The women's 500 metres in speed skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics took place on 10 February, at the Makomanai Open Stadium.
16-year-old Anne Henning produced an upset by defeating her veteran Soviet counterparts and becoming the youngest women's speed skating gold medalist in Olympic history.
Records Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
The following new Olympic and World records was set during the competition.
Date Athlete Country Time OR WR 10 February Monika Pflug 44.75 OR 10 February Lyudmila Titova 44.45 OR 10 February Anne Henning 43.33 OR
Results
Rank Athlete Country Time Notes Anne Henning 43.33 Vera Krasnova 44.01 Lyudmila Titova 44.45 4 Sheila Young 44.53 5 Monika Pflug 44.75 6 Atje Keulen-Deelstra 44.89 7 Kay Lunda 44.95 8 Alla Butova 45.17 9 Sachiko Saito 45.35 10 Ellie van den Brom 45.62 11 Sigrid Sundby-Dybedahl 45.70 12 Paula Dufter 45.77 13 Ruth Schleiermacher 45.78 14 Cathy Priestner 45.79 15 Ann-Sofie Järnström 45.83 16 Arja Kantola 46.12 17 Kirsti Biermann 46.18 18 Ylva Hedlund 46.24 19 Lisbeth Korsmo-Berg 46.33 20 Trijnie Rep 46.60 21 Ryoko Onozawa 46.70 22 Choi Jung-hui 46.74 23 Sylvia Filipsson 46.78 24 Tuula Vilkas 46.85 25 Donna McCannell 47.30 26 Lee Gyeong-hui 47.45 27 Monika Stützle 48.15 28 Tak In-suk 55.80 - Sylvia Burka DQ
During her run, Henning had to stop to avoid a collision with Sylvia Burka at the crossover point. She still set the fastest time and a new Olympic record at 43.70. In her re-skate, which she was allowed to take according to the rules, she improved her time to 43.33, breaking the Olympic record.
References