Speed skating
at the X Olympic Winter Games
Refer to caption
Pictogram for speed skating
VenueL'Anneau de Vitesse
Date4–12 February 1968
No. of events8
Competitors129 from 19 nations

Speed skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics, was held from 4 to 12 February. Eight events were contested at L'Anneau de Vitesse in Grenoble, France.[1][2]

Medal summary

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Netherlands (NED)3339
2 Norway (NOR)1304
3 Finland (FIN)1102
 Soviet Union (URS)1102
5 Sweden (SWE)1012
6 West Germany (FRG)1001
7 United States (USA)0415
Totals (7 entries)812525

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 a 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 Union's Lyudmila Titova and Norway's Fred Anton Maier.

Three American female skaters were tied for a silver in the women's 500 meters, all showing the same time.

Men's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
500 metres
Erhard Keller
 West Germany		40.3 Terry McDermott
 United States
Magne Thomassen
 Norway		40.5 None awarded
1500 metres
Kees Verkerk
 Netherlands		2:03.4
(OR)		 Ivar Eriksen
 Norway
Ard Schenk
 Netherlands		2:05.0 None awarded
5000 metres
Fred Anton Maier
 Norway		7:22.4
(WR)		 Kees Verkerk
 Netherlands		7:23.2 Peter Nottet
 Netherlands		7:25.5
10,000 metres
Johnny Höglin
 Sweden		15:23.6
(OR)		 Fred Anton Maier
 Norway		15:23.9 Örjan Sandler
 Sweden		15:31.8

Women's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
500 metres
Lyudmila Titova
 Soviet Union		46.1 Jenny Fish
 United States
Dianne Holum
 United States
Mary Meyers
 United States		46.3 None awarded
1000 metres
Carry Geijssen
 Netherlands		1:32.6
(OR)		 Lyudmila Titova
 Soviet Union		1:32.9 Dianne Holum
 United States		1:33.4
1500 metres
Kaija Mustonen
 Finland		2:22.4
(OR)		 Carry Geijssen
 Netherlands		2:22.7 Stien Kaiser
 Netherlands		2:24.5
3000 metres
Ans Schut
 Netherlands		4:56.2
(OR)		 Kaija Mustonen
 Finland		5:01.0 Stien Kaiser
 Netherlands		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.[3][4]

EventDateTeamTimeORWR
Men's 1500 metres16 February Kees Verkerk (NED)2:03.4OR
Men's 5000 metres15 February Fred Anton Maier (NOR)7:22.4ORWR
Men's 10,000 metres17 February Johnny Höglin (SWE)15:23.6OR
Women's 1000 metres11 February Carry Geijssen (NED)1:32.6OR
Women's 1500 metres10 February Kaija Mustonen (FIN)2:22.4OR
Women's 3000 metres12 February Ans Schut (NED)4:56.2OR

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" (PDF). Comité d'organisation des Xemes jeux olympiques d'hiver. LA84 Foundation. 1968. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Speed Skating at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  3. ↑ "ISU - Speed Skating - Records - World Records". International Skating Union. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "ISU - Speed Skating - Records - Olympic Records". International Skating Union. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
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