Speed skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the XI Olympic Winter Games
Pictogram for speed skating
Venue	Makomanai Open Stadium
Dates	February 4-12
Competitors	118 from 18 nations

1972 Soviet Union 4 kopeks stamp. Olympic Winter Games Sapporo.

Speed skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics, was held from 5 February to 14 February. Eight events were contested at Makomanai Open Stadium in Sapporo, Japan.^[1] This was the first Olympics at which electronic times were recorded to the hundredeth of a second.

Medal summary

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Netherlands (NED)	4	3	2	9
2	United States (USA)	2	1	1	4
3	West Germany (FRG)	2	0	0	2
4	Norway (NOR)	0	2	2	4
5	Soviet Union (URS)	0	1	2	3
6	Sweden (SWE)	0	1	1	2
	Total	8	8	8	24

The Netherlands toppd the medal table, with four golds and nine overall, led by Ard Schenk's three gold medals.

Schenk led the individual medal table, winning each of the three longer distance events. The most successful female skater was the Netherlands's Stien Kaiser, who won one gold and one silver medal.

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres	Erhard Keller West Germany (FRG)	39.44 (OR)	Hasse Börjes Sweden (SWE)	39.69	Valery Muratov Soviet Union (URS)	39.80
1500 metres	Ard Schenk Netherlands (NED)	2:02.96 (OR)	Roar Grønvold Norway (NOR)	2:04.26	Göran Claeson Sweden (SWE)	2:05.89
5000 metres	Ard Schenk Netherlands (NED)	7:23.61	Roar Grønvold Norway (NOR)	7:28.18	Sten Stensen Norway (NOR)	7:33.39
10000 metres	Ard Schenk Netherlands (NED)	15:01.35 (OR)	Kees Verkerk Netherlands (NED)	15:04.70	Sten Stensen Norway (NOR)	15:07.08

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres	Anne Henning United States (USA)	43.33 (OR)	Vera Krasnova Soviet Union (URS)	44.01	Lyudmila Titova Soviet Union (URS)	44.45
1000 metres	Monika Pflug West Germany (FRG)	1:31.40 (OR)	Atje Keulen-Deelstra Netherlands (NED)	1:31.61	Anne Henning United States (USA)	1:31.62
1500 metres	Dianne Holum United States (USA)	2:20.85 (OR)	Stien Kaiser Netherlands (NED)	2:21.05	Atje Keulen-Deelstra Netherlands (NED)	1:22.05
3000 metres	Stien Kaiser Netherlands (NED)	4:52.14 (OR)	Dianne Holum United States (USA)	4:58.67	Atje Keulen-Deelstra Netherlands (NED)	4:59.91

Records

Seven of the eight events had new Olympic records set, with only the men's 5000 metres record remaining unbroken.^[2][3]

Event	Date	Team	Time	OR	WR
Men's 500 metres	5 February	Erhard Keller (FRG)	39.44	OR
Men's 1500 metres	6 February	Ard Schenk (NED)	2:02.96	OR
Men's 10000 metres	7 February	Ard Schenk (NED)	15:01.35	OR
Women's 500 metres	10 February	Anne Henning (USA)	43.33	OR
Women's 1000 metres	11 February	Monika Pflug (FRG)	1:31.40	OR
Women's 1500 metres	9 February	Dianne Holum (USA)	2:20.85	OR
Women's 3000 metres	12 February	Stien Kaiser (NED)	4:52.14	OR

Participating NOCs

Eighteen nations competed in the speed skating events at Sapporo.

Australia (2) Austria (1) Canada (10) Finland (6) France (1) West Germany (7) Great Britain (2) East Germany (2) Italy (2)

Japan (13) South Korea (4) Mongolia (2) Netherlands (10) Norway (14) North Korea (6) Sweden (11) Soviet Union (9) United States (16)

References

1. "The XI Olympic Winter Games Sapporo 1972" (PDF). Organizing Committee for the XIth Olympic Winter Games. LA84 Foundation. 1972. 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 1972 Olympics - Speed Skating