| Final | | time | | gap | L | | 1. Ian Black |  Great Britain | 4:31.3 | | | 4 | | 2. Boris Nyikityin |  Soviet Union | 4:36.2 | | +4.9s | 5 | | 3. Paolo Galletti |  Italy | 4:38.1 | | +6.8s | 2 | | 4. Vlagyimir Strusanov | Soviet Union | 4:39.6 | | +8.3s | 6 | | 5. Katona József |  Hungary | 4:43.5 | | +12.2s | 3 | | 6. Karl Engelhardt |  East Germany | 4:45.9 | | +14.6s | 8 | | 7. Robert Sreenan | Great Britain | 4:46.6 | | +15.3s | 1 | | 8. Hans Reich | East Germany | 4:51.8 | | +20.5s | 7 |
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| World Record: John Konrads, Australia 4:25.9 Sydney, Australia 15th January 1958 | | Championship Record: Ian Black, Great Britain 4:28.4 Blackpool, Great Britain 20th August, 1958 |
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Heats - Tuesday, 2nd September | | Best 8 times advanced to Final. |
| Heat 4 | | time | | | 6. Hans Reich | East Germany | 4:45.7 | Q | | 8. Karl Engelhardt | East Germany | 4:48.3 | Q | | 9. Bodnár András | Hungary | 4:48.7 | |
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| Heat 3 | | time | | | 1. Ian Black | Great Britain | 4:28.9 | Q, ECR | | 5. Paolo Galletti | Italy | 4:41.5 | Q | | 11.Gotfryd Gremlowski |  Poland | 4:49.6 | | | 13.Schmid Günther |  Austria | 4:51.2 | | | 19.Lars Krogh |  Norway | 5:04.7 | |
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| Heat 2 | | time | | | 2. Boris Nyikityin | Soviet Union | 4:37.1 | Q | | 3. Katona József | Hungary | 4:39.1 | Q | | 7. Robert Sreenan | Great Britain | 4:47.5 | Q | | 17.Helmuth Ilk | Austria | 4:55.7 | | | 18.Sztefan Papaszimakopulosz |  Greece | 5:00.7 | |
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| Heat 1 | | time | | | 4. Vlagyimir Strusanov | Soviet Union | 4:41.3 | Q | | 10.Lars Larsson |  Denmark | 4:48.9 | | | 12.Leo Verburgt |  Netherlands | 4:50.5 | | | 13.Vlado Brinovec |  Yugoslavia | 4:51.2 | | | 15.Edward Bastek | Poland | 4:51.5 | | | 16.Karri Käyhkö |  Finland | 4:53.3 | | | 20.Fikirci Ünsal |  Turkey | DNF | |
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