Speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the XV Olympic Winter Games
Pictogram for speed skating
Venue	Olympic Oval
Dates	February 14-27
No. of events	10
Competitors	140 from 21 nations

Speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics, was held from 14 February to 27 February. Ten events were contested at Olympic Oval. For the first time, the women contested a 5000 metre race, the longest distance contested by women in speed skating.

Medal summary

Medal table

1	East Germany (GDR)	3	6	4	13
2	Netherlands (NED)	3	2	2	7
3	Sweden (SWE)	2	0	0	2
4	United States (USA)	1	1	1	3
5	Soviet Union (URS)	1	0	1	2
6	Austria (AUT)	0	1	1	2
7	Japan (JPN)	0	0	1	1
	Total	10	10	10	30

East Germany topped the medal table with three gold medals, and thirteen total. As of 2010, the thirteen medals were the most won by any country in speed skating in a single Games.

The Netherlands' Yvonne van Gennip led the individual medal table with three golds, while Sweden's Tomas Gustafson was the most successful male skater, with two gold medals.

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres	Uwe-Jens Mey  East Germany	36.45 WR	Jan Ykema  Netherlands	36.76	Akira Kuroiwa  Japan	36.77
1000 metres	Nikolay Gulyayev  Soviet Union	1:13.03 (OR)	Uwe-Jens Mey  East Germany	1:13.11	Igor Zhelezovski  Soviet Union	1:13.19
1500 metres	André Hoffmann  East Germany	1:52.06 WR	Eric Flaim  United States	1:52.12	Michael Hadschieff  Austria	1:52.31
5000 metres	Tomas Gustafson  Sweden	6:44.63 (OR)	Leo Visser  Netherlands	6:44.98	Gerard Kemkers  Netherlands	6:45.92
10,000 metres	Tomas Gustafson  Sweden	13:48.20 WR	Michael Hadschieff  Austria	13:56.11	Leo Visser  Netherlands	14:00.55

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres	Bonnie Blair  United States	39.10 WR	Christa Rothenburger  East Germany	39.12	Karin Kania  East Germany	39.24
1000 metres	Christa Rothenburger  East Germany	1:17.65 WR	Karin Kania  East Germany	1:17.70	Bonnie Blair  United States	1:18.31
1500 metres	Yvonne van Gennip  Netherlands	2:00.68 (OR)	Karin Kania  East Germany	2:00.82	Andrea Ehrig  East Germany	2:01.49
3000 metres	Yvonne van Gennip  Netherlands	4:11.94 WR	Andrea Ehrig  East Germany	4:12.09	Gabi Zange  East Germany	4:16.92
5000 metres	Yvonne van Gennip  Netherlands	7:14.13 WR	Andrea Ehrig  East Germany	7:17.12	Gabi Zange  East Germany	7:21.61

Records

The Calgary Olympic Oval was one of the fastest rinks in the world when it opened, with six new world records set, and all existing Olympic records bettered.

Event	Date	Team	Time	OR	WR
Men's 500 metres	14 February	Uwe-Jens Mey (GDR)	36.45	OR	WR
Men's 1000 metres	18 February	Nikolay Gulyayev (URS)	1:13.03	OR
Men's 1500 metres	20 February	André Hoffmann (GDR)	1:52.06	OR	WR
Men's 5000 metres	17 February	Tomas Gustafson (SWE)	6:44.63	OR
Men's 10000 metres	21 February	Tomas Gustafson (SWE)	13:48.20	OR	WR
Women's 500 metres	22 February	Bonnie Blair (USA)	38.69	OR	WR
Women's 1000 metres	26 February	Christa Rothenburger (GDR)	1:17.65	OR	WR
Women's 1500 metres	27 February	Yvonne van Gennip (NED)	2:00.68	OR
Women's 3000 metres	23 February	Yvonne van Gennip (NED)	4:11.94	OR	WR
Women's 5000 metres	28 February	Yvonne van Gennip (NED)	7:14.13	OR	WR

Participating NOCs

Twenty-one nations competed in the speed skating events at Calgary.

•  Australia (4)
•  Austria (3)
•  Canada (16)
•  China (4)
•  Finland (2)
•  France (4)
•  West Germany (5)

•  Great Britain (2)
•  East Germany (10)
•  Italy (3)
•  Japan (12)
•  South Korea (6)
•  Netherlands (11)
•  Norway (7)

•  Poland (3)
•  North Korea (4)
•  Sweden (7)
•  Czechoslovakia (1)
•  Soviet Union (17)
•  United States (17)
•  Yugoslavia (2)

References

Sports-Reference 1988 Olympics - Speed Skating