[2] The event was won by Yury Malyshev of the Soviet Union, the nation's fifth victory in the event; the Soviets returned to the top of the podium after having their four-Games (1952–1964) winning streak broken in 1968.

Alberto Demiddi of Argentina took silver, the seventh man to win multiple medals in the single sculls (adding to his 1968 bronze).

Wolfgang Güldenpfennig earned bronze, the first medal for East Germany as a separate team (East German rower Achim Hill had won two gold medals for the United Team of Germany in 1960 and 1964).

Great Britain made its 14th appearance, most among nations, after missing only its second edition of the event in 1964.

The competition continued to use the six-boat heat standardised in 1960 as well as the "B" final for ranking 7th through 12th place introduced in 1964.