Speed skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Speed skating
at the X Olympic Winter Games

Pictogram for speed skating
VenueL'Anneau de Vitesse
DatesFebruary 4-12
Competitors129 from 19 nations

Speed skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics, was held from 4 February to 12 February. Eight events were contested at L'Anneau de Vitesse in Grenoble, France.[1]

Medal summary

Medal table

 Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Netherlands (NED) 3 3 3 9
2  Norway (NOR) 1 3 0 4
3  Soviet Union (URS) 1 1 0 2
3  Finland (FIN) 1 1 0 2
5  Sweden (SWE) 1 0 1 1
6  West Germany (FRG) 1 0 0 1
7  United States (USA) 0 4 1 5
Total 8 12 5 25

The Netherlands topped the medal table, with nine medals, three of each type. Three tied events meant that only five bronze medals were awarded. The gold medal won by Erhard Keller was the first medal in speedskating for West Germany as an separate country.

Five athletes shared the top of the individual medal table, with one gold and one silver each: Kees Verkerk and Carry Geijssen of the Netherlands, Finland's Kaija Mustonen, the Soviet unions Lyudmila Titova and Norway's Fred Anton Maier.

Men's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
500 metres
 Erhard Keller
West Germany (FRG)
40.3  Terry McDermott
United States (USA)
 Magne Thomassen
Norway (NOR)
40.5
1500 metres
 Kees Verkerk
Netherlands (NED)
2:03.4  Ivar Eriksen
Norway (NOR)
 Ard Schenk
Netherlands (NED)
2:05.0
5000 metres
 Fred Anton Maier
Norway (NOR)
7:22.4  Kees Verkerk
Netherlands (NED)
7:23.2  Peter Nottet
Netherlands (NED)
7:25.5
10000 metres
 Johnny Höglin
Sweden (SWE)
15:23.6  Fred Anton Maier
Norway (NOR)
15:23.9  Örjan Sandler
Sweden (SWE)
15:31.8

Women's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
500 metres
 Lyudmila Titova
Soviet Union (URS)
46.1  Jenny Fish
United States (USA)
 Dianne Holum
United States (USA)
 Mary Meyers
United States (USA)
46.3
1000 metres
 Carry Geijssen
Netherlands (NED)
1:32.6  Lyudmila Titova
Soviet Union (URS)
1:32.9  Dianne Holum
United States (USA)
1:33.4
1500 metres
 Kaija Mustonen
Finland (FIN)
2:22.4  Carry Geijssen
Netherlands (NED)
2:22.7  Stien Kaiser
Netherlands (NED)
2:24.5
3000 metres
 Ans Schut
Netherlands (NED)
4:56.2  Kaija Mustonen
Finland (FIN)
5:01.0  Stien Kaiser
Netherlands (NED)
5:01.3

Records

One world record and six Olympic records were set at Grenoble. The only Olympic records not broken were in the two shortest events, the men's and women's 500 metres.[2][3]

Event Date Team Time OR WR
Men's 1500 metres 16 February  Kees Verkerk (NED) 2:03.4 OR
Men's 5000 metres 15 February  Fred Anton Maier (NOR) 7:22.4 OR WR
Men's 10000 metres 17 February  Johnny Höglin (SWE) 15:23.6 OR
Women's 1000 metres 11 February  Carry Geijssen (NED) 1:32.6 OR
Women's 1500 metres 10 February  Kaija Mustonen (USA) 2:22.4 OR
Women's 3000 metres 12 February  Ans Schut (NED) 4:56.2 OR

Participating NOCs

Nineteen nations competed in the speed skating events at Grenoble. East and West Germany made their debuts as separate teams.

References

  1. "Rapport Officiel Xes Jeux Olympiques D'Hiver 1968 Grenoble". Comité d'organisation des Xemes jeux olympiques d'hiver. LA84 Foundation. 1968. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  2. "ISU - Speed Skating - Records - World Records". International Skating Union. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  3. "ISU - Speed Skating - Records - Olympic Records". International Skating Union. Retrieved January 29, 2014.

Sports-Reference 1968 Olympics - Speed Skating