Speed skating
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 skat ...
at the
1968 Winter Olympics
The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated.
The 1968 Winter Games marked the first time ...
, was held from 4 to 12 February. Eight events were contested at
L'Anneau de Vitesse in
Grenoble
Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
, 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
Women's events
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.
Participating NOCs
Nineteen nations competed in the speed skating events at Grenoble. East and West Germany made their debuts as separate teams.
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References
{{Speed skating at the Winter Olympics
Events at the 1968 Winter Olympics
1968
Events January–February
* January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously.
* January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
1968 in speed skating
Olympics, 1968