Venue Seefeld Competitors 51 from 14 nations | Dates February 4 Winning time 1:20:26.8 | |
The Men's 20 kilometre individual biathlon competition at the 1964 Winter Olympics was held on 4 February, at Seefeld. Each miss of the target cost two minutes.
Results
Vladimir Melanin, the two time defending world champion, won the Olympic title with ease at Seefeld. He was one of just three racers to shoot clear, and also had a very quick ski time; the two men who skied faster than him, Ragnar Tveiten and Veikko Hakulinen had six and twelve minutes of penalties, respectively. This combination saw Melanin win the race by more than three full minutes. The silver medalist, Aleksandr Privalov, a bronze medalist at the last Olympics, had a slower ski time, but like Melanin, shot clear to earn his place. Olav Jordet earned bronze, ahead of Tveiten, as he combined a top-10 skiing time with only a single miss.