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20 kilometres, Men

Date 4 February 1964 — 13:35
StatusOlympic
LocationLanglaufstadion, Seefeld
Participants51 from 14 countries
FormatTwo-minute penalty for each missed target.
DetailsCourse Length: ?
Height Differential: ?
Maximum Climb: ?
Shooting 1: Prone at 6 km, 200 m range
Shooting 2: Prone at 10.4 km, 250 m range
Shooting 3: Prone at 11.8 km, 150 m range
Shooting 4: Standing at 17.1 km, 100 m range
Total Climbing: ?

Vladimir Melanin was the heavy favorite in the 1964 biathlon event. The 30-year-old soldier from CSKA Kirov was World Champion in 1959, 1962 and 1963, and at the same championships he also was member of the Soviet Union team winning the team competition. His team-mate Aleksandr Privalov was also considered among the favorites, winning the bronze medal in the 1960 Games and coming second in the World Championships 1961. The greatest threats to the Soviets were considered to be the Finns. Antti Tyrväinen had a habit of coming second in international championships, with silver medals both from the 1960 games and from the World Championships 1962 and 1963. The Finnish team also consisted of two interesting veterans. Hannu Posti, aged 38 and placing fourth in 5000 m track at the 1952 Helsinki Games, had taken up biathlon with success, placing third at the 1963 World Championships. Another interesting start was triple Olympic Gold medalist in cross country skiing, Veikko Hakulinen. Now a veteran of 39, he was considered the fastest skier among the biathletes, and had a silver medal as a member of the Finnish team at the team competition in the World Biathlon Championships 1963.

After the first shooting Vilmoş Gheorghe, a 23-year old Romanian representing Dinamo Braşov, was in the lead, closely followed by Valentin Pshenitsyn, and with favorites Melanin and Tyrväinen close behind. At the second shooting Gheorghe had one missed target and received a 2 minutes penalty, and Melanin was in a clear lead, 1:10 ahead of Pshenitsyn. After the third shooting Melanin was still in the lead, now with Pshenitsyn only 36 seconds behind. The 24-year old Norwegian Olav Jordet had advanced to third, the Swede John Güttke was fourth and Privalov fifth, all with no missed targets. At the final standing shooting, only Melanin among the top medal contenders was reported to have a full house. It was the first time that Melanin achieved 20 hits in a major competition. Privalov and Jordet were reported with one missed target, and the preliminary list showed a clear gold medal for Melanin, silver for Jordet and bronze for Privalov.

In those days the hits was not automatically registered, and the targets had to be taken down after the competition for a manual control. In the final control of the targets Privalov’s miss was changed to a hit, and he was advanced to the silver medal position ahead of Jordet. The Norwegian Ragnar Tveiten with the second fastest cross country time of the competition and preliminary placed eight with eight penalty minutes, had one of his missed targets changed to a hit and advanced to fourth position in the official results. Hakulinen was the fastest skier of the day, but with twelve penalty minutes he ended up as fifteenth in the final standings.

PosCompetitorNOCAdjusted TimeMissesSkiingShooting 1 MissesShooting 1Shooting 2 MissesShooting 2Shooting 3 MissesShooting 3Shooting 4 MissesShooting 4
1Vladimir MelaninURS1-20:26.801-20:26.8 (3)024:03 (3)041:38 (1)046:43 (1)01-07:17 (1)Gold
2Aleksandr PrivalovURS1-23:42.501-23:42.5 (16)024:51 (7)043:20 (4)048:39 (5)01-10:26 (2)Silver
3Olav JordetNOR1-24:38.811-22:38.8 (10)024:56 (8)043:27 (5)048:16 (3)11-11:19 (3)Bronze
4Ragnar TveitenNOR1-25:52.531-19:52.5 (2)125:28 (11)145:23 (11)050:30 (8)11-13:36 (7)
5Vilmoș GheorgheROU1-26:18.021-22:18.0 (8)023:57 (1)144:00 (6)049:15 (6)11-12:22 (4)
6Józef RubiśPOL1-26:31.621-22:31.6 (9)126:30 (15)044:47 (10)049:59 (7)11-13:30 (6)
7Valentin PshenitsynURS1-26:59.021-22:59.0 (13)024:00 (2)042:48 (2)047:19 (2)21-13:00 (5)
8Hannu PostiFIN1-27:16.511-25:16.5 (21)126:56 (21)045:52 (14)051:45 (11)01-13:45 (8)
9John GüttkeSWE1-28:02.421-24:02.4 (17)024:47 (6)043:14 (3)048:34 (4)21-13:56 (9)
10Nikolay PuzanovURS1-29:21.541-21:21.5 (5)330:18 (34)048:43 (=25)053:12 (16)11-16:28 (13)
11Jon IstadNOR1-29:24.831-23:24.8 (14)125:54 (13)044:10 (7)151:40 (10)11-15:26 (10)
12Sture OhlinSWE1-29:46.021-25:46.0 (22)127:14 (24)147:56 (21)053:32 (18)01-16:12 (11)
13Antti TyrväinenFIN1-30:09.041-22:09.0 (7)024:14 (4)245:49 (12)051:17 (9)21-17:41 (14)
14Constantin CarabelaROU1-30:59.001-30:59.0 (39)026:42 (18)047:08 (18)053:01 (15)01-16:27 (12)
15Veikko HakulinenFIN1-31:37.961-19:37.9 (1)226:46 (19)146:06 (15)051:56 (12)31-18:07 (16)
16Charlie AkersUSA1-32:24.921-28:24.9 (28)128:08 (26)047:45 (20)155:06 (22)01-17:58 (15)
17Sven-Olov AxelssonSWE1-33:13.661-21:13.6 (4)024:39 (5)144:41 (8)355:20 (23)21-20:10 (21)
18Stanisław SzczepaniakPOL1-33:43.531-27:43.5 (24)025:25 (10)044:45 (9)152:26 (14)21-19:22 (18)
19Yuji YamanakaJPN1-33:51.821-29:51.8 (34)129:19 (33)150:56 (33)056:03 (25)01-19:35 (19)
20Józef Gąsienica SobczakPOL1-34:00.661-22:00.6 (6)432:47 (39)050:59 (35)259:58 (33)01-21:19 (27)
21Hans-Dieter RiechelGER1-34:30.931-28:30.9 (29)128:09 (27)047:03 (17)052:21 (13)21-20:01 (20)
22Ola WærhaugNOR1-34:38.051-24:38.0 (18)228:14 (29)148:50 (27)258:22 (31)01-21:06 (25)
23Esko MarttinenFIN1-34:50.251-24:50.2 (19)126:59 (=22)045:51 (13)254:24 (21)21-20:15 (22)
24Egon SchnabelGER1-34:53.021-30:53.0 (38)129:06 (32)048:43 (=25)053:30 (17)11-18:12 (17)
25Sten ErikssonSWE1-35:27.861-23:27.8 (15)228:10 (28)250:20 (30)157:12 (29)11-21:50 (28)
26Yoshio NinomineJPN1-35:38.631-29:38.6 (32)026:54 (20)046:34 (16)153:49 (19)21-20:51 (23)
27Gheorghe CimpoiaROU1-35:44.631-29:44.6 (33)026:07 (14)249:43 (29)056:01 (24)11-20:57 (24)
28Hansjörg FarbmacherAUT1-36:11.341-28:11.3 (27)331:12 (35)050:25 (31)056:32 (28)11-21:53 (29)
29John DentGBR1-36:27.231-30:27.2 (36)026:33 (16)148:19 (24)156:08 (27)11-21:58 (30)
30Bill SpencerUSA1-36:49.841-28:49.8 (30)331:21 (36)050:30 (32)056:04 (26)11-21:10 (26)
31Helmut KlöpschGER1-38:08.531-32:08.5 (41)128:15 (30)047:58 (22)157:31 (30)11-23:22 (31)
32Paul RomandFRA1-38:51.281-22:51.2 (11)126:59 (=22)249:32 (28)258:30 (32)31-26:01 (35)
33Dieter RitterGER1-38:51.481-22:51.4 (12)025:23 (9)247:23 (19)41-00:16 (34)21-25:45 (34)
34Walter MüllerAUT1-39:12.371-25:12.3 (20)127:46 (25)352:07 (36)21-01:02 (35)11-25:12 (33)
35Stanisław StyrczulaPOL1-40:52.141-32:52.1 (43)026:38 (17)148:11 (23)054:12 (20)31-24:12 (32)
36Peter LahdenperaUSA1-43:04.781-27:04.7 (23)025:51 (12)350:58 (34)31-02:32 (38)21-29:12 (36)
37Alan NotleyGBR1-46:10.351-36:10.3 (46)233:41 (44)258:50 (44)01-04:31 (39)11-31:02 (37)
38Bayanjavyn DamdinjavMGL1-46:19.771-32:19.7 (42)333:14 (42)154:57 (38)11-02:26 (37)21-31:48 (39)
39Paul RenneUSA1-46:45.961-34:45.9 (45)335:16 (48)157:36 (=42)11-05:02 (40)11-31:26 (38)
40John MooreGBR1-47:49.4101-27:49.4 (25)433:51 (45)155:19 (39)31-06:51 (43)21-33:44 (41)
41Adolf ScherwitzlAUT1-48:12.761-36:12.7 (47)128:44 (31)254:45 (37)01-02:04 (36)31-32:09 (40)
42Bizyaagiin DashgaiMGL1-51:26.0101-31:26.0 (40)333:56 (46)257:36 (=42)21-06:30 (42)31-36:52 (42)
43Roderick TuckGBR1-51:55.591-33:55.5 (44)332:13 (38)359:27 (45)11-08:19 (45)21-37:13 (43)
44Tüdeviin LkhamsürenMGL1-53:10.181-37:10.1 (49)233:35 (43)41-03:04 (48)11-10:57 (46)11-38:23 (44)
45Marcel VogelSUI1-53:14.1121-29:14.1 (31)231:26 (37)357:09 (41)31-08:07 (44)41-39:08 (45)
46Erich SchönbächlerSUI1-53:59.5121-29:59.5 (35)333:08 (=40)256:49 (40)21-06:01 (41)51-39:21 (46)
47Willy JunodSUI1-54:00.7131-28:00.7 (26)435:01 (47)41-01:58 (46)41-14:52 (47)11-39:40 (47)
48Peter GerigSUI2-02:32.5161-30:32.5 (37)333:08 (=40)51-02:56 (47)51-18:11 (49)31-47:11 (48)
49Tsambyn DanzanMGL2-06:45.6151-36:45.6 (48)437:33 (49)51-08:23 (49)21-17:57 (48)41-51:30 (49)1
DNFPaul ErnstAUT– (–)– (–)– (–)– (–)– (–)2
DNFNicolae BărbășescuROU– (–)– (–)– (–)– (–)– (–)