These are the official results of the Women's 5,000 metres event at the 1997 World ChampionshipsinAthens, Greece. There were a total number of 42 participating athletes, with two qualifying heats and the final held on Saturday 1997-08-09.
7 August 1997
| Heat | Rank | Name | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Gabriela Szabo (ROU)
|
15:26.62 Q | |
| 1 | 2 |  Paula Radcliffe (GBR)
|
15:27.25 Q | |
| 2 | 3 |  Fernanda Ribeiro (POR)
|
15:27.30 Q | |
| 1 | 4 |  Harumi Hiroyama (JPN)
|
15:27.75 Q | |
| 1 | 5 |  Roberta Brunet (ITA)
|
15:29.03 Q | |
| 2 | 6 |  Liu Jianying (CHN)
|
15:29.28 Q | PB |
| 1 | 7 |  Ayelech Worku (ETH)
|
15:29.37 Q | |
| 1 | 8 | Wei Li (CHN)
|
15:29.62 Q | |
| 1 | 9 |  Libbie Hickman (USA)
|
15:30.56 q | SB |
| 2 | 10 |  Lydia Cheromei (KEN)
|
15:32.00 Q | |
| 2 | 11 | Merima Denboba (ETH)
|
15:32.01 Q | |
| 1 | 12 |  Gunhild Hall (NOR)
|
15:32.13 q | |
| 2 | 13 | Naoko Takahashi (JPN)
|
15:32.25 Q | |
| 2 | 14 | Yuko Kawakami (JPN)
|
15:32.71 Q | |
| 1 | 15 |  Kate Anderson (AUS)
|
15:36.16 q | |
| 1 | 16 |  Yelena Kopytova (RUS)
|
15:37.19 | PB |
| 2 | 17 |  Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL)
|
15:40.82 | |
| 2 | 18 | Stela Olteanu (ROU)
|
15:40.86 | |
| 1 | 19 |  Adriana Fernandez (MEX)
|
15:41.55 | |
| 2 | 20 |  Olivera Jevtić (YUG)
|
15:43.76 | |
| 1 | 21 | Melody Fairchild (USA)
|
15:47.66 | |
| 2 | 22 |  Chrystosomia Iakovou (GRE)
|
15:51.14 | |
| 1 | 23 | Marina Bastos (POR)
|
15:54.01 | |
| 2 | 24 |  Restituta Joseph (TAN)
|
15:55.22 | NR |
| 1 | 25 | Valerie Vaughan (IRL)
|
15:57.58 | |
| 1 | 26 |  Zohra Ouaziz (MAR)
|
15:58.84 | |
| 2 | 27 | Amy Rudolph (USA)
|
16:00.87 | |
| 1 | 28 | Genet Gebregiorgis (ETH)
|
16:04.40 | SB |
| 1 | 29 |  Laurence Duquenoy (FRA)
|
16:06.02 | |
| 2 | 30 | Una English (IRL)
|
16:07.09 | |
| 2 | 31 |  Jelena Chelnova (LAT)
|
16:27.63 | |
| 2 | 32 |  Helena Javornik (SLO)
|
16:28.38 | |
| 1 | 33 |  Justine Nahimana (BDI)
|
17:21.77 | |
| 1 | 34 |  Nebiat Habtemariam (ERI)
|
18:26.50 | |
| 1 | 35 |  Zalia Aliou (TOG)
|
18:34.45 | NR |
| 1 | 36 |  Martha Portobanco (NCA)
|
19:08.44 | |
| 2 | — |  Anne Hare (NZL)
|
DNF | |
| 2 | — |  Kristina da Fonseca-Wollheim (GER)
|
DNF | |
| 1 | — |  Maysa Matrood (IRQ)
|
DNS | |
| 1 | — |  Elana Meyer (RSA)
|
DNS | |
| 2 | — |  Carol Howe (CAN)
|
DNS | |
| 2 | — |  Annemari Sandell (FIN)
|
DNS |
9 August 1997
| Rank | Name | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Gabriela Szabo (ROM)
|
14:57.68 | |
|
Roberta Brunet (ITA)
|
14:58.29 | SB |
|
Fernanda Ribeiro (POR)
|
14:58.85 | |
| 4 | Paula Radcliffe (GBR)
|
15:01.74 | |
| 5 | Lydia Cheromei (KEN)
|
15:07.88 | |
| 6 | Liu Jianying (CHN)
|
15:10.64 | PB |
| 7 | Libbie Hickman (USA)
|
15:11.15 | PB |
| 8 | Harumi Hiroyama (JPN)
|
15:21.19 | |
| 9 | Wei Li (CHN)
|
15:24.04 | |
| 10 | Merima Denboba (ETH)
|
15:27.76 | |
| 11 | Kate Anderson (AUS)
|
15:27.78 | |
| 12 | Ayelech Worku (ETH)
|
15:28.07 | |
| 13 | Naoko Takahashi (JPN)
|
15:32.83 | |
| 15 | Gunhild Halle Haugen (NOR)
|
15:37.85 | |
| 16 | Yuko Kawakami (JPN)
|
15:45.48 |
