5,000 metres, Men

The great distance champion of the 1952 Olympics, Emil Zátopek, was still competing but chose to run only the marathon in Melbourne. At the 1954 European Championships, the gold was won by Soviet Volodymyr Kuts over Britain’s Chris Chataway, with Zátopek third. Kuts and Chataway both broke the world 5K record in 1954. Then in 1955, Kuts and Hungary’s Sándor Iharos exchanged the record. Iharos had had a dominating year in 1955 in distance running, setting six world records at distance between 1,500 and 5,000 metres, and in early 1956 set world records at six miles and 10K. The Melbourne 5K was expected to be a great battle between Kuts, Iharos, and Chataway. But shortly before the Olympics, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to put down a democratic uprising in that country. Although Hungary competed in Melbourne, Iharos stayed back home, unsuccessfully working the telephone exchanges.

The final of this event came down to Kuts and a British runner, but it was not Chataway who was suffering from stomach cramps in the final and finished only 11th. Kuts was by far the strongest. He pushed the pace from the beginning, with only the three Britons staying in contact early, Chataway, Gordon Pirie and Derek Ibbotson. But by 4,000, Kuts was clear of the field and continued pulling away, winning by 11 seconds in the largest margin of victory ever for this event.