159 entries, including 8 women, competed from 29 nations: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay, and the USA.

The individual medals were fought out between the two d’lnzeo brothers, Raimondo and Piero, David Broome, and Argentinean Naldo Dasso.

Despite the small number of riders, the competition still took a long time as the judges, conscious of not playing favoritism, conferred for up to 20 minutes following each ride.

The ride-off was filmed and reviewed, the judging panel decided not to change the original placings, and the results were announced to the public 3 days following the ride.

The team had fantastic performances cross-country, with three of the four riders (Lawrence "Laurie" Morgan, Neale Lavis, and Brian Crago) in the top three spots of the competition following endurance day.

Bill Roycroft, the fourth Australian team member, had fallen on cement drain pipes, resulting in a concussion and broken collar bone.