| Speed skating at the XIV Olympic Winter Games | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Zetra Ice Rink |
| Dates | 9–18 February 1984 |
| No. of events | 9 |
| Competitors | 139 from 24 nations |
| Speed skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| 500 m | men | women |
| 1000 m | men | women |
| 1500 m | men | women |
| 3000 m | women | |
| 5000 m | men | |
| 10,000 m | men | |
Speed skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics was held from 9 to 18 February. Nine events were contested at Zetra Ice Rink. [1] [2]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  East Germany (GDR) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 |  Soviet Union (URS) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| 3 |  Canada (CAN) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 |  Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 |  Japan (JPN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 |  Norway (NOR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (6 entries) | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | |
East Germany topped the medal table with four gold medals, and eleven total, including a complete sweep of gold and silver medals in the four women's events.
This was only the second Games in which the United States did not win a speed skating medal, and as of 2018, the only time since 1960 the Netherlands did not win a medal in the sport. Japan's Yoshihiro Kitazawa won his country's first Olympic medal in speed skating.
East Germany's Karin Enke led the individual medal table, winning a medal in each of the women's events, finishing with two golds and two silvers. Canada's Gaétan Boucher was the most successful male skater, with two gold medals and a bronze.
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 metres | Sergey Fokichev  Soviet Union | 38.19 | Yoshihiro Kitazawa Japan | 38.30 | Gaétan Boucher  Canada | 38.39 |
| 1000 metres | Gaétan Boucher Canada | 1:15.80 | Sergey Khlebnikov Soviet Union | 1:16.63 | Kai Arne Engelstad  Norway | 1:16.75 |
| 1500 metres | Gaétan Boucher Canada | 1:58.36 | Sergey Khlebnikov Soviet Union | 1:58.83 | Oleg Bozhev Soviet Union | 1:58.89 |
| 5000 metres | Tomas Gustafson  Sweden | 7:12.28 | Igor Malkov Soviet Union | 7:12.30 | René Schöfisch  East Germany | 7:17.49 |
| 10,000 metres | Igor Malkov Soviet Union | 14:39.90 | Tomas Gustafson Sweden | 14:39.95 | René Schöfisch East Germany | 14:46.91 |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 metres | Christa Rothenburger East Germany | 41.02 (OR) | Karin Enke East Germany | 41.28 | Natalya Glebova Soviet Union | 41.50 |
| 1000 metres | Karin Enke East Germany | 1:21.61 (OR) | Andrea Schöne East Germany | 1:22.83 | Natalya Petrusyova Soviet Union | 1:23.21 |
| 1500 metres | Karin Enke East Germany | 2:03.42 WR | Andrea Schöne East Germany | 2:05.29 | Natalya Petrusyova Soviet Union | 2:05.78 |
| 3000 metres | Andrea Schöne East Germany | 4:24.79 (OR) | Karin Enke East Germany | 4:26.33 | Gabi Zange East Germany | 4:33.13 |
No men's records were broken in Sarajevo, but all four women's Olympic records were bettered, and there was one world record set as well. [3] [4]
| Event | Date | Team | Time | OR | WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's 500 metres | 10 February | Christa Rothenburger (GDR) | 41.02 | OR | |
| Women's 1000 metres | 13 February | Karin Enke (GDR) | 1:21.61 | OR | |
| Women's 1500 metres | 9 February | Karin Enke (GDR) | 2:03.42 | OR | WR |
| Women's 3000 metres | 15 February | Andrea Schone (GDR) | 4:24.79 | OR |
Twenty-four nations competed in the speed skating events at Sarajevo. The British Virgin Islands and Yugoslavia made their debuts in the sport.
Australia (2)
Austria (4) Canada (7)
China (12)
Finland (3)
France (2)
West Germany (7)
Great Britain (1) East Germany (10)
Hungary (1)
Italy (3)
British Virgin Islands (1) Japan (9)
South Korea (6)
Netherlands (11) Norway (8)
Poland (3)
North Korea (6)
Romania (2)
Switzerland (1) Sweden (6) Soviet Union (17)
United States (13)
Yugoslavia (4)
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track". The International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of competitive ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating". Long track speed skating takes place on a 400m ice track, while short track takes place on a 111m track.
The Winter Olympic Games, also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BCE to 394 CE. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The original five Winter Olympic Sports were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948. Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986, when during the 91st International Olympic Committee session, IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also, at that same congress it was decided that 1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation, the games that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years, being scheduled to 1994. After those games, the next were to be held in 1998 when the four-year Olympic Cycle resumed.
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Sarajevo '84, were a winter multi-sport event held between 8 and 19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. It was the first Winter Olympic Games held in a Slavic language-speaking country, as well as the only Winter Olympics held in a communist country before the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. It was the second consecutive Olympic Games held in a communist country, after the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Calgary, Canada, from 13 to 28 February 1988. A total of 1,423 athletes representing 57 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 46 events from 10 different sports and disciplines. Five new events were contested at these Games—men's and women's Super G in alpine skiing, team events in Nordic combined and ski jumping, and women's 5000 metres in speed skating—and two events returned to the program—men's and women's combined in alpine skiing.
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, from 8 to 19 February 1984. A total of 1,272 athletes representing 49 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 39 events from 10 different sports and disciplines. First time NOCs to enter were Egypt, Monaco, Puerto Rico, Senegal, and British Virgin Islands.
Long-track speed skating, usually simply referred to as speed skating, is the Olympic discipline of speed skating where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as ice skating marathon, short-track speedskating, inline speedskating, and quad speed skating are also called speed skating.
Speed skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics, was held from 30 January to 7 February. Eight events were contested at the Eisschnelllaufbahn Innsbruck.
Speed skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics, was held from 8 to 20 February. Ten events were contested at M-Wave. The Netherlands dominated the Nagano speed skating events, winning five gold medals and eleven medals overall, their highest total in any Winter games up until that point. Bart Veldkamp's bronze medal was the first in speed skating for Belgium, and the first at the Winter Games for the country in 50 years. Lyudmila Prokasheva's bronze medal for Kazakhstan was that country's first in the sport as well, and Prokasheva became the first woman from Kazakhstan to earn an Olympic medal.
Speed skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, was held from 9 to 20 February. Ten events were contested at L'anneau de vitesse. It was the last time in Winter Olympics in which speed skating events were contested in an outdoor ice rink.
Speed skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, was held from 5 to 14 February. Nine events were contested at Eisschnelllaufbahn Innsbruck. 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.
Speed skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics, was held from 9 February to 18 February. Nine events were contested at James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink.
Speed skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics, was held from 4 to 12 February. Eight events were contested at Makomanai Open Stadium in Sapporo, Japan. This was the first Olympics at which electronic times were recorded to the hundredth of a second.
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.
Speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics was held from 14 to 28 February. Ten events were contested at Olympic Oval. For the first time, the women contested a 5000-metre race, the longest distance contested by women in speed skating.
Andrea Ehrig is a retired East German speed skater. She was one of the world's best long-distance skaters in the 1980s. A four-time Olympian, she won seven Olympic medals, including gold in the 3000 metres at the 1984 Sarajevo Games.
Speed skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Adler Arena, Sochi, Russia, between 8 and 22 February 2014.
Short track speed skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia. The eight events took place between 10–21 February 2014.
The Netherlands competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, between 9 and 25 February 2018. Speed skater Jan Smeekens was appointed as flag bearer for the opening ceremony, which was attended by King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also observed the sporting events that featured Dutch competitors.
Short track speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China. The events took place between 5 and 16 February 2022. A total of nine short track speed skating events were held.
