Speed skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the XII Olympic Winter Games
Pictogram for speed skating
Venue	Eisschnellaufbahn
Dates	February 5-14
Competitors	111 from 19 nations

Speed skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, was held from 5 February to 14 February. Nine events were contested at Eisschnelllaufbahn Innsbruck.^[1] This was the first Olympics which included the men's 1000 metres, and the first change to the men's program at the Olympics since the elimination of the all-round event in 1928.

Medal summary

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union (URS)	4	2	3	9
2	United States (USA)	2	2	2	6
3	Norway (NOR)	2	2	1	5
4	Netherlands (NED)	1	1	3	5
5	Canada (CAN)	0	1	0	1
5	East Germany (GDR)	0	1	0	1
	Total	9	9	9	27

The Soviet Union led the medal table, with four gold and nine overall. The silver medal for East Germany's Andrea Ehrig-Mitscherlich was the country's first in speed skating.

Tatyana Averina led the individual medal table, winning a medal in all four women's events, two gold and two bronze. The most successful male skaters were Norway's Sten Stensen and the Netherlands' Piet Kleine, who both won one gold and one silver medal, splitting the long distance events.

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres	Yevgeny Kulikov Soviet Union (URS)	39.17 (OR)	Valery Muratov Soviet Union (URS)	39.25	Dan Immerfall United States (USA)	39.54
1000 metres	Peter Mueller United States (USA)	1:19.32 (OR)	Jørn Didriksen Norway (NOR)	1:20.45	Valery Muratov Soviet Union (URS)	1:20.57
1500 metres	Jan Egil Storholt Norway (NOR)	1:59.38 (OR)	Yury Kondakov Soviet Union (URS)	1:59.97	Hans van Helden Netherlands (NED)	2:00.87
5000 metres	Sten Stensen Norway (NOR)	7:24.48	Piet Kleine Netherlands (NED)	7:26.47	Hans van Helden Netherlands (NED)	7:26.54
10000 metres	Piet Kleine Netherlands (NED)	14:50.59 (OR)	Sten Stensen Norway (NOR)	14:53.30	Hans van Helden Netherlands (NED)	15:02.02

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres	Sheila Young United States (USA)	42.76 (OR)	Cathy Priestner Canada (CAN)	43.12	Tatyana Averina Soviet Union (URS)	43.17
1000 metres	Tatyana Averina Soviet Union (URS)	1:28.43 (OR)	Leah Poulos United States (USA)	1:28.57	Sheila Young United States (USA)	1:29.14
1500 metres	Galina Stepanskaya Soviet Union (URS)	2:16.58 (OR)	Sheila Young United States (USA)	2:17.06	Tatyana Averina Soviet Union (URS)	2:17.96
3000 metres	Tatyana Averina Soviet Union (URS)	4:45.19 (OR)	Andrea Ehrig-Mitscherlich East Germany (GDR)	4:45.23	Lisbeth Korsmo-Berg Norway (NOR)	4:45.24

Records

Eight out of the nine events, including the debuting men's 1000 metres, 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	10 February	Yevgeny Kulikov (URS)	39.17	OR
Men's 1000 metres	12 February	Peter Mueller (USA)	1:19.32	OR
Men's 1500 metres	13 February	Jan Egil Storholt (NOR)	1:59.38	OR
Men's 10000 metres	14 February	Piet Kleine (NED)	14:50.59	OR
Women's 500 metres	6 February	Sheila Young (USA)	42.76	OR
Women's 1000 metres	7 February	Tatyana Averina (URS)	1:28.43	OR
Women's 1500 metres	5 February	Galina Stepanskaya (URS)	2:16.58	OR
Women's 3000 metres	8 February	Tatyana Averina (URS)	4:45.19	OR

Participating NOCs

Nineteen nations competed in the speed skating events at Innsbruck.

Australia (1) Austria (4) Belgium (2) Canada (8) Finland (4) France (2) West Germany (3) Great Britain (2) East Germany (9) Italy (6)

Japan (9) South Korea (2) Netherlands (6) Norway (9) Poland (4) Switzerland (1) Sweden (9) Soviet Union (16) United States (14)

References

1. "Final Report - XII. Olympische Winterspiele Innsbruck 1976" (PDF). Organizing Committee for the XIIth Winter Olympic Games 1976. LA84 Foundation. 1976. 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 1976 Olympics - Speed Skating