	7 September 1986	Santander
24		4:52.44	Jim Spivey	United States	15 September 1987	Lausanne
25		4:52.53	Moses Kiptanui	Kenya	21 August 1992	Berlin

Men (indoor)

• Correct as of February 2024.

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place
1	1	4:49.99	Kenenisa Bekele	Ethiopia	17 February 2007	Birmingham
2	2	4:51.23	Lamecha Girma	Ethiopia	10 February 2024	Liévin

Women (outdoor)

• Correct as of March 2024.

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref
1	1	5:21.56	Francine Niyonsaba	Burundi	14 September 2021	Zagreb
2	2	5:25.36	Sonia O'Sullivan	Ireland	8 July 1994	Edinburgh
3	3	5:25.86	Freweyni Hailu	Ethiopia	14 September 2021	Zagreb
4	4	5:26.93	Yvonne Murray	Great Britain	8 July 1994	Edinburgh
5	5	5:27.50	Genzebe Dibaba	Ethiopia	17 June 2014	Ostrava
	6	5:27.73	Dibaba #2		19 June 2018	Montreuil
6	7	5:28.69	Maricica Puică	Romania	11 July 1986	London
7	8	5:28.72	Tatyana Kazankina	Soviet Union	4 August 1984	Moscow
	9	5:29.42	Dibaba #3		26 June 2014	Sollentuna
	10	5:29.58	Murray #2		11 July 1986	London
8	11	5:29.64	Tatyana Pozdnyakova	Soviet Union	4 August 1984	Moscow
9	12	5:30.19	Zola Budd	Great Britain	11 July 1986	London
			Gelete Burka	Ethiopia	4 September 2009	Brussels
	14	5:30.39	Puică #2		4 September 1985	Rieti
11	15	5:30.92	Galina Zakharova	Soviet Union	4 August 1984	Moscow
12	16	5:31.03	Gulnara Samitova-Galkina	Russia	27 May 2007	Sochi
13	17	5:31.52	Vivian Cheruiyot	Kenya	7 June 2009	Eugene
14	18	5:31.88	Maryam Yusuf Jamal	Bahrain	7 June 2009	Eugene
15	19	5:32.40	Dawit Seyaum	Ethiopia	14 September 2021	Zagreb
16	20	5:32.7h	Mary Decker	United States	3 August 1984	Eugene
17	21	5:32.83	Roberta Brunet	Italy	14 September 1996	Turin
	22	5:33.15	Budd #2		13 July 1984	London
18	23	5:33.43	Linet Masai	Kenya	7 June 2009	Eugene
	24	5:33.76	Dibaba #4		9 July 2019	Székesfehérvár
19	25	5:33.83	Elvan Abeylegesse	Turkey	7 June 2003	Istanbul
20		5:33.85	Christina Boxer	Great Britain	13 July 1984	London
21		5:34.27	Senbere Teferi	Ethiopia	17 June 2014	Ostrava
22		5:34.49	Angela Chalmers	Canada	4 September 1994	Sheffield
23		5:34.53	Konstanze Klosterhalfen	Germany	17 September 2021	Trier
24		5:35.10+	Almaz Ayana	Ethiopia	14 June 2015	Rabat
25		5:35.16+	Zhang Linli	China	12 September 1993	Beijing

Women (indoor)

• Correct as of March 2024.

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place
1	1	5:23.75	Genzebe Dibaba	Ethiopia	7 February 2017	Sabadell
2	2	5:30.53	Gabriela Szabo	Romania	8 March 1998	Sindelfingen
3	3	5:34.52	Mary Slaney	United States	18 January 1985	Los Angeles
4	4	5:35.46	Dawit Seyaum	Ethiopia	7 February 2015	Boston
5	5	5:35.78+	Gudaf Tsegay	Ethiopia	2 March 2024	Glasgow
6	6	5:35.99+	Jessica Hull	Australia	2 March 2024	Glasgow