Speed skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics

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.^[1][2]

Speed skating at the XIII Olympic Winter Games
Pictogram for speed skating
Venue	James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink
Dates	February 14–23, 1980
No. of events	9
Competitors	127 from 20 nations
← 1976 1984 →

Medal summary

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	5	2	1	8
2	Norway (NOR)	1	2	4	7
3	Netherlands (NED)	1	2	1	4
4	East Germany (GDR)	1	1	2	4
	Soviet Union (URS)	1	1	2	4
6	Canada (CAN)	0	1	0	1
Totals (6 entries)		9	9	10	28

The United States led the medal table with five gold medals, thanks to Eric Heiden's sweep of the men's events, which made him the first, and as of 2023, only, athlete to win five gold medals at a Winter Games.

Heiden led the individual medal table, while the most successful woman was Russian Nataliya Petrusyova, who won one gold and one bronze medal. American Leah Poulos-Mueller won two silver medals.

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres details	Eric Heiden  United States	38.03 (OR)	Yevgeny Kulikov  Soviet Union	38.37	Lieuwe de Boer  Netherlands	38.48
1000 metres details	Eric Heiden  United States	1:15.18 (OR)	Gaétan Boucher  Canada	1:16.68	Vladimir Lobanov  Soviet Union Frode Rønning  Norway	1:16.91
1500 metres details	Eric Heiden  United States	1:55.44 (OR)	Kay Stenshjemmet  Norway	1:56.81	Terje Andersen  Norway	1:56.92
5000 metres details	Eric Heiden  United States	7:02.29 (OR)	Kay Stenshjemmet  Norway	7:03.28	Tom Erik Oxholm  Norway	7:05.59
10,000 metres details	Eric Heiden  United States	14:28.13 WR	Piet Kleine  Netherlands	14:36.03	Tom Erik Oxholm  Norway	14:36.60

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres details	Karin Enke  East Germany	41.78 (OR)	Leah Poulos-Mueller  United States	42.26	Natalya Petrusyova  Soviet Union	42.42
1000 metres details	Natalya Petrusyova  Soviet Union	1:24.10 (OR)	Leah Poulos-Mueller  United States	1:25.41	Sylvia Albrecht  East Germany	1:26.46
1500 metres details	Annie Borckink  Netherlands	2:10.95 (OR)	Ria Visser  Netherlands	2:12.35	Sabine Becker  East Germany	2:12.38
3000 metres details	Bjørg Eva Jensen  Norway	4:32.13 (OR)	Sabine Becker  East Germany	4:32.79	Beth Heiden  United States	4:33.77

Records

All previous Olympic records were broken in Lake Placid, along with one world record, from Eric Heiden in the final event, the men's 10000 metres.^[3][4]

Event	Date	Team	Time	OR	WR
Men's 500 metres	15 February	Eric Heiden (USA)	38.03	OR
Men's 1000 metres	19 February	Eric Heiden (USA)	1:15.18	OR
Men's 1500 metres	21 February	Eric Heiden (USA)	1:55.44	OR
Men's 5000 metres	16 February	Eric Heiden (USA)	7:02.29	OR
Men's 10000 metres	23 February	Eric Heiden (USA)	14:28.13	OR	WR
Women's 500 metres	15 February	Karin Enke (GDR)	41.78	OR
Women's 1000 metres	17 February	Nataliya Petrusyova (URS)	1:24.10	OR
Women's 1500 metres	14 February	Annie Borckink (NED)	2:10.95	OR
Women's 3000 metres	20 February	Bjørg Eva Jensen (NOR)	4:32.13	OR

Participating NOCs

Nineteen nations competed in the speed skating events at Lake Placid. China and Romania made their debuts in the sport.

•  Australia (2)
•  Canada (7)
•  China (13)
•  Finland (3)
•  France (1)
•  West Germany (4)
•  Great Britain (6)
•  East Germany (9)
•  Italy (3)
•  Japan (8)
•  South Korea (5)
•  Mongolia (2)
•  Netherlands (9)
•  Norway (11)
•  Poland (2)
•  Romania (3)
•  Switzerland (1)
•  Soviet Union (16)
•  United States (11)

References

1. "The Official Report of the XIIIth Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid 1980 - Official Results" (PDF). Lake Placid Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
2. "Speed Skating at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
3. "ISU - Speed Skating - Records - World Records". International Skating Union. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
4. "ISU - Speed Skating - Records - Olympic Records". International Skating Union. Retrieved January 29, 2014.