20 kilometres Race Walk, Men

Volodymyr Holubnychiy was back and had been European Champion in 1974. But the favorites were the three East Germans, Peter Frenkel, Hans-Georg Reimann, and Karl-Heinz Stadtmüller, 1975 Lugano Trophy champion. The GDR walkers went out as a team in the lead. But they could not drop Mexico’s Daniel Bautista. He had produced some top times early in the year but his only major international championships had been the 1975 Pan-American Games gold medal. At 17 km. Bautista put the hammer down and dropped the East German trio, eventually winning by over a minute. This was the first gold medal won by a Mexican athlete. Volodymyr Holubnychiy, who had won four consecutive medals in the event from 1960-72, placed seventh in his fifth Olympics.