| Final | | time | | gap | L | 100m | 200m | 400m | | 1. György Csordás |  Hungary | 4:38.8 | | | 4 | 1:05.6 | 2:17.8 | 3:29.0 | | 2. Angelo Romani |  Italy | 4:40.4 | | +1.6s | 5 | 1:04.0 | 2:15.6 | 3:27.6 | | 3. Per-Olof Östrand |  Sweden | 4:40.9 | | +2.1s | 3 | 1:05.2 | 2:18.0 | 3:30.7 | | 4. Gotfryd Gremlowski |  Poland | 4:42.5 | | +3.7s | 6 | 1:06.5 | 2:18.8 | 3:31.6 | | 5. Jean Boiteux |  France | 4:43.2 | | +4.2s | 7 | 1:04.3 | 2:15.9 | 3:29.6 | | 6. Imre Nyéki | Hungary | 4:49.2 | | +10.4s | 2 | 1:05.2 | 2:18.7 | 3:33.4 | | 7. Guy Montserret | France | 4:49.3 | | +10.5s | 1 | 1:05.7 | 2:19.1 | 3:35.3 | | 8. Zdeněk Baďura |  Czechoslovakia | 4:51.6 | | +12.8s | 8 | 1:05.5 | 2:19.1 | 3:34.2 |
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Heats - Thursday, 2nd September | | Best 8 times advanced to Final>. |
| Heat 4 | | time | L | | | 1. Gotfryd Gremlowski | Poland | 4:47.9 | 7 | 4. | | 2. Imre Nyéki | Hungary | 4:49.7 | 4 | 5. | | 3. Jean Boiteux | France | 4:49.7 | 5 | 5. | | 4. Jorge Granados |  Spain | 4:52.4 | 1 | 9. | | 5. J. ŀkerda | Czechoslovakia | 4:58.2 | 6 | 14. | | 6. Hans-Joachim Reich |  East Germany | 5:03.9 | 3 | 20. | | 7. Fernando Esteves Madeira |  Portugal | 5:04.4 | 2 | 21. |
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| Heat 3 | | time | | | | 1. Angelo Romani | Italy | 4:45.3 | 3 | 2. | | 2. Guy Montserret | France | 4:51.1 | 6 | 7. | | 3. Lars Larsson |  Denmark | 4:57.3 | 1 | 13. | | 4. Peter Head |  Great Britain | 5:02.3 | 2 | 18. | | 5. Jaap de Jong |  Netherlands | 5:06.2 | 5 | 23. | | -. Milan Jeger |  Yugoslavia | DNS | 4 | | | -. Per Olsen |  Norway | DNS | 7 | |
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| Heat 2 | | time | | | | 1. György Csordás | Hungary | 4:45.2 | 4 | 1. | | 2. Per-Olof Östrand | Sweden | 4:46.1 | 3 | 3. | | 3. Zdeněk Baďura | Czechoslovakia | 4:52.0 | 5 | 8. | | 4. Kristian König | Sweden | 4:54.5 | 6 | 11. | | 5. Karri Käyhkö |  Finland | 5:00.5 | 2 | 17. | | 6. Alfred Spengler | East Germany | 5:02.5 | 7 | 19. | | -. Gerhard Schober |  Austria | DNS | 1 | |
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| Heat 1 | | time | | | | 1. Hans Köhler |  West Germany | 4:53.6 | 8 | 10. | | 2. Enrique Granados | Spain | 4:54.7 | 4 | 12. | | 3. Wim de Vreng | Netherlands | 4:58.9 | 5 | 15. | | 4. Jack Wardrop | Great Britain | 4:59.0 | 6 | 16. | | 5. Lars Krogh | Norway | 5:06.0 | 7 | 22. | | 6. Dieter Kutschera | Austria | 5:07.0 | 2 | 24. | | -. Gianni Paliaga | Italy | DNS | 1 | | | -. Antoni Tołkaczewski | Poland | DNS | 3 | |
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| Overall | | Heats | Final | | 1. György Csordás | Hungary | 4:45.2 1 h2 | 4:38.8 1 F | | 2. Angelo Romani | Italy | 4:45.3 1 h3 | 4:40.4 2 F | | 3. Per-Olof Östrand | Sweden | 4:46.1 2 h2 | 4:40.9 3 F | | 4. Gotfryd Gremlowski | Poland | 4:47.9 1 h4 | 4:42.5 4 F | | 5. Jean Boiteux | France | 4:49.7 3 h4 | 4:43.2 5 F | | 6. Imre Nyéki | Hungary | 4:49.7 2 h4 | 4:49.2 6 F | | 7. Guy Montserret | France | 4:51.1 2 h3 | 4:49.3 7 F | | 8. Zdeněk Baďura | Czechoslovakia | 4:52.0 3 h2 | 4:51.6 8 F | | 9. Enrique Granados | Spain | 4:52.4 4 h4 | - | | 10.Hans Köhler | West Germany | 4:53.6 1 h1 | - | | 11.Kristian König | Sweden | 4:54.5 4 h2 | - | | 12.Jorge Granados | Spain | 4:54.7 2 h1 | - | | 13.Lars Larsson | Denmark | 4:57.3 3 h3 | - | | 14.ŀkerda | Czechoslovakia | 4:58.2 5 h4 | - | | 15.Wim de Vreng | Netherlands | 4:58.9 3 h1 | - | | 16.Jack Wardrop | Great Britain | 4:59.0 4 h1 | - | | 17.Karri Käyhkö | Finland | 5:00.5 5 h2 | - | | 18.Peter Head | Great Britain | 5:02.3 4 h3 | - | | 19.Alfred Spengler | East Germany | 5:02.5 6 h2 | - | | 20.Hans-Joachim Reich | East Germany | 5:03.9 6 h4 | - | | 21.Fernando Madeira | Portugal | 5:04.4 7 h4 | - | | 22.Lars Krogh | Norway | 5:06.0 5 h1 | - | | 23.Jaap de Jong | Netherlands | 5:06.2 5 h3 | - | | 24.Dieter Kutschera | Austria | 5:07.0 6 h1 | - | | -. Gianni Paliaga | Italy | - DNS h1 | - | | -. Antoni Tołkaczewski | Poland | - DNS h1 | - | | -. G. Schober | Austria | - DNS h2 | - | | -. Milan Jeger | Yugoslavia | - DNS h3 | - | | -. Per Olsen | Norway | - DNS h3 | - |
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