Speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...

at the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

, was held from 5 to 14 February. Nine events were contested at

Eisschnelllaufbahn Innsbruck The Olympia Eisschnellaufbahn is a speed skating venue located in Innsbruck, Austria. The outdoor venue hosted the Speed skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics, speed Speed skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, skating events both for the 1964 Winter O ...

. This was the first Olympics which included the men's 1000 metres, and the first change to the men's program at the Olympics since the elimination of the all-round event in 1928.

Medal summary

Medal table

The Soviet Union led the medal table, with four gold and nine overall. The silver medal for East Germany's

Andrea Ehrig-Mitscherlich Andrea Ehrig ( Mitscherlich, also known as Schöne, born 1 December 1960) is a retired East German speed skater. She was one of the world's best long-distance skaters in the 1980s. A four-time Olympian, she won seven Olympic medals, including g ...

was the country's first in speed skating.

Tatyana Averina Tatyana Borisovna Averina (russian: Татья́на Бори́совна Аве́рина; 25 June 1950 – 22 August 2001Great Russian Encyclopedia (2006), Moscow: Bol'shaya Rossiyskaya Enciklopediya Publisher, vol. 1) was a Soviet ...

led the individual medal table, winning a medal in all four women's events, two gold and two bronze.

Sheila Young Sheila Grace Young-Ochowicz (born October 14, 1950) is a retired American speed skater and track cyclist. She won three world titles in each of these sports, twice in the same year (in 1973 and 1976). In 1976, she also became the first American ...

won three medals one of each value on the three shortest distances for women,. The most successful male skaters were Norway's Sten Stensen and the Netherlands'

Piet Kleine Pieter "Piet" Kleine (born 17 September 1951) is a former speed skater from the Netherlands who specialized in the longer distances. Short biography At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Piet Kleine became Olympic Champion on the 10,000 ...

, who both won one gold and one silver medal, splitting the long distance events. The dutch speed skater

Hans van Helden Hans van Helden (born 27 April 1948) is a former speed skater, originally competing for the Netherlands, later for France. Life and career Despite being a very talented speed skater and having an excellent skating style and technique, Van Hel ...

won the bronze-medals on all the three longest distances for men. The Soviet Union speed skater

Valery Muratov Valery Alekseyevich Muratov (russian: Вале́рий Алексе́евич Мура́тов, born 1 May 1946 in Kolomna) is a former ice speed skater from the USSR, who represented his native country in three consecutive Winter Olympics, star ...

also got a multiple set of medals with a silver medal in the 500 metres event and the bronze medal in the 1000 metres event.

Men's events

Women's events

Records

Eight out of the nine events, including the debuting men's 1000 metres, had new Olympic records set, with only the men's 5000 metres record remaining unbroken.

Participating NOCs

Nineteen nations competed in the speed skating events at Innsbruck. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{Speed skating at the Winter Olympics 1976 Winter Olympics events

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1976 in speed skating Olympics, 1976