50 kilometres Race Walk, Men

The two favorites were the defending champion, Abdon Pamich of Italy, who had also won the 1966 European Championship, and the GDR’s Christoph Höhne, who had won the Lugano Trophy race in 1965 and 1967. Pamich would not finish. Höhne led throughout most of the race, in company with Britain’s Paul Nihill until he collapsed at 44 km., overcome by heat and altitude. That left it open for Höhne who won by over 10 minutes, the largest margin of victory ever in this event. Larry Young, in third, won the first ever medal in this race for the United States.