1960 Winter Olympics / speed skating

Speed ​​skating at the 1960 Winter Olympics
information
venue	Squaw Valley
Competition venue	Olympic Skating Rink
Nations	17th
Athletes	103 (73 , 30 )
date	20.-27. February 1960
decisions	8th
← Cortina 1956 Innsbruck 1964 →

At the VIII Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley , eight competitions were held in speed skating . The venue was the Squaw Valley Olympic Skating Rink . For the first time, competitions for women were on the program. The first artificial speed skating rink offered ideal competition conditions.

Balance sheet

Medal table

space	country				total
1	Soviet Union	6th	3	3	12
2	Norway	2	1	-	3
3	Germany	1	1	-	2
4th	Poland	-	1	1	2
	United States	-	1	1	2
6th	Finland	-	-	1	1
	Netherlands	-	-	1	1
	Sweden	-	-	1	1

Medalist

Men competitor gold silver bronze 500 m Yevgeny Grishin Bill Disney Rafael Gratsch 1500 m Roald Aas Yevgeny Grishin - Boris Stenin 5000 m Viktor Kosichkin Knut Johannesen Jan Pesman 10,000 m Knut Johannesen Viktor Kosichkin Kjell Backman

Women competitor gold silver bronze 500 m Helga Haase Natalia Donchenko Jeanne Ashworth 1000 m Klara Gussewa Helga Haase Tamara Rylowa 1500 m Lidija Skoblikova Elwira Seroczyńska Helena Pilejczyk 3000 m Lidija Skoblikova Valentina Stenina Eevi Huttunen

reporting

preview

In its edition of February 19, 1960, “Sport Zürich” gave a preview of the speed skating competitions: Although their runners are no longer as strikingly superior as they were from 1954 to 1956, the Soviet Union still had an average of two to three men as fast as all Scandinavians and runners from other countries put together. The sprinter king is still Grischin, who equalized his world record over 500 meters (40.2 s) on January 4th in Alma-Ata . The Americans would hope for Bill Disney , who ran 40.1 seconds in a selection race on the Olympic slope and thus lay claim to a new world record. The Norwegians would bet on Alv Gjestvang . For top places, the two Soviet athletes Rafael Gratsch and Boris Stenin as well as the Australian outsider Colin Hickey should also be kept an eye on.

Grischin is also the high favorite over 1500 meters, although he was no longer the world record holder and was beaten by Stenin in Davos . In addition, the Finn Juhani Järvinen achieved the unlikely time of 2: 06.3 in the pre-Olympic race in Squaw Valley last year . Still, Järvinen is not the favorite as he hadn't gotten up to speed this year and he failed at the European and World Championships. Since the Olympic third-place Toivo Salonen has not yet found his form, the Finns can hardly hope for a medal. Although Yuri Mikhailov is absent from the Soviets this time , they have two more good irons in the fire in Stenin and Gennady Voronin . Aas is also to be expected.

An open fight can be expected over the longer distances, because the medal trio over 5000 meters from 1956 can currently no longer be classified among the absolute best in the world. The big question mark is Knut Johannesen , given his Davos form crisis. Observers would consider Valery Kotov , a new man, the sure winner. A lot can depend on a good lot in Squaw Valley, at least on the long distances that start at eight o'clock in the morning, because by eleven o'clock the sun is so intense that the cooling machines can no longer stop the ice from softening. That is why surprises cannot be ruled out, be it from the Norwegian Torstein Seiersten , the Swede Ivar Nilsson , the Dutch Pesmann or from Kouprianoff, whose performance nobody has any idea.

A successor to Sigvard Ericsson was sought over the 10,000 meters . By Nikolai Schtelbaums messages have been circulating that he had undercut the world record twice unofficially. Viktor Kossitschkin and Kotow are further medal contenders , Holland counted on Pesman, who had undercut the 17-minute limit in Davos alone, from the all-German team it was Helmut Kühnert , who was capable of excellent performances without the rigors of a combined competition.

With regard to the new women's competitions on the program, it was assumed that there would be four more gold medals for the Soviet Union, with Valentina Stenina , Klara Gussewa , Tamara Rylowa , Lidija Skoblikowa and Natalja Donchenko distributing the medals among themselves.

Final comment

On February 29, 1960, “Sport Zürich” was of the opinion that the men, like the World and European Championships of the last two years, showed that Soviet domination had crumbled. The USSR still has the strongest team, winning will be made more difficult for him, the 4: 1 gold medal distribution from 1956 has changed to 3: 2. With Viktor Kosichkin only a new class man was brought out, the others would not have been up to the task. Norway has shown itself from the best side, the Swedes have become much better as a team, although they do not yet have a (new) Sigvard Ericsson . Holland has a good youngster in Pesman, the USA has good sprinters. The Finns had disappointed, especially ex-world champion Järvinen just didn't get going this season. The big new discovery of the season is the Frenchman Kouprianoff; his strength is versatility, which is why he would win fewer Olympic medals than those in the four-distance total at European and World Championships, which also applies to Helmut Kuhnert.

As expected, the newly introduced women’s competitions would have helped the Soviet Union in particular, but the medal wins by other women runners testified to progress in speed skating outside the USSR. With the introduction of women's competitions, a new milestone had been set, all fears had been allayed. Above all, the Soviet runners would not have completed a special competition for themselves, they would not have exclusively played the main roles. New nations and names have come into focus. The fact that between 4,000 and 10,000 spectators stood around the oval every day would have shown that the interest was far greater than expected. Perhaps there would be a new development in American speed skating, one would also have to reckon with the Japanese and young Central German runners.

Men

500 m

space	country	athlete	Time (s)
1	URS	Yevgeny Grishin	40.2
2	United States	Bill Disney	40.3
3	URS	Rafael Gratsch	40.4
4th	SWE	Hans Wilhelmsson	40.5
5	URS	Gennady Voronin	40.7
6th	NOR	Alv Gjestvang	40.8
7th	United States	Terry McDermott	40.9
	FIN	Toivo saloons
9	JPN	Fumio Nagakubo	41.1
10	NED	Henk van der Grift	41.2
	URS	Yuri Malyshev
	United States	Eddie Rudolph
20th	EUA	Helmut Kuhnert	42.3
	EUA	Herbert Soellner
	EUA	Günther Tilch
24	EUA	Manfred pupil	42.5
29	AUT	Franz Offenberger	43.0
40	AUT	Hermann Strutz	44.4

Date: February 24, 1960,
9 a.m. to 11 a.m. 46 participants from 15 countries, 44 of them in the evaluation.

There was almost a new world record on the sunlit 400 m oval with the best ice conditions, but Grischin landed badly in the last corner, one foot slipped something that should have cost him two tenths of a second. Five new national records were set. The decision was made in the 15th pair, immediately afterwards there was tension again during the Gratsch run, the others couldn't beat the 41-second mark. Grishin had an advantage that he could start on the outside lane. He and Disney were stopped the first 100 meters in 10.0 s, but after that the US runner began to row heavily with his arms, while Grischin's style always remained clean, except for the slip. At Grischin's request, another 500m run was organized before the end of the games, in which he achieved a fabulous time of 39.6 seconds, which was not recognized as a world record . According to the UPI report, he ran a time of 40.0 s in a training run on the morning of February 16, which, however, was not recognized as a world record.

There were also reports of resentment among the US runners who, compared to the preparations for the Soviet runners, were far behind and did not find that they were optimally cared for. Literally it was said that “they had received more training advice from the Soviet delegates than from their own people” and “the trainers had told them when they were not allowed to train, but did not arrange for cheap training hours”. Ultimately, "the runners would have been assigned sleeping accommodation next to a noisy bar, while the officials would have chosen the quietest rooms."

1500 m

space	country	athlete	Time (min)
1	NOR	Roald Carrion	2: 10.4
	URS	Yevgeny Grishin
3	URS	Boris Stenin	2: 11.5
4th	FIN	Jouko Jokinen	2: 12.0
5	FIN	Jouko Järvinen	2: 13.1
	FIN	Toivo saloons
7th	SWE	Per Olof Brogren	2: 13.3
	FRA	André Kouprianoff
9	EUA	Helmut Kuhnert	2: 13.6
10	FRA	Raymond Gilloz	2: 14.2
18th	EUA	Manfred pupil	2: 13.6
24	AUT	Hermann Strutz	2: 19.4
31	EUA	Harald North	2: 22.1
38	EUA	Günther Tilch	2: 24.8

Date: February 26, 1960, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
48 participants from 16 countries, 45 of them in the ranking.

As in 1956, there was another ex-aequo victory. The world record was not in danger, because an obstructive cross wind of around 40 km / h was blowing, so the advantages of the very good ice did not come into play. Manfred Schüler in the second pair was the first runner under 2:20, his 2: 18.3 were equalized by Olle Dahlberg in the fourth pair and undercut by Juoko Jokinen in the next pair. The current four-way world champion from Davos , Stenin, had advanced into a new category with 2: 11.5, but the Järvinen / Aas pair followed; up to the 700 m mark they were still at the same height, but suddenly the Norwegian broke up and sprinted away despite the headwind and reached a new national record. Grischin, with the Australian Hickey in a pair, sprinted away from the start, was one second faster than Aas after 300 meters, seemed to be heading for a new world record after 1000 meters, but the headwind hit him in the final lap and he was visibly slower . Kouprianoff also ran a new national record.

5000 m

space	country	athlete	Time (min)
1	URS	Viktor Kosichkin	7: 51.3
2	NOR	Knut Johannesen	8: 00.8
3	NED	Jan Pesman	8: 05.1
4th	NOR	Torstein Seiersten	8: 05.3
5	URS	Valery Kotov	8: 05.4
6th	URS	Oleg Goncharenko	8: 05.6
7th	SWE	Ivar Nilsson	8: 09.1
	FIN	Keijo Tapiovaara
9	FRA	André Kouprianoff	8: 10.4
10	FRA	Raymond Gilloz	8: 11.5
18th	AUT	Hermann Strutz	8: 21.9
22nd	EUA	Helmut Kuhnert	8: 25.1
29	AUT	Franz Offenberger	8: 38.2
32	EUA	Josef Biebl	8: 48.0
36	EUA	Heinz Wolfram	9: 18.2

Date: February 25, 1960, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
37 participants from 15 countries, all in the ranking.

There was a gusty cross wind, so that peak times did not materialize and the world record was missed by far. The ice conditions were not ideal this time either. The race developed into a duel between the Soviet and Norwegian runners, with Jan Pesman surprisingly pushed himself between the favorites. Better placements were expected from Kotow and Goncharenko. The former was considered a big favorite after his 5000 meter victory at the World Championships in Davos. Kosichkin, who turned 22 that day, stated that the wind did not bother him. In contrast, most of the other runners were of the opinion that it had cost them several seconds. Järvinen and the Canadian Mason were in the first pair, Goncharenko already in the third pair, whose time was already undercut by the next, Seiersten. There was a Norwegian double tour with Johannesen. In the eleventh pair, it was Kossitschkin and Pesmann's turn, who made a false start. But then the superiority of the Soviet runner soon became apparent, who after 1000 Netern was already one, after 2000 meters five and ultimately almost ten seconds ahead of Johannesen; besides, he had left Pesman 125 yards behind. Kotow in the 15th couple seemed to be able to seriously endanger Johannesen, but fell victim to his initial tempo; he suffered a period of weakness in the middle section. Kouprianoff, the sensational runner-up in Davos 18 days ago, confirmed his good form and set a new French record.

10,000 m

space	country	athlete	Time (min)
1	NOR	Knut Johannesen	15: 46.6 ( WR )
2	URS	Viktor Kosichkin	15: 49.2
3	SWE	Kjell Backman	16: 14.2
4th	SWE	Ivar Nilsson	16: 26.0
5	GBR	Terrence Monaghan	16: 31.6
6th	NOR	Torstein Seiersten	16: 33.4
7th	SWE	Olle Dahlberg	16: 34.6
8th	FIN	Juhani Järvinen	16: 35.4
9	FIN	Keijo Tapiovaara	16: 37.2
10	United States	Ross Zucco	16: 37.6
13	EUA	Helmut Kuhnert	16: 43.4
19th	AUT	Hermann Strutz	17: 06.5
29	EUA	Heinz Wolfram	18: 37.0

Date: February 27, 1960, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
30 participants from 15 countries, 29 of them in the ranking. Disqualified: Nikolajs Štelbaums (URS).

The first five in the classification undercut the previous world record set by Hjalmar Andersen . The Squaw Valley track proved that it was the best in the world. The mirror-smooth ice held the right soapy consistency until the 12th pair, only then did the sun become too strong. Falling below the 16-minute limit was an event that could be compared to Roger Bannister's first mile run under four minutes on the athletics track. 16 runners managed to stay under 17 minutes. The world record fell in the second pair by Bäckman. Štelbaums in the third pair forgot to switch inside to outside lane, which resulted in his disqualification. The gold decision was made in the 4th pair: Johannessen started with a 40-second lap, because after that he ran one lap with 38.5 s, 18 laps with 38.0 s, three with 37.5 s and once with 37, 0 s., Before he started his long sprint at the beginning of the final lap. He lapped his US opponent after 7 km. Johannesen, who was convinced of his Olympic victory, left the stadium after completing his run-off laps without facing the press and returned to the Olympic village to go to sleep, so he did not wait for the times of his competitors. In the sixth pair, Järvinen fell on the last lap; nevertheless he was able to distance his opponent Pesman clearly. The last medal decision was made shortly before conquering a third of the overall competition. The Russian Kosichkin resolutely attacked Johannesen's fabulous time, after 4 km even had a lead of 2 seconds, but after 6.5 km it shrank to a few tenths of a second, and in the last 2 km he couldn't add as much as the Norwegian.

Women

500 m

space	country	sportswoman	Time (s)
1	EUA	Helga Haase	45.9 ( OR )
2	URS	Natalia Donchenko	46.0
3	United States	Jeanne Ashworth	46.1
4th	URS	Tamara Rylowa	46.2
5	JPN	Hatsue Takamizawa	46.6
6th	URS	Klara Gussewa	46.8
	POLE	Elwira Seroczyńska
8th	JPN	Fumie Hama	47.4
9	CAN	Doreen Ryan	47.7
10	United States	Kathy Mulholland	47.9
18th	EUA	Sigrit Behrenz	50.2
20th	EUA	Natascha Liebknecht	51.4

Date: February 20, 1960, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
23 participants from 10 countries, 22 of them classified.

Haase achieved an excellent time and only missed the world record by 0.3 seconds. The introduction of speed skating for women had been initiated by the Soviet Union and the unity of the Eastern Bloc led the application to success. In the first competition, the Soviet Union's calculations did not work out, because in addition to Haase there was a US runner on the bronze rank. Haase had prepared for the event in Davos and had even avoided the world championships so as not to let her training schedule be disrupted. Your partially excellent results in Davos may not have been taken very seriously by the competition. With that one could speak of a milestone, the myth of the Soviet invincibility was destroyed. The Japanese also turned out to be surprisingly strong, with Haase missing the world record by just 0.3 seconds.

1000 m

space	country	sportswoman	Time (min)
1	URS	Klara Gussewa	1: 34.1 ( OR )
2	EUA	Helga Haase	1: 34.3
3	URS	Tamara Rylowa	1: 34.8
4th	URS	Lidija Skoblikova	1: 35.3
5	JPN	Hatsue Takamizawa	1: 35.8
	POLE	Helena Pilejczyk
7th	JPN	Fumie Hama	1: 36.1
8th	United States	Jeanne Ashworth	1: 36.5
9	FIN	Eevi Huttunen	1: 37.2
10	FIN	Iris Sihvonen	1: 37.3
17th	EUA	Natascha Liebknecht	1: 43.5
18th	EUA	Sigrit Behrenz	1: 43.8

Date: February 22, 1956, 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
22 participants from 10 countries, 20 of them in the evaluation.

The race went extremely well for the Soviet Union, as the Polish 1,500-meter silver medalist Seroczyńska was stopped with the same split times as the leading Gussewa at the time. But when she started a final sprint in the target curve, she slipped away. She was up again immediately, then slowly sobbing loudly towards the goal. In any case, this mishap saved Rylowa with bronze and a second medal for the Soviet Union. Gussawa hadn't been optimistic before the run, as she had to run in the first pair and so all competitors could aim for their time.

1500 m

space	country	sportswoman	Time (min)
1	URS	Lidija Skoblikova	2: 25.2 ( WR )
2	POLE	Elwira Seroczyńska	2: 25.7
3	POLE	Helena Pilejczyk	2: 27.1
4th	URS	Klara Gussewa	2: 28.7
5	URS	Valentina Stenina	2: 29.2
6th	FIN	Iris Sikvonen	2: 29.7
7th	SWE	Christina Scherling	2: 31.5
8th	EUA	Helga Haase	2: 31.7
9	SWE	Elsa Einarsson	2: 32.9
10	JPN	Fumie Hama	2: 33.3
16	EUA	Inge Görmer	2: 36.5
22nd	EUA	Gisela Toews	2: 51.1

Date: February 21, 1960, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
23 participants from 10 countries, all rated.

Even in the second women's race, the Soviet hopes of collecting medals were not entirely fulfilled. With Skoblikowa they had the winner, who improved the previous world record (with minus 8 degrees and calm there were ideal conditions), whereby she increased her personal best by 5.4 seconds. The big surprise was Seroczyńska in second place, who only missed the previous world record by two tenths of a second. Helga Haase didn't seem to have enough power reserves in the final sprint.

3000 m

space	country	sportswoman	Time (min)
1	URS	Lidija Skoblikova	5: 14.3 ( OR )
2	URS	Valentina Stenina	5: 16.9
3	FIN	Eevi Huttunen	5: 21.0
4th	JPN	Hatsue Takamizawa	5: 21.4
5	SWE	Christina Scherling	5: 25.5
6th	POLE	Helena Pilejczyk	5: 26.2
7th	POLE	Elwira Seroczyńska	5: 27.3
8th	United States	Jeanne Ashworth	5: 28.5
9	URS	Tamara Rylowa	5: 30.0
10	JPN	Yoshiko Takano	5: 30.9
13	EUA	Inge Görmer	5: 37.5
17th	EUA	Gisela Toews	5: 48.3

Date: February 23, 1960, 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
20 participants from 10 countries, all in the ranking.

Several women did not participate in the final competition, including the two-time medalist Haase, who was very exhausted on the short distances. The track was in good condition again (temperatures below freezing point, sunny weather). After seven runners, the four-way world champion Stenina led by a considerable margin. The decision was only made in the last run, in which Skoblikowa fought an equal duel against Seroczyńska for a long time, but then the physically stronger Russian attacked two laps before the end and went undisputed to her second Olympic victory.

Web links

• Speed ​​skating at the 1960 Winter Olympics in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Official report of the 1960 Winter Olympics (PDF; 18.4 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Sport Zurich, February 19, 1960, p. 8.
2. ↑ ^{a b} “Sport Zürich”, February 29, 1960, p. 3.
3. ↑ What is happening today . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 24, 1960, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
4. ↑ «The program of the Winter Games». In: Sport Zürich, February 17, 1960, p. 3.
5. ^ "Yevgeny Grishin again Olympic champion in 500 m speed skating". In: Sport Zürich, February 26, 1960, p. 2.
6. ↑ "Grischin ran over 500 m dream time". In: Sport Zürich, February 19, 1960, p. 12.
7. ^ "Noise among the American speed skaters". In: Sport Zürich, February 26, 1960, p. 3.
8. ↑ What is happening today . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 26, 1960, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
9. ↑ "The Russian Grischin and the Norwegian Aas share first place in the 1,500-meter speed skating". In: Sport Zürich, February 27, 1960, p. 3.
10. ↑ What is happening today . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 25, 1960, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
11. ↑ "Second Russians win in speed skating by Viktor Kossitschkin over 5000 m." In: Sport Zürich, February 27, 1960, p. 5.
12. ↑ Kositschkin distanced all runners . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 26, 1960, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
13. ↑ What is happening today . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 27, 1960, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
14. ↑ Johannesen: world record . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 28, 1960, p. 28 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
15. ↑ «Norwegian Knut Johannesen, a miracle fast runner of all time». In: Sport Zürich, February 29, 1960, p. 2.
16. ↑ A tenth of a second decided . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 21, 1960, p. 20 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized version).
17. ^ "The German Helga Haase surprise winner of the 500 m speed skating for women". In: Sport Zürich, February 22, 1960, p. 4.
18. ↑ "Klara Gussewa winner in high speed 1000 m". In: Sport Zürich, February 24, 1960, pp. 7/8.
19. ↑ "The Russian Lydia Skoblikowa in front of two Polish women in the women's 1500 m speed skating". In: Sport Zürich, February 22, 1960, p. 7.
20. ↑ "Lidia Skoblikova's second Olympic victory in high speed". In: Sport Zürich, February 24, 1960, p. 13.