Speed skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics

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.^[1] This was the first Olympics at which electronic times were recorded to the hundredth of a second.^[2]

Speed skating at the XI Olympic Winter Games
Pictogram for speed skating
Venue	Makomanai Open Stadium
Date	4–12 February 1972
No. of events	8
Competitors	118 from 18 nations
← 1968 1976 →

1972 Russian 4 kopeks stamp. Olympic Winter Games Sapporo.

Medal summary

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Netherlands (NED)	4	3	2	9
2	United States (USA)	2	1	1	4
3	West Germany (FRG)	2	0	0	2
4	Norway (NOR)	0	2	2	4
5	Soviet Union (URS)	0	1	2	3
6	Sweden (SWE)	0	1	1	2
Totals (6 entries)		8	8	8	24

The Netherlands topped the medal table, with four golds and nine overall, led by Ard Schenk's three gold medals.

Schenk led the individual medal table, winning each of the three longer distance events. The most successful female skater was the Netherlands's Stien Kaiser, who won one gold and one silver medal.

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres details	Erhard Keller  West Germany	39.44 (OR)	Hasse Börjes  Sweden	39.69	Valery Muratov  Soviet Union	39.80
1500 metres details	Ard Schenk  Netherlands	2:02.96 (OR)	Roar Grønvold  Norway	2:04.26	Göran Claeson  Sweden	2:05.89
5000 metres details	Ard Schenk  Netherlands	7:23.61	Roar Grønvold  Norway	7:28.18	Sten Stensen  Norway	7:33.39
10,000 metres details	Ard Schenk  Netherlands	15:01.35 (OR)	Kees Verkerk  Netherlands	15:04.70	Sten Stensen  Norway	15:07.08

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres details	Anne Henning  United States	43.33 (OR)	Vera Krasnova  Soviet Union	44.01	Lyudmila Titova  Soviet Union	44.45
1000 metres details	Monika Pflug  West Germany	1:31.40 (OR)	Atje Keulen-Deelstra  Netherlands	1:31.61	Anne Henning  United States	1:31.62
1500 metres details	Dianne Holum  United States	2:20.85 (OR)	Stien Kaiser  Netherlands	2:21.05	Atje Keulen-Deelstra  Netherlands	2:22.05
3000 metres details	Stien Kaiser  Netherlands	4:52.14 (OR)	Dianne Holum  United States	4:58.67	Atje Keulen-Deelstra  Netherlands	4:59.91

Records

Seven of the eight events had new Olympic records set, with only the men's 5000 metres record remaining unbroken.^[3][4]

Event	Date	Team	Time	OR	WR
Men's 500 metres	5 February	Erhard Keller (FRG)	39.44	OR
Men's 1500 metres	6 February	Ard Schenk (NED)	2:02.96	OR
Men's 10,000 metres	7 February	Ard Schenk (NED)	15:01.35	OR
Women's 500 metres	10 February	Anne Henning (USA)	43.33	OR
Women's 1000 metres	11 February	Monika Pflug (FRG)	1:31.40	OR
Women's 1500 metres	9 February	Dianne Holum (USA)	2:20.85	OR
Women's 3000 metres	12 February	Stien Kaiser (NED)	4:52.14	OR

Participating NOCs

Eighteen nations competed in the speed skating events at Sapporo.

•  Australia (2)
•  Austria (1)
•  Canada (10)
•  Finland (6)
•  France (1)
•  East Germany (2)
•  West Germany (7)
•  Great Britain (2)
•  Italy (2)
•  Japan (13)
•  North Korea (6)
•  South Korea (4)
•  Mongolia (2)
•  Netherlands (10)
•  Norway (14)
•  Soviet Union (9)
•  Sweden (11)
•  United States (16)

References

1. "The XI Olympic Winter Games Sapporo 1972" (PDF). Organizing Committee for the XIth Olympic Winter Games. LA84 Foundation. 1972. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
2. "Speed Skating at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 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.