20 kilometres Race Walk, Men

Ken Matthews was the heavy favorite, having won the 1962 European Championships and the 1961 and 1963 Lugano Trophy 20 km. walk. Matthews went to the lead immediately and was never caught, although several walkers tried. The GDR’s Dieter Lindner was only 100 metres back at the halfway point, but would lose ground and finish almost two minutes down as the silver medalist. Gold medalist from 1960, Volodymyr Holubnychiy, won the bronze medal, his second of four consecutive medals in the event. The sixth-place finisher, Ron Zinn, was the highest placed American ever in this event to this date. An Army Lieutenant, he would be killed fighting in the Vietnam War less than nine months after the Olympics.