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.
Medal summary
Medal table
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
500 metres 40.3 40.5 None awarded 1500 metres 2:03.4(OR) 2:05.0 None awarded 5000 metres 7:22.4(WR) 7:23.2 7:25.5 10,000 metres 15:23.6(OR) 15:23.9 15:31.8
Women's events
500 metres 46.1 46.3 None awarded 1000 metres 1:32.6(OR) 1:32.9 1:33.4 1500 metres 2:22.4(OR) 2:22.7 2:24.5 3000 metres 4:56.2(OR) 5:01.0 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.
Event Date Team Time OR WR Men's 1500 metres 16 February 2:03.4 OR Men's 5000 metres 15 February 7:22.4 OR WR Men's 10,000 metres 17 February 15:23.6 OR Women's 1000 metres 11 February 1:32.6 OR Women's 1500 metres 10 February 2:22.4 OR Women's 3000 metres 12 February 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.
References