Speed skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics

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]

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
← 1964
1972 →

Medal summary

edit

Medal table

edit
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

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

Women's events

edit
Event Gold Silver Bronze
500 metres
details
Lyudmila Titova
  Soviet Union
46.1 Jenny Fish
  United States
Dianne Holum
  United States
Mary Meyers
  United States
46.3 None awarded
1000 metres
details
Carry Geijssen
  Netherlands
1:32.6
(OR)
Lyudmila Titova
  Soviet Union
1:32.9 Dianne Holum
  United States
1:33.4
1500 metres
details
Kaija Mustonen
  Finland
2:22.4
(OR)
Carry Geijssen
  Netherlands
2:22.7 Stien Kaiser
  Netherlands
2:24.5
3000 metres
details
Ans Schut
  Netherlands
4:56.2
(OR)
Kaija Mustonen
  Finland
5:01.0 Stien Kaiser
  Netherlands
5:01.3

Records

edit

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]

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 10,000 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 (FIN) 2:22.4 OR
Women's 3000 metres 12 February   Ans Schut (NED) 4:56.2 OR

Participating NOCs

edit

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

References

edit
  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.