# Biathlon at the 1968 Winter Olympics – Individual

The men's 20 kilometre individual biathlon competition at the 1968 Winter Olympics was held on 12 February, at Autrans. Each miss of the target cost two minutes, while hitting the outer circle cost one minute.

## Results

Two relatively inexperienced biathletes dominated the individual event. Magnar Solberg was one of only two men to shoot clear, and had the second fastest ski time, more than two minutes faster than the third best time. Aleksandr Tikhonov skied a minute faster than Solberg, but took two minutes in penalties, and ended up with silver, nearly four minutes ahead of their closest pursuer. Vladimir Gundartsev took bronze for the Soviet union, two minutes in penalties complementing the fifth-fastest ski time. Defending world champion Viktor Mamatov, and world silver medalist Stanisław Szczepaniak each took just one minute in penalties, but their ski times left them on the outside of the medals, Szczepaniak in 4th and Mamatov in 7th.
| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Ski Time | Penalties | Result | Deficit |
| | 3 | Magnar Solberg | Norway | 1:13:45.9 | 0 (0+0+0+0) | 1:13:45.9 | – |
| | 1 | Aleksandr Tikhonov | Soviet Union | 1:12:40.4 | 2 (1+1+0+0) | 1:14:40.4 | +54.5 |
| | 31 | Vladimir Gundartsev | Soviet Union | 1:16:27.4 | 2 (0+0+1+1) | 1:18:27.4 | +4:41.5 |
| 4 | 2 | Stanisław Szczepaniak | Poland | 1:17:56.8 | 1 (0+0+1+0) | 1:18:56.8 | +5:10.9 |
| 5 | 25 | Arve Kinnari | Finland | 1:17:47.9 | 2 (0+0+1+1) | 1:19:47.9 | +6:02.0 |
| 6 | 16 | Nikolay Puzanov | Soviet Union | 1:17:14.5 | 3 (0+1+1+1) | 1:20:14.5 | +6:28.6 |
| 7 | 58 | Viktor Mamatov | Soviet Union | 1:19:20.8 | 1 (1+0+0+0) | 1:20:20.8 | +6:34.9 |
| 8 | 17 | Stanisław Łukaszczyk | Poland | 1:16:28.1 | 4 (2+1+1+0) | 1:20:28.1 | +6:42.2 |
| 9 | 38 | Kalevi Vähäkylä | Finland | 1:17:56.5 | 3 (0+2+0+1) | 1:20:56.5 | +7:10.6 |
| 10 | 8 | Horst Koschka | East Germany | 1:18:37.7 | 3 (1+1+1+0) | 1:21:37.7 | +7:51.8 |
| 11 | 42 | Jon Istad | Norway | 1:19:43.1 | 2 (0+1+1+0) | 1:21:43.1 | +7:57.2 |
| 12 | 5 | Theo Merkel | West Germany | 1:18:10.5 | 4 (3+0+1+0) | 1:22:10.5 | +8:24.6 |
| 13 | 57 | Ola Wærhaug | Norway | 1:19:12.9 | 3 (0+2+1+0) | 1:22:12.9 | +8:27.0 |
| 14 | 11 | Constantin Carabela | Romania | 1:22:52.2 | 0 (0+0+0+0) | 1:22:52.2 | +9:06.3 |
| 15 | 40 | Pavel Ploc | Czechoslovakia | 1:18:05.0 | 5 (1+0+0+4) | 1:23:05.0 | +9:19.1 |
| 16 | 6 | Roger Bean | Great Britain | 1:19:07.5 | 5 (2+3+0+0) | 1:24:07.5 | +10:21.6 |
| 17 | 10 | Lars-Göran Arwidson | Sweden | 1:18:08.9 | 6 (0+3+0+3) | 1:24:08.9 | +10:23.0 |
| 18 | 19 | Dieter Speer | East Germany | 1:18:13.3 | 6 (2+2+1+1) | 1:24:13.3 | +10:27.4 |
| 19 | 24 | Olle Petrusson | Sweden | 1:18:31.2 | 6 (3+0+2+1) | 1:24:31.2 | +10:45.3 |
| 20 | 41 | Holmfrid Olsson | Sweden | 1:19:01.8 | 6 (2+2+2+0) | 1:25:01.8 | +11:15.9 |
| 21 | 53 | Hansjörg Knauthe | East Germany | 1:23:04.9 | 2 (1+1+0+0) | 1:25:04.9 | +11:19.0 |
| 22 | 26 | Vilmoş Gheorghe | Romania | 1:20:07.3 | 6 (3+0+3+0) | 1:26:07.3 | +12:21.4 |
| 23 | 50 | Gheorghe Cimpoia | Romania | 1:25:36.5 | 1 (0+0+1+0) | 1:26:36.5 | +12:50.6 |
| 24 | 44 | Heinz Kluge | East Germany | 1:19:55.2 | 7 (0+1+1+5) | 1:26:55.2 | +13:09.3 |
| 25 | 14 | Yrjö Salpakari | Finland | 1:20:11.6 | 7 (2+1+2+2) | 1:27:11.6 | +13:25.7 |
| 26 | 28 | Ragnar Tveiten | Norway | 1:16:17.4 | 11 (4+0+2+5) | 1:27:17.4 | +13:31.5 |
| 27 | 29 | Ralph Wakley | United States | 1:22:32.9 | 5 (1+1+3+0) | 1:27:32.9 | +13:47.0 |
| 28 | 27 | Miki Shibuya | Japan | 1:21:37.1 | 6 (1+1+4+0) | 1:27:37.1 | +13:51.2 |
| 29 | 39 | Nicolae Bărbăşescu | Romania | 1:24:05.3 | 4 (2+0+0+2) | 1:28:05.3 | +14:19.4 |
| 30 | 60 | Nore Westin | Sweden | 1:21:09.4 | 7 (1+2+2+2) | 1:28:09.4 | +14:23.5 |
| 31 | 54 | Mauno Luukkonen | Finland | 1:19:15.8 | 9 (4+2+3+0) | 1:28:15.8 | +14:29.9 |
| 32 | 35 | Gerhard Gehring | West Germany | 1:20:26.8 | 8 (2+1+2+3) | 1:28:26.8 | +14:40.9 |
| 33 | 9 | Isao Ono | Japan | 1:20:47.8 | 8 (2+0+1+5) | 1:28:47.8 | +15:01.9 |
| 34 | 46 | Shozo Okuyama | Japan | 1:21:51.0 | 7 (3+0+2+2) | 1:28:51.0 | +15:05.1 |
| 35 | 30 | Jean-Claude Viry | France | 1:19:16.2 | 10 (2+4+1+3) | 1:29:16.2 | +15:30.3 |
| 36 | 34 | Frederick Andrew | Great Britain | 1:22:21.3 | 7 (1+0+2+4) | 1:29:21.3 | +15:35.4 |
| 37 | 4 | Bill Spencer | United States | 1:20:17.7 | 10 (2+3+1+4) | 1:30:17.7 | +16:31.8 |
| 38 | 32 | Bayanjavyn Damdinjav | Mongolia | 1:24:30.7 | 6 (1+3+1+1) | 1:30:30.7 | +16:44.8 |
| 39 | 23 | Xaver Kraus | West Germany | 1:18:40.2 | 12 (4+3+2+3) | 1:30:40.2 | +16:54.3 |
| 40 | 37 | Paul Ernst | Austria | 1:25:47.9 | 6 (1+4+1+0) | 1:31:47.9 | +18:02.0 |
| 41 | 49 | Herbert Hindelang | West Germany | 1:21:48.5 | 10 (3+5+1+1) | 1:31:48.5 | +18:02.6 |
| 42 | 13 | Aimé Gruet-Masson | France | 1:20:50.4 | 11 (3+4+3+1) | 1:31:50.4 | +18:04.5 |
| 43 | 51 | Hajime Yoshimura | Japan | 1:23:05.5 | 9 (3+3+2+1) | 1:32:05.5 | +18:19.6 |
| 44 | 18 | Alan Notley | Great Britain | 1:25:23.1 | 7 (7+0+0+0) | 1:32:23.1 | +18:37.2 |
| 45 | 48 | Edward Williams | United States | 1:23:24.5 | 9 (2+5+0+2) | 1:32:24.5 | +18:38.6 |
| 46 | 7 | Esko Karu | Canada | 1:21:42.9 | 11 (1+3+2+5) | 1:32:42.9 | +18:57.0 |
| 47 | 55 | Horst Schneider | Austria | 1:24:49.6 | 9 (3+2+1+3) | 1:33:49.6 | +20:03.7 |
| 48 | 47 | Józef Stopka | Poland | 1:22:17.7 | 12 (4+4+3+1) | 1:34:17.7 | +20:31.8 |
| 49 | 33 | Jonathan Chaffee | United States | 1:23:21.1 | 11 (3+2+4+2) | 1:34:21.1 | +20:35.2 |
| 50 | 20 | Adolf Scherwitzl | Austria | 1:30:21.7 | 4 (2+0+1+1) | 1:34:21.7 | +20:35.8 |
| 51 | 43 | George Ede | Canada | 1:26:41.8 | 8 (2+2+4+0) | 1:34:41.8 | +20:55.9 |
| 52 | 21 | Bizyaagiin Dashgai | Mongolia | 1:26:55.8 | 8 (5+2+1+0) | 1:34:55.8 | +21:09.9 |
| 53 | 52 | James Boyde | Canada | 1:27:02.0 | 8 (3+2+2+1) | 1:35:02.0 | +21:16.1 |
| 54 | 15 | George Rattai | Canada | 1:24:03.0 | 11 (1+5+2+3) | 1:35:03.0 | +21:17.1 |
| 55 | 22 | Ladislav Žižka | Czechoslovakia | 1:21:45.3 | 14 (7+5+0+2) | 1:35:45.3 | +21:59.4 |
| 56 | 12 | Franz Vetter | Austria | 1:16:25.0 | 20 (5+5+5+5) | 1:36:25.0 | +22:39.1 |
| 57 | 59 | Louis Romand | France | 1:25:55.2 | 12 (4+2+3+3) | 1:37:55.2 | +24:09.3 |
| 58 | 36 | Guy Duraffourg | France | 1:23:51.4 | 18 (5+7+4+2) | 1:41:51.4 | +28:05.5 |
| 59 | 56 | Marcus Halliday | Great Britain | 1:23:40.5 | 19 (5+1+7+6) | 1:42:40.5 | +28:54.6 |
| – | 45 | Józef Gąsienica Sobczak | Poland | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF |