| Stockholm, 11 Jul 1912 |
| (Competitors: 23; Countries: 11; Finalists: 10) |
Final
The final was held on Thursday, July 11, 1912.
| Place |
Athlete |
Time |
| 1 |
 George Goulding (CAN) |
46:28.4 |
| 2 |
 Ernest Webb (GBR) |
46:50.4 |
| 3 |
 Fernando Altimani (ITA) |
47:37.6 |
| 4 |
 Aage Rasmussen (DEN) |
48:00.0 |
| — |
Vilhelm Gylche (DEN) |
Did not finish |
 Frederick Kaiser (USA) |
Did not finish |
| William Palmer (GBR) |
Did not finish |
| Thomas Dumbill (GBR) |
Disqualified |
 Arthur St. Norman (RSA) |
Disqualified |
| William Yates (GBR) |
Disqualified |
|
| Curious seeding put Goulding, Webb, Rasmussen and Altimani all in the first heat, with the Canadian winning in 47:14.5, and the three others under 49 minutes. The only other man under 50 minutes was William Yates (GBR), who won the other heat in 49:43.6. As in the heat, Webb was the closest man to Goulding, but had to give way in the later stages of the race. Three of the 10 men in the final failed to finish, and the remaining three were disqualified. |
| Antwerp, 18 Aug 1920 |
| (Competitors: 23; Countries: 13; Finalists: 11) |
Final
The final was held on Wednesday, August 18, 1920.
Before the race started Frigerio handed the conductor of the mid-field band several sheets of music, which he requested to be played during the race. He won so easily that he stopped once to show the band the correct tempo...[1]
| Place |
Athlete |
Time |
| 1 |
Ugo Frigerio (ITA) |
48:06.2 |
| 2 |
 Joseph Pearman (USA) |
(49:40.2) |
| 3 |
Charles Gunn (GBR) |
(49:43.9) |
| 4 |
Cecil McMaster (RSA) |
(50:04.0) |
| 5 |
William Hehir (GBR) |
(50:11.8) |
| 6 |
Thomas Maroney (USA) |
(50:24.4) |
| 7 |
 Jean Segers (BEL) |
(50:32.4) |
| 8 |
Antoine Doyen (BEL) |
(56:30.0) |
| — |
 Luis Meléndez (ESP) |
DNF |
 George Parker (AUS) |
DQ |
| Donato Pavesi (ITA) |
DQ |
| William Plant (USA) |
DNS |
|
| Frigerio won the first heat in 47:06.4, a startling time, until it was determined that the athletes had covered 24 laps instead of 25. The time would have been about 49:10 for the full course, still very good compared to the 51:33.8 for Hehir in winning the other heat. In the final Pearman led for the first half of the race, but Frigerio then took over, and went away to win by more than half a lap. |
| Paris, 13 Jul 1924 |
| (Competitors: 22; Countries: 13; Finalists: 10) |
Final
The final was held on Sunday, July 13, 1924.
| Place |
Athlete |
Time |
| 1 |
Ugo Frigerio (ITA) |
47:49.0 |
| 2 |
Gordon Goodwin (GBR) |
48:37.9 |
| 3 |
Cecil McMaster (RSA) |
49:08.0 |
| 4 |
Donato Pavesi (ITA) |
49:17.0 |
| 5 |
 Arthur Tell Schwab (SUI) |
49:50.0 |
| 6 |
Ernie Clark (GBR) |
49:59.2 |
| 7 |
Armando Valente (ITA) |
50:07.0 |
| 8 |
Luigi Bosatra (ITA) |
50:09.0 |
| 9 |
Harry Hinkel (USA) |
50:16.8 |
| 10 |
 Henri Clermont (FRA) |
51:41.6 |
|
| Goodwin (49:04.0) and Pavesi (49:09.0) were faster than Frigerio (49:16.5) in the heats, but the status quo was maintained in the final. Pavesi led at the start, but Goodwin soon took over the lead, and Frigerio made the decisive break after 400m. He passed halfway in 23:18.2, and he went on to win by almost 200m. |
| London, 7 Aug 1948 |
| (Competitors: 19; Countries: 10) |
Final
 |
John Mikaelsson |
 Sweden |
45:13.2 |
|
 |
Ingemar Johansson |
Sweden |
45:43.8 |
|
 |
Fritz Schwab |
 Switzerland |
46:00.2 |
|
| 4 |
Charles Morris |
 Great Britain |
46:04.0 |
|
| 5 |
Harry Churcher |
Great Britain |
47:28.0 |
|
| 6 |
Émile Maggi |
 France |
47:02.8 |
|
| 7 |
Richard West |
Great Britain |
|
|
| 8 |
Gianni Corsaro |
 Italy |
|
|
| 9 |
Pino Dordoni |
Italy |
|
|
| |
Werner Hardmo |
Sweden |
|
DSQ |
|
| Mikaelsson set an Olympic record of 45:03.0 in the first heat, with Morris second in 45:10.4 ahead of Maggi (45:44.2) and Dordoni (46:25.8), all of whom were faster than Churcher, winner of the second heat in 46:26.4. Both Churcher and Werner Hardmo (SWE), many time world record setter, were cautioned. The final was held after the track had been badly slowed by heavy rain, and Mikaelsson dominated proceedings, winning by just over 100m from teammate Johansson, who overtook the British pair in the second half of the race. Hardmo was disqualified, while Schwab, son of 1936 50Km silver medallist Arthur, also finished quickly to win the bronze medal. |
| Helsinki, 27 Jul 1952 |
| (Competitors: 23; Countries: 12; Finalists: 12) |
Final
|
John Mikaelsson |
Sweden |
45:02.8 |
OR |
|
Fritz Schwab |
Switzerland |
45:41.0 |
|
|
Bruno Junk |
 Soviet Union |
45:41.0 |
|
| 4 |
Louis Chevalier |
France |
45:50.4 |
|
| 5 |
George Coleman |
Great Britain |
46:06.8 |
|
| 6 |
Ivan Yarmysh |
Soviet Union |
46:07.0 |
|
| 7 |
Émile Maggi |
France |
46:08.0 |
|
| 8 |
Bruno Fait |
Italy |
46:25.6 |
|
| 9 |
Gabriel Reymond |
Switzerland |
46:38.6 |
|
| 10 |
Don Keane |
 Australia |
47:37.0 |
|
| |
Lars Hindmar |
Sweden |
|
DSQ |
|
| British official Jack Crump, writing in the British Olympic report, noted that “the standard of judging and the basis on which decisions to caution or disqualify competitors were made, were neither consistent nor impartial.” Junk won the first heat in 45:05.8 from Mikaelsson (45:10.0), while Coleman won the second heat by over half a minute in 46:12.4. Coleman led for the first quarter of the final, but Mikaelsson then took over, and the Briton dropped back. Mikaelsson won by 150m from Schwab, who edged Junk by 0.02 after both men were clearly running in the last 50m. The inconsistencies of judging and competing meant that the m event would be replaced woth a 20 Kilometres road walk in 1956 |
John Mikaelsson 
Bruno Junk 
