The men's individual cross country event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

The competition was held on Monday, August 23, 1920.

Forty-seven runners from 12 nations competed.

[1] The course was about 8 kilometers long, shorter than the previous Olympic cross-country race and a distance still widely competed in at the collegiate level.

[1] The records for 8-kilometer cross country race individual times were as follows: The first three runners for each nation to finish in this event were also counted towards the cross country team result.