The event was won by Romuald Klim of the Soviet Union, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's hammer throw.

Gyula Zsivótzky of Hungary repeated as silver medalist, the fifth man to win multiple medals in the event.

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final.

In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 63.00 metres advanced to the final.

Klim's fourth throw overtook that record and held for the gold medal distance.