Evolution of the world record 5000 meters Boys
| # | name | time | place | track type | date | |||
| 1 | Lee Yeong-ha | KOR | 7:31.28 | Madonna di Campiglio | ITA | outdoor - natural | 18 Jan 1976 | |
| 2 | Eric Heiden | USA | 7:30.23 | Inzell | FRG | outdoor - artificial | 20 Feb 1977 | |
| 3 | Eric Heiden | USA | 7:23.54 | Montreal | CAN | outdoor - natural | 5 Feb 1978 | |
| 4 | Yasuhiro Shimizu | JPN | 7:21.10 | Grenoble | FRA | outdoor - artificial | 25 Feb 1979 | |
| 5 | Tomas Gustafson | SWE | 7:18.51 | Assen | NED | outdoor - artificial | 27 Jan 1980 | |
| 6 | Geir Karlstad | NOR | 7:18.50 | Innsbruck | AUT | outdoor - artificial | 28 Feb 1982 | |
| 7 | Geir Karlstad | NOR | 7:08.96 | Oppdal | NOR | outdoor - natural | 6 Mar 1982 | |
| 8 | Stein Olav Krosby | NOR | 7:07.05 | Oslo | NOR | outdoor - artificial | 12 Jan 1983 | |
| 9 | Valery Guk | URS | 7:07.17 | Medeo | URS | outdoor - artificial | 15 Mar 1984 | |
| 10 | Masahiko Omura | JPN | 7:01.75 | Heerenveen | NED | indoor - artificial | 14 Feb 1987 | |
| 11 | Song Yong-Hun | PRK | 7:01.56 | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 17 Feb 1988 | |
| 12 | Michael Spielmann | GDR | 6:54.87 | Heerenveen | NED | indoor - artificial | 18 Mar 1989 | |
| 13 | Falko Zandstra | NED | 6:47.10 | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 3 Mar 1991 | |
| 14 | Bob de Jong | NED | 6:37.55 | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 10 Mar 1996 | |
| 15 | Mark Tuitert | NED | 6:33.26 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 20 Mar 1999 |
| 16 | Johan Röjler | SWE | 6:32.92 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 3 Mar 2001 |
| 17 | Hiroki Hirako | JPN | 6:31.46 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 3 Mar 2001 |
| 18 | Johan Röjler | SWE | 6:31.10 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 17 Mar 2001 |
| 19 | Hiroki Hirako | JPN | 6:30.46 | * | Salt Lake City | USA | indoor - artificial | 9 Feb 2002 |
| 20 | Tom Prinsen | NED | 6:29.69 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 22 Mar 2002 |
| 21 | Sven Kramer | NED | 6:28.45 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 12 Mar 2004 |
| 22 | Sven Kramer | NED | 6:28.27 | * | Berlin | GER | indoor - artificial | 20 Nov 2004 |
| 23 | Sven Kramer | NED | 6:26.63 | * | Heerenveen | NED | indoor - artificial | 18 Dec 2004 |
| 24 | Sven Kramer | NED | 6:24.29 | * | Heerenveen | NED | indoor - artificial | 7 Jan 2005 |
| 25 | Håvard Bøkko | NOR | 6:18.93 | * | Calgary | CAN | indoor - artificial | 13 Nov 2005 |
| * | = record skated on klap skates | |||||||
