[1] The world record has never been broken or equalled at the competition by either men or women, reflecting the lack of pacemaking and athletes' more tactical approach to championship races.

[2] Haile Gebrselassie is the most successful athlete of the event with four gold medals and also a silver and a bronze, spanning a period from 1993 to 2003.

Four winners of the 10,000 m have completed a long-distance double by also winning the 5000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics: Tirunesh Dibaba was the first to do so in 2005, Kenenisa Bekele became the first man to do so in 2009, and Vivian Cheruiyot (2011) and Mo Farah (2013/2015) followed at the subsequent editions.

At 15 years, 153 days, Sally Barsosio won the bronze medal in the women's 10,000 m at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics.

[6] In the sixteen editions until 2017, the men's race at the World Championships has been dominated by three men; Ethiopians Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele, and Great Britain's Mo Farah - between them, they have won eleven of the sixteen editions held, won silver twice, and bronze once.