World speed skating championship in 1967

The top three winners of the Men's World Championship: Fred Anton Maier , Kees Verkerk and Ard Schenk (from left to right), here after the 5000 meter race

The 61st -around world championship of men was on 11 and 12 February 1967 at Bislett Stadium in Norwegian Oslo discharged. Separately from this, the 25th all-around world championship for women took place a week later, on February 18 and 19, 1967, in the IJssel Stadium in Deventer , the Netherlands .

The formative athletes at both World Championships came from the Netherlands. In the men's race, the title fight between Kees Verkerk and Ard Schenk was decided in favor of defending champion Verkerk, who set a new world record in four-way combat. Stien Kaiser won the gold medal in the women's all- around competition with a clear lead and victory on three of four individual routes. She ended the 15-year winning streak of the Soviet speed skaters.

Participating Nations

Men

36 athletes from 14 nations started in the men's all-around competition:

• 5 starters: Netherlands , Norway  
• 4 starters: Soviet Union 
• 3 starters: BR Germany ↑, Sweden  
• 2 starters: German Democratic Republic , Finland ↓, France , Italy ↑, Japan ↑, Switzerland ↑, United States       
• 1 starter: Austria , United Kingdom ↑  

Compared to the previous edition , athletes from China and Canada were no longer represented . Overall, the field was one participant smaller than in 1966.

Women

The field of participants in the women's all-around event consisted of 33 female athletes from 12 nations.

• 5 starters: Soviet Union 
• 4 starters: Netherlands , North Korea ↑↑  
• 3 starters: Finland , Norway ↑  
• 2 starters: German Democratic Republic , France ↑, Japan , Canada ↑↑, Poland , Sweden , United States       

In comparison to the previous edition, athletes from Australia, China, the Federal Republic of Germany and Hungary were no longer represented. Overall, the field was two participants smaller than in 1966.

competition

Women

Six-time Olympic champion Lidija Skoblikowa missed the podium in fourth.

Award ceremony of the 1000 meter race: Kim Song-soon, Stien Kaiser and Dianne Holum (from left to right)

From 1952 onwards, the Soviet speed skaters had won the all-around world championships 15 times in a row, almost always achieving a triple success. As the defending champion, the Ukrainian Valentina Stenina went to Deventer, and the Russian Lidija Skoblikowa also started again after a maternity break , which she had taken after her four-time Olympic victory in 1964. In addition to the dominance of the Soviet female athletes, the Dutch female athletes had also improved in previous years: donors invested large sums in the sport, including the IJssel Stadium in Deventer, which was now the venue for a world championship for the first time. As the most successful Dutch woman , Stien Kaiser had won the bronze medal at two previous world championships. Due to the high popularity of speed skating in the host country - which is also due to the success of Kees Verkerk and Ard Schenk among men - the Women's World Cup was broadcast on television for the first time; the stadium was almost sold out on both days of the World Cup. The external conditions were unfavorable for fast times: It was relatively warm and raining, which meant that the ice was water-covered and slow.

The two Americans Mary Meyers and Dianne Holum set the fastest times in the 500-meter sprint, which started the world championship . Neither the 21-year-old student Meyers nor Holum - the youngest athlete in the field - presented by the New York Times as an “unknown 15-year-old student” - had made a big international appearance. Above all, Holum also convinced in the other races, was silver after three out of four competitions and ultimately took third place in the final result. Since Kit Klein in 1936, she was the first American woman to win a World Cup medal. The further course of the competition was determined by Stien Kaiser, who won the 1500 meters as well as the 1000 meters and the 3000 meters and became the first Dutch world champion with a clear lead over the second-placed Estonian Lāsma Kauniste . The distance between Kaiser and Kauniste was over four points after four stretches and was thus greater than the point difference between second and tenth place.

While Kaiser's success was celebrated in the Netherlands, the world championship meant a major defeat for the Soviet team, which after 15 years lost the title of all-around world champion. Although Lāsma Kauniste won the silver medal, the two in the past much more successful Skoblikowa and Stenina missed the medal ranks as fourth and sixth completely. Skoblikova had previously stood on the podium at all of her six World Cup starts, Stenina at six of seven. The Russian coach attributed Kaiser's success to their training in Davos and announced that his team would be back next year - for the Olympic Games in Grenoble.

The two young East German runners Herlind Hürdler and Ruth Schleiermacher missed the final battle of the best 16 as 21st and 27th and did not achieve a top ten result on any part of the route. The Federal Republic of Germany, Austria and Switzerland did not send any starters to Deventer.

The following table shows the best 16 participants in the overall ranking. Only these athletes were qualified for the final 3,000 meter race. The best individual route results are printed in bold. The placement on the respective individual route is given in brackets.

rank	Surname	500 meters	Pt.	1,500 meters	Pt.	1,000 meters	Pt.	3,000 meters	Pt.	Total pts.
1	Stien Emperor	46.5 (4)	46,500	2: 23.0 (1)	47.667	1: 36.2 (1)	48,100	5: 18.7 (1)	53.117	195,384
2	Lāsma Kauniste	46.6 (5)	46,600	2: 26.3 (4)	48.767	1: 38.3 (4)	49.150	5: 30.4 (5)	55,067	199,584
3	Dianne Holum	46.1 (2)	46.100	2: 26.4 (5)	48,800	1: 37.5 (3)	48.750	5: 35.7 (9)	55,950	199,600
4th	Lidija Skoblikova	46.8 (6)	46,800	2: 23.9 (2)	47.967	1: 39.4 (8)	49,700	5: 31.9 (7)	55.317	199.784
5	To Schut	48.0 (14)	48,000	2: 26.7 (6)	48,900	1: 39.1 (6)	49,550	5: 20.8 (2)	53.467	199.917
6th	Valentina Stenina	46.9 (7)	46,900	2: 27.4 (8)	49.133	1: 40.1 (11)	50.050	5: 30.7 (6)	55.117	201,200
7th	Irina Yegorova	46.1 (2)	46.100	2: 29.7 (11)	49,900	1: 38.3 (4)	49.150	5: 40.7 (12)	56.783	201.933
8th	Kaija Mustonen	49.1 (28)	49.100	2: 26.2 (3)	48.733	1: 39.5 (9)	49.750	5: 27.3 (3)	54,550	202.133
9	Kim Song-soon	48.0 (14)	48,000	2: 27.8 (9)	49.267	1: 37.1 (2)	48,550	5: 40.5 (11)	56.750	202.567
10	Wil Burgmeijer	47.4 (9)	47,400	2: 30.1 (13)	50.033	1: 39.1 (6)	49,550	5: 33.9 (8)	55,650	202.633
11	Han Pil-hwa	48.1 (17)	48,100	2: 29.9 (12)	49.967	1: 41.4 (15)	50.750	5: 37.1 (10)	56.183	204,950
12	Carry Geijssen	48.2 (19)	48,200	2: 26.7 (6)	48,900	1: 46.1 (30)	53.050	5: 29.2 (4)	54.867	205.017
13	Mary Meyers	46.0 (1)	46,000	2: 30.4 (16)	50.133	1: 39.6 (10)	49,800	5: 57.5 (16)	59,583	205.516
14th	Kaija-Liisa Keskivitikka	48.7 (24)	48,700	2: 30.2 (14)	50.067	1: 40.4 (13)	50,200	5: 46.7 (14)	57.783	206.750
15th	Anna Sablina	49.2 (30)	49.200	2: 29.4 (10)	49,800	1: 40.6 (14)	50,300	5: 46.2 (13)	57,700	207,000
16	Martine Ivangine	47.6 (10)	47,600	2: 30.2 (14)	50.967	1: 43.2 (23)	51,600	5: 50.2 (15)	58,367	207.634

Men

Kees Verkerk (r., With John Tipper ) after his victory over 5000 meters

Ard Schenk on the second day of the competition. Fan posters for the Dutch can be seen in the background.

Since the double victory of Kees Verkerk and Ard Schenk at the world championship last year - which had also happened in reverse order at the European championship - the Dutch speed skaters have been considered to be world leaders. Two weeks before the World Cup, Verkerk had defended his European Championship title and thus underlined his renewed favorite status. The resulting popularity of Schenks and Verkerks, who were jointly voted the Dutch athletes of the year in 1966 , was also reflected in the fact that more than 6,000 spectators from their home country came to the World Cup in Oslo. A total of almost 30,000 people watched the competitions in the traditional Bislett Stadium, where the Olympic competitions had already taken place around 1952 .

In the opening race over 500 meters, sprint specialist Keiichi Suzuki ran the fastest time with 40.9 seconds, but on the longer distances he fell far behind in the classification. In the intermediate result after the first day, Verkerk and Schenk were already in the lead after Verkerk had won the 5000 meter distance by a large margin over the reigning world record holder Fred Anton Maier . He was only two seconds ahead of Maier's record time; The Norwegian later recalled in his biography that he could not have imagined that you could run so fast in the Bislett Stadium. Schenk and Verkerk also ran the best times over 1500 meters. Verkerk thus went into the final 10,000 meter competition with a small lead over his compatriot, in which he was able to live up to his role as a favorite over the long distances: He was nine seconds ahead of Schenk and ultimately won the world championship with a lead of about half a point - and a new all- around world record of 178.058 points. Verkerk received recognition both from his competitors Schenk and Maier, who completed the podium, and from the predominantly Norwegian audience, who celebrated him for his successes as well as for his good Norwegian skills.

The outstanding position of Kees Verkerk and Ard Schenk in international speed skating not only underpinned by the fact that they had managed to defend their World Cup double victory in 1966 (Verkerk was the first successful defending champion since Hjalmar Andersen in 1952 ), but in particular with their big lead over the competition: Maier in third was already two and a half or two points behind Verkerk and Schenk, which corresponded to a gap of fifty and forty seconds respectively over the 10,000 meter distance - the time between the fastest and the slowest runner on this stretch. The German sports journalist Karl Adolf Scherer certified Verkerk for the 1966/67 season, a sovereignty that it in line with " Mathisen , Thunberg imagine and Andersen". Verkerk later described his world title from 1967 as the greatest career success.

The West German team fell short of expectations in Oslo: In the all-around competition, Gerhard Zimmermann , who was weakened by the flu, was only 15th, which was much worse than in the previous year. Sprinter Erhard Keller , who finished third in the 500 meters in 1966, achieved ninth place on his special route. Coach Thormod Moum emphasized that the Olympic Winter Games of the following season would be more important to him. The two East German and Swiss starters did not play a role on any track. As in the previous year , the Austrian Hermann Strutz qualified for the final of the best 16, of which he again came in last.

The following table shows the best 16 participants in the overall ranking. Only these athletes were qualified for the final 10,000 meter race. The best individual route results are printed in bold. The placement on the respective individual route is given in brackets.

rank	Surname	500 meters	Pt.	5,000 meters	Pt.	1,500 meters	Pt.	10,000 meters	Pt.	Total pts.
1	Kees Verkerk	42.1 (9)	42,100	7: 30.4 (1)	45.040	2: 10.0 (2)	43,333	15: 51.7 (1)	47,585	178.058
2	Ard Schenk	41.5 (3)	41,500	7: 39.6 (3)	45.960	2: 09.1 (1)	43.033	16: 00.8 (4)	48.040	178.533
3	Fred Anton Maier	43.0 (15)	43,000	7: 38.2 (2)	45.820	2: 11.4 (6)	43,800	15: 57.5 (3)	47.875	180.495
4th	Ants Antson	41.9 (7)	41,900	7: 47.8 (8)	46.780	2: 10.6 (4)	43,533	16: 27.3 (10)	49.365	181.578
5	Svein-Erik Stiansen	41.6 (4)	41,600	7: 49.1 (10)	46.910	2: 10.5 (3)	43,500	16: 33.6 (12)	49.680	181.690
6th	Valery Kaplan	41.9 (7)	41,900	7: 44.9 (4)	46,490	2: 11.2 (5)	43.733	16: 33.5 (11)	49.675	181.798
7th	Per Willy Guttormsen	43.5 (19)	43,500	7: 47.2 (7)	46.720	2: 13.5 (13)	44,500	15: 54.9 (2)	47.745	182.465
8th	Jouko Launonen	42.1 (9)	42,100	7: 48.4 (9)	46.840	2: 13.0 (10)	44,333	16: 24.3 (9)	49.215	182,488
9	Peter Nottet	43.4 (18)	43,400	7: 46.3 (6)	46.630	2: 13.0 (10)	44,333	16: 16.6 (7)	48.830	183.193
10	Johnny Höglin	43.1 (16)	43,100	7: 50.6 (13)	47.060	2: 12.1 (7)	44.033	16: 20.8 (8)	49.040	183.233
11	Eduard Matusewitsch	41.7 (5)	41,700	7: 58.4 (21)	47.840	2: 12.5 (8)	44.167	16: 36.7 (15)	49.835	183,542
12	Ingar Bollerud	44.0 (28)	44,000	7: 46.1 (5)	46.610	2: 14.9 (19)	44.967	16: 02.9 (5)	48.145	183.722
13	Jorrit Jorritsma	42.8 (12)	42,800	7: 51.1 (14)	47.110	2: 12.7 (9)	44.233	16: 36.4 (14)	49.820	183.963
14th	Stanislaw Seljanin	44.6 (33)	44,600	7: 50.5 (12)	47.050	2: 13.3 (12)	44,433	16: 07.9 (6)	48.395	184.478
15th	Gerhard Zimmermann	42.9 (13)	42,900	7: 50.4 (11)	47.040	2: 13.8 (16)	44,600	16: 48.2 (16)	50.410	184,950
16	Hermann Strutz	44.1 (29)	44,100	7: 51.4 (15)	47.140	2: 16.9 (23)	45.633	16: 35.3 (13)	49.765	186.638

Web links

Commons : All-around World Cup 1967 women in Deventer  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : All-around World Championship 1967 for men in Oslo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Results of the all- around world championship 1967 women and men on speedskatingnews.info

Individual evidence

1. ^ Karl Adolf Scherer : Balance in speed skating . In: German Olympic Society (Hrsg.): Olympic fire . Issue 4, April 1966. pp. 15-17.
2. ↑ Jurgen Leurdijk, Dirk Jan Roeleven: sport Other tijden . P. 96. Available online as Google Book
3. ↑ ^{a b} AP : Miss Holum Third In World Skating . In: New York Times (February 20, 1967).
4. ↑ Stien Kaiser Schonk Nederland ALL . In: Leidse Courant (February 20, 1967).
5. ↑ Evi Sappl and Hildegard Sellhuber were registered (cf. ANP : Koude oorlog in Deventer . In: Stern (February 18, 1967)), but did not take part. According to a report in Neues Deutschland , West German politicians intervened to prevent the West German athletes from starting “because of the equal participation of GDR female athletes”, cf. Title for Stien Kaiser . In: Neues Deutschland (February 20, 1967).
6. ↑ Money in the hat . In: Der Spiegel . No. 11 , 1967, p. 102 f . ( online ).
7. ↑ ^{a b} Jeroen Haarsma (2018): Keessie . Inside. P. 73. Available as Google Book .
8. ^ Knut Bjørnsen (1968): Fred A. Maier , Oslo: Aschehoug. P. 81.
9. ↑ ^{a b} Slechts 2 man streden om wereldtitel: Kees en Ard . In: Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant (February 13, 1967), p. 7.
10. ^ ^{A b} Karl Adolf Scherer : Flying Dutchman . In: German Olympic Society (Hrsg.): Olympic fire . Issue 3, March 1967. pp. 11-12.
11. ↑ Kees Verkerk Sølvsuper-gjest on nrk.no. Released February 3, 2004. Accessed March 27, 2020.
12. ↑ Erhard Keller: 74 steps to the goal. Inzell gave me the chance. Copress-Verlag, Munich 1968. p. 57.