5,000 metres, Men

The 1958 European Championships had seen Poland’s Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak win the 5K/10k double. However, by 1960, he had turned to the steeplechase and would win the gold medal in that event in Roma. The world record was still held by 1956 gold medalist Vladimir Kuts but, in early 1960, he suffered a heart attack, the first of four he would have before dying quite young in 1975.

The final was wide open with nobody considered a favorite. With three laps remaining, New Zealand’s Murray Halberg, the 1958 Commonwealth Games champion, sprinted to the front and opened up a 25-metre lead in one lap. He also ran the penultimate lap quickly, though somewhat slower (64.1 to 61.1), coming to the bell 20 metres ahead of Hans Grodotzki (FRG). It was then up to Halberg to hang on, although the last 800 metres had exhausted his reserves. He was able to produce a 64.1 final lap, with Grodotzki closing but still eight metres back at the line. Halberg would also win the 1962 Commonwealth Games 5,000.