Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games:

As always in this era, the Finns were favored, led by Gunnar Höckert and Ilmari Salminen. Salminen had already won the 10K in Berlin. The 1934 European Champion was France’s Roger Rochard but he did not get out of the heats. The final was led primarily by Japan’s Kohei Murakoso, with Salminen and Lehtinen close behind. Höckert took the lead just before 4,000 metres with only the other Finns, Murakoso and Sweden’s Henry Jonsson in contact. With two laps to go, Salminen tripped over Lehtinen’s heels and fell, losing contact, although he would manage to finish sixth. At that point, Höckert surged with only Lehtinen staying on his back. But on the final lap, Höckert pulled away from Lehtinen and won the gold medal quite easily.