| Date | 15 – 17 October 1964 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Kokuritsu Kyogijo, Shinjuku, Tokyo |
| Participants | 29 from 19 countries |
Gaston Roelants (BEL) was favored in this event, having won the 1962 European Championship and broken the world at a meet in Leuven, Belgium, in September 1963, running 8:29.6. He had not been beaten in the event since 1961.
Roelants took the early lead in the final, leading by five metres at the first kilometre. The field closed slightly but he then surged and had a 12 metre lead after two kilometres. He was comfortably ahead by the last lap, and eased up but still won quite easily over Maurice Herriott (GBR), the silver medalist at the 1962 Commonwealth Games.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40 | Gaston Roelants |  BEL | 8:33.8 (2 h3) | 8:30.8 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 173 | Maurice Herriott |  GBR | 8:33.0 (1 h2) | 8:32.4 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 663 | Ivan Belyayev |  URS | 8:42.0 (2 h1) | 8:33.8 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 521 | Manuel Oliveira |  POR | 8:40.8 (1 h1) | 8:36.2 (4) | |||
| 5 | 730 | George Young |  USA | 8:34.2 (3 h2) | 8:38.2 (5) | |||
| 6 | 133 | Guy Texereau |  FRA | 8:34.6 (4 h2) | 8:38.6 (6) | |||
| 7 | 661 | Adolfas Aleksejūnas | URS | 8:31.8 (1 h3) | 8:39.0 (7) | |||
| 8 | 568 | Lars-Erik Gustafsson |  SWE | 8:34.2 (2 h2) | 8:41.8 (8) | |||
| 9 | 434 | Ben Assou El-Ghazi |  MAR | 8:42.8 (3 h1) | 8:43.6 (9) | |||
| 10 | 174 | Ernie Pomfret | GBR | 8:45.2 (3 h3) | 8:43.8 (10) | |||
| 4 h1 r1/2 | 731 | Vic Zwolak | USA | 8:43.6 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h3 r1/2 | 729 | Jeff Fishback | USA | 8:50.2 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/2 | 803 | Zenji Okuzawa |  JPN | 8:50.0 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/2 | 662 | Lazar Naroditsky | URS | 8:43.0 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/2 | 392 | Benjamin Kogo |  KEN | 8:51.0 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/2 | 784 | Slavko Špan |  YUG | 8:57.6 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r1/2 | 220 | Alfred Döring |  GER | 8:43.2 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h3 r1/2 | 221 | Rainer Dörner | GER | 8:55.0 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 7 h1 r1/2 | 294 | József Mácsár |  HUN | 9:08.8 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 7 h2 r1/2 | 801 | Taketsugu Saruwatari | JPN | 8:46.6 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 7 h3 r1/2 | 290 | Attila Simon | HUN | 8:57.8 (7 h3) | – | |||
| 8 h1 r1/2 | 222 | Dieter Hartmann | GER | 9:09.2 (8 h1) | – | |||
| 8 h2 r1/2 | 502 | Edward Szklarczyk |  POL | 8:48.0 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 8 h3 r1/2 | 16 | Trevor Vincent |  AUS | 8:58.8 (8 h3) | – | |||
| 9 h1 r1/2 | 370 | Jean Toffey |  CIV | 9:47.4 (9 h1) | – | |||
| 9 h2 r1/2 | 617 | Labidi Ayachi |  TUN | 9:02.0 (9 h2) | – | |||
| 9 h3 r1/2 | 802 | Saburo Yokomizo | JPN | 9:04.6 (9 h3) | – | |||
| 10 h2 r1/2 | 624 | Cahit Önel |  TUR | 9:15.6 (10 h2) | – | |||
| 10 h3 r1/2 | 419 | Dilbagh Singh Kler |  MAS | 9:18.8 (10 h3) | – | |||
| 567 | Bengt Persson | SWE | – (DNS h1) | – |
| Date | 15 October 1964 — 15:50 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top 3 in each heat and next fastest advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time (hand) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 661 | Adolfas Aleksejūnas | URS | 8:31.8 | ||
| 2 | 173 | Maurice Herriott | GBR | 8:33.0 | ||
| 3 | 40 | Gaston Roelants | BEL | 8:33.8 | ||
| 4 | 568 | Lars-Erik Gustafsson | SWE | 8:34.2 | ||
| 5 | 730 | George Young | USA | 8:34.2 | ||
| 6 | 133 | Guy Texereau | FRA | 8:34.6 | ||
| 7 | 521 | Manuel Oliveira | POR | 8:40.8 | ||
| 8 | 663 | Ivan Belyayev | URS | 8:42.0 | ||
| 9 | 434 | Ben Assou El-Ghazi | MAR | 8:42.8 | ||
| 10 | 662 | Lazar Naroditsky | URS | 8:43.0 | ||
| 11 | 220 | Alfred Döring | GER | 8:43.2 | ||
| 12 | 731 | Vic Zwolak | USA | 8:43.6 | ||
| 13 | 174 | Ernie Pomfret | GBR | 8:45.2 | ||
| 14 | 801 | Taketsugu Saruwatari | JPN | 8:46.6 | ||
| 15 | 502 | Edward Szklarczyk | POL | 8:48.0 | ||
| 16 | 803 | Zenji Okuzawa | JPN | 8:50.0 | ||
| 17 | 729 | Jeff Fishback | USA | 8:50.2 | ||
| 18 | 392 | Benjamin Kogo | KEN | 8:51.0 | ||
| 19 | 221 | Rainer Dörner | GER | 8:55.0 | ||
| 20 | 784 | Slavko Špan | YUG | 8:57.6 | ||
| 21 | 290 | Attila Simon | HUN | 8:57.8 | ||
| 22 | 16 | Trevor Vincent | AUS | 8:58.8 | ||
| 23 | 617 | Labidi Ayachi | TUN | 9:02.0 | ||
| 24 | 802 | Saburo Yokomizo | JPN | 9:04.6 | ||
| 25 | 294 | József Mácsár | HUN | 9:08.8 | ||
| 26 | 222 | Dieter Hartmann | GER | 9:09.2 | ||
| 27 | 624 | Cahit Önel | TUR | 9:15.6 | ||
| 28 | 419 | Dilbagh Singh Kler | MAS | 9:18.8 | ||
| 29 | 370 | Jean Toffey | CIV | 9:47.4 | ||
| 567 | Bengt Persson | SWE | – |
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Time (Hand) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Manuel Oliveira | POR | 8:40.8 | ||
| 2 | 9 | Ivan Belyayev | URS | 8:42.0 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Ben Assou El-Ghazi | MAR | 8:42.8 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Vic Zwolak | USA | 8:43.6 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Zenji Okuzawa | JPN | 8:50.0 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Slavko Špan | YUG | 8:57.6 | ||
| 7 | 1 | József Mácsár | HUN | 9:08.8 | ||
| 8 | 4 | Dieter Hartmann | GER | 9:09.2 | ||
| 9 | 6 | Jean Toffey | CIV | 9:47.4 | ||
| 7 | Bengt Persson | SWE | – |
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Time (Hand) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Maurice Herriott | GBR | 8:33.0 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Lars-Erik Gustafsson | SWE | 8:34.2 | ||
| 3 | 8 | George Young | USA | 8:34.2 | ||
| 4 | 10 | Guy Texereau | FRA | 8:34.6 | ||
| 5 | 9 | Lazar Naroditsky | URS | 8:43.0 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Alfred Döring | GER | 8:43.2 | ||
| 7 | 6 | Taketsugu Saruwatari | JPN | 8:46.6 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Edward Szklarczyk | POL | 8:48.0 | ||
| 9 | 3 | Labidi Ayachi | TUN | 9:02.0 | ||
| 10 | 4 | Cahit Önel | TUR | 9:15.6 |
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Time (Hand) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Adolfas Aleksejūnas | URS | 8:31.8 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Gaston Roelants | BEL | 8:33.8 | ||
| 3 | 8 | Ernie Pomfret | GBR | 8:45.2 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Jeff Fishback | USA | 8:50.2 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Benjamin Kogo | KEN | 8:51.0 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Rainer Dörner | GER | 8:55.0 | ||
| 7 | 9 | Attila Simon | HUN | 8:57.8 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Trevor Vincent | AUS | 8:58.8 | ||
| 9 | 2 | Saburo Yokomizo | JPN | 9:04.6 | ||
| 10 | 10 | Dilbagh Singh Kler | MAS | 9:18.8 |
| Date | 17 October 1964 — 16:50 |
|---|
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Time (Hand) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Gaston Roelants | BEL | 8:30.8 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Maurice Herriott | GBR | 8:32.4 | ||
| 3 | 10 | Ivan Belyayev | URS | 8:33.8 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Manuel Oliveira | POR | 8:36.2 | ||
| 5 | 9 | George Young | USA | 8:38.2 | ||
| 6 | 5 | Guy Texereau | FRA | 8:38.6 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Adolfas Aleksejūnas | URS | 8:39.0 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Lars-Erik Gustafsson | SWE | 8:41.8 | ||
| 9 | 1 | Ben Assou El-Ghazi | MAR | 8:43.6 | ||
| 10 | 2 | Ernie Pomfret | GBR | 8:43.8 |
