At the Rio Olympic Games, Pavey finished in 15th place. Pavey became the first British runner and the first British track athlete to compete in five Olympic Games. In the sport of athletics two other non track event athletes from the UK have also competed in five games or more, javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson with six appearances and walker Chris Maddocks with five appearances. Like Pavey Maddocks also comes from the English county of Devon. At the age of 42 years 11 months, Pavey also became the oldest British track competitor at an Olympic Games. Her time of 31:33.44 is recognised as the official world record/best by an over 40, although Kenyan Edith Masai ran an unratified 31:31.18 in 2007.