Speed skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Speed skating

at the X Olympic Winter Games

Pictogram for speed skating

Venue| L'Anneau de Vitesse
Date| 4–12 February 1968
No. of events| 8
Competitors| 129 from 19 nations

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Speed skating at the
1968 Winter Olympics

500 m| men| women
1000 m| | women
1500 m| men| women
3000 m| | women
5000 m| men|
10,000 m| men|

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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

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### Medal table

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Rank| Nation| Gold| Silver| Bronze| Total

|
|
|
|
|

1|  Netherlands (NED)| 3| 3| 3| 9
2|  Norway (NOR)| 1| 3| 0| 4
3|  Finland (FIN)| 1| 1| 0| 2
Soviet Union (URS)| 1| 1| 0| 2
5|  Sweden (SWE)| 1| 0| 1| 2
6|  West Germany (FRG)| 1| 0| 0| 1
7|  United States (USA)| 0| 4| 1| 5
Totals (7 entries)| 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 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

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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

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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

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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

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

* Australia (1)
* Austria (3)
* Canada (7)
* Finland (8)
* France (5)
* East Germany (1)
* West Germany (8)
* Great Britain (5)
* Hungary (3)
* Italy (4)
* Japan (12)
* South Korea (2)
* Mongolia (3)
* Netherlands (9)
* Norway (13)
* Soviet Union (16)
* Sweden (11)
* Switzerland (3)
* United States (15)

## References

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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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Events at the 1968 Winter Olympics (Grenoble)

* Alpine skiing
* Biathlon
* Bobsleigh
* Cross‑country skiing
* Figure skating
* Ice hockey
* Luge
* Nordic combined
* Ski jumping
* Speed skating

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Speed skating at the Winter Olympics

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