Speed skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics

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 →

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
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

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

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

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.