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| Event type

20 kilometres Race Walk, Men

Date14 October 1968 — 16:50
StatusOlympic
LocationEstadio Olímpico Universitario, Ciudad de México
Participants34 from 20 countries

Volodymyr Holubnychiy won his third consecutive medal in the event, repeating his gold medal from 1960. But it did not come easy and the finish was the closest ever in the Olympics for this race. Entering the stadium, Holubnychiy had a slight lead over his teammate, Nikolay Smaga, but Mexico’s José Pedraza was only 30 metres behind as they got onto the track. The Mexican fans went crazy, cheering for Pedraza, who began closing quickly on the Soviets, with a technique that was of marginal legality. But no judge would have been brave enough to red flag Pedraza in front of 80,000 cheering spectators. Pedraza caught Smaga on the last turn and then began closing on Holubnychiy, and was by now in almost a full sprint. But Holubnychiy held off Pedraza, saving the officials from making a difficult decision. The three medalists finished within five seconds of one another.

PosNumberCompetitorNOCTime5 km10 km15 km
1803Vladimir GolubnichyURS1-33:58.423:12.0 (3)46:54.4 (2)1-10:19.0 (=1)Gold
2620José PedrazaMEX1-34:00.023:16.0 (7)47:13.0 (4)1-10:54.0 (4)Silver
3830Nikolay SmagaURS1-34:03.423:11.2 (2)46:54.2 (1)1-10:19.0 (=1)Bronze
4278Rudy HaluzaUSA1-35:00.223:11.0 (1)47:06.2 (3)1-10:42.0 (3)
589Gerhard SperlingGDR1-35:27.223:15.0 (6)47:13.2 (5)1-11:12.0 (=5)
6796Otto BarchURS1-36:16.823:41.0 (15)47:21.0 (8)1-11:12.0 (=5)
782Hans-Georg ReimannGDR1-36:31.423:13.0 (4)47:19.4 (7)1-11:54.0 (7)
8731Stefan IngvarssonSWE1-36:43.423:22.0 (9)47:53.2 (10)1-12:32.0 (10)
9706Leonida CaraiosifogluROU1-37:07.624:07.0 (18)48:24.0 (16)1-12:42.0 (11)
1065Peter FrenkelGDR1-37:20.823:19.0 (8)47:19.0 (6)1-11:55.0 (8)
11409Arthur JonesGBR1-37:32.023:14.0 (5)47:34.0 (9)1-12:08.0 (9)
12499Pasquale BuscaITA1-37:32.023:23.0 (11)47:56.2 (11)1-12:43.0 (12)
13619José OliverosMEX1-38:1723:37.0 (14)48:15.0 (15)1-12:53.0 (13)
14463Antal KissHUN1-38:2423:52.0 (16)48:14.4 (14)1-12:58.0 (14)
15735Stig LindbergSWE1-40:0324:16.0 (21)50:05.2 (24)1-15:22.0 (22)
16101Frank ClarkAUS1-40:0623:22.2 (10)48:04.2 (12)1-13:27.0 (16)
17269Tom DooleyUSA1-40:0826:59.0 (28)49:42.0 (22)1-14:54.0 (19)
18175Karl-Heinz MerschenzCAN1-40:1124:11.0 (20)49:32.8 (19)1-14:09.0 (17)
19581Charel SowaLUX1-40:1724:03.0 (17)48:14.0 (13)1-13:12.0 (15)
20604Eladio CamposMEX1-41:5224:30.0 (26)50:47.0 (25)1-16:31.0 (25)
21722Örjan AnderssonSWE1-41:5824:18.0 (22)49:40.6 (21)1-15:49.0 (23)
22432Johnny WebbGBR1-42:5123:28.0 (12)48:35.0 (17)1-14:21.0 (18)
23750René PfisterSUI1-43:3624:08.0 (19)49:55.0 (23)1-15:57.0 (24)
24406Bob HughesGBR1-43:5025:59.0 (27)49:40.4 (20)1-14:56.0 (20)
25283Ron LairdUSA1-44:3823:28.2 (13)49:08.2 (18)1-15:20.0 (21)
26679Mieczysław RutynaPOL1-47:2927:50.0 (29)56:17.0 (27)1-19:54.0 (27)
27198Euclides CalzadoCUB1-49:2724:22.0 (=23)53:04.2 (26)1-19:36.0 (26)
28446Julio OrtizGUA1-54:4824:22.0 (=23)56:47.0 (28)1-25:10.0 (28)1
29235Roberto CastellanosESA1-58:4824:22.0 (=23)57:09.2 (29)1-27:46.0 (29)2
DQ33Julius MüllerFRG– (–)– (–)– (–)3
DNF631José Esteban ValleNCA– (–)– (–)– (–)4
DNF632Carlos VanegasNCA– (–)– (–)– (–)5
DNF164Felix CappellaCAN– (–)– (–)– (–)6
DNF551Kazuo SaitoJPN– (–)– (–)– (–)7
DNS457János DalmatiHUN– (–)– (–)– (–)