| Final | | time | | gap | L | 400m | 800m | 1200m | | 1. Hans Fasnacht |  West Germany | 16:19.9 | ER | | 5 | 4:17.7 | 8:41.4 ER | 13:04.6 | | 2. Werner Lampe | West Germany | 16:25.6 | | 5.7s | 7 | 4:19.0 | 8:42.6 | 13:06.9 | | 3. Santiago Esteva |  Spain | 16:35.7 | NR | 14.8s | 4 | 4:21.0 | 8:46.6 NR | 13:15.2 | | 4. Wolfram Sperling |  East Germany | 16:46.1 | NR | 26.2s | 3 | | 5. Antonio Corell | Spain | 16:51.2 | | 31.3s | 6 | | 6. Sverre Kile |  Norway | 16:56.6 | NR | 36.7s | 2 | | 7. Hargitay András |  Hungary | 17:21.1 | NR | 1:01.2 | 1 | | 8. Karl Mann | East Germany | 17:22.9 | | 1:03.0 | 8 |
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| World Record: | | European Record: |
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Heats - , --th September | | Best 8 times advanced to Final>. |
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| Heat 3 | | time | | | 6. Werner Lampe | West Germany | 17:15.8 | Q | | 7. Hargitay András | Hungary | 17:23.7 | Q, NR | | 8. Karl Mann | East Germany | 17:24.1 | Q | | 9. Alekszandr Szamszonov |  Soviet Union | 17:32.9 | | | 12.Tom van Klosster |  Netherlands | 17:38.8 | | | 13.Alain Charmey |  Switzerland | 17:40.7 | NR |
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| Heat 2 | | time | | | 2. Hans Fasnacht | West Germany | 17:00.2 | Q | | 4. Antonio Corell | Spain | 17:05.1 | Q | | 5. Sverre Kile | Norway | 17:08.0 | Q, NR | | 10.Andrej Dunajev | Soviet Union | 17:37.1 | |
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| Heat 1 | | time | | | 1. Santiago Esteva | Spain | 16:48.7 | Q, ECR | | 3. Wolfram Sperling | East Germany | 17:02.2 | Q | | 11.Sandro Grassi |  Italy | 17:37.6 | | | 14.Nikosz Barisztianosz |  Greece | 20:02.1 | |
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