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
←  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

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Netherlands	3	3	3	9
2	Norway	1	3	0	4
3	Finland	1	1	0	2
	Soviet Union	1	1	0	2
5	Sweden	1	0	1	2
6	West Germany	1	0	0	1
7	United States	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

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.

•   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

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.