Date | 3 September 1972 — 14:00 |
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Status | Olympic |
Location | Olympiastadion, Olympiapark, München |
Participants | 36 from 18 countries |
The race was felt to be between 1971 European Champion Veniamin Soldatenko (URS) and West Germany’s Bernd Kannenberg, who had broken the world best earlier in the year. The two dominated the race, leading together for 35 km., when Kannenberg surged and dropped Soldatenko. By then, Soldatenko he already had a warning and had to walk more conservatively. Larry Young (USA) repeated his bronze medal from 1968. The defending champion was Christoph Höhne (GDR) who was Lugano Trophy champion in 1965, 1967, and 1970, and was European Champion in 1969 as well. But he had an off day and placed 14th.