Speed skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics, was held from 9 February to 18 February. Nine events were contested at James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink.^[1][2]

Speed skating at the XIII Olympic Winter Games
Pictogram for speed skating
Venue	James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink
Dates	February 14–23, 1980
No. of events	9
Competitors	127 from 20 nations
← 1976 1984 →

Medal summary

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	5	2	1	8
2	Norway (NOR)	1	2	4	7
3	Netherlands (NED)	1	2	1	4
4	East Germany (GDR)	1	1	2	4
	Soviet Union (URS)	1	1	2	4
6	Canada (CAN)	0	1	0	1
Totals (6 entries)		9	9	10	28

The United States led the medal table with five gold medals, thanks to Eric Heiden's sweep of the men's events, which made him the first, and as of 2023, only, athlete to win five gold medals at a Winter Games.

Heiden led the individual medal table, while the most successful woman was Nataliya Petrusyova of the Soviet Union, who won one gold and one bronze medal. Leah Poulos-Mueller of the US won two silver medals.

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres details	Eric Heiden   United States	38.03 (OR)	Yevgeny Kulikov   Soviet Union	38.37	Lieuwe de Boer   Netherlands	38.48
1000 metres details	Eric Heiden   United States	1:15.18 (OR)	Gaétan Boucher   Canada	1:16.68	Vladimir Lobanov   Soviet Union Frode Rønning   Norway	1:16.91
1500 metres details	Eric Heiden   United States	1:55.44 (OR)	Kay Stenshjemmet   Norway	1:56.81	Terje Andersen   Norway	1:56.92
5000 metres details	Eric Heiden   United States	7:02.29 (OR)	Kay Stenshjemmet   Norway	7:03.28	Tom Erik Oxholm   Norway	7:05.59
10,000 metres details	Eric Heiden   United States	14:28.13 WR	Piet Kleine   Netherlands	14:36.03	Tom Erik Oxholm   Norway	14:36.60

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres details	Karin Enke   East Germany	41.78 (OR)	Leah Poulos-Mueller   United States	42.26	Natalya Petrusyova   Soviet Union	42.42
1000 metres details	Natalya Petrusyova   Soviet Union	1:24.10 (OR)	Leah Poulos-Mueller   United States	1:25.41	Sylvia Albrecht   East Germany	1:26.46
1500 metres details	Annie Borckink   Netherlands	2:10.95 (OR)	Ria Visser   Netherlands	2:12.35	Sabine Becker   East Germany	2:12.38
3000 metres details	Bjørg Eva Jensen   Norway	4:32.13 (OR)	Sabine Becker   East Germany	4:32.79	Beth Heiden   United States	4:33.77

Records

All previous Olympic records were broken in Lake Placid, along with one world record, from Eric Heiden in the final event, the men's 10000 metres.^[3][4]

Event	Date	Team	Time	OR	WR
Men's 500 metres	15 February	Eric Heiden (USA)	38.03	OR
Men's 1000 metres	19 February	Eric Heiden (USA)	1:15.18	OR
Men's 1500 metres	21 February	Eric Heiden (USA)	1:55.44	OR
Men's 5000 metres	16 February	Eric Heiden (USA)	7:02.29	OR
Men's 10000 metres	23 February	Eric Heiden (USA)	14:28.13	OR	WR
Women's 500 metres	15 February	Karin Enke (GDR)	41.78	OR
Women's 1000 metres	17 February	Nataliya Petrusyova (URS)	1:24.10	OR
Women's 1500 metres	14 February	Annie Borckink (NED)	2:10.95	OR
Women's 3000 metres	20 February	Bjørg Eva Jensen (NOR)	4:32.13	OR

Participating NOCs

Nineteen nations competed in the speed skating events at Lake Placid. China and Romania made their debuts in the sport.

•   Australia (2)
•   Canada (7)
•   China (13)
•   Finland (3)
•   France (1)
•   West Germany (4)
•   Great Britain (6)
•   East Germany (9)
•   Italy (3)
•   Japan (8)
•   South Korea (5)
•   Mongolia (2)
•   Netherlands (9)
•   Norway (11)
•   Poland (2)
•   Romania (3)
•   Switzerland (1)
•   Soviet Union (16)
•   United States (11)

References

1. "The Official Report of the XIIIth Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid 1980 - Official Results" (PDF). Lake Placid Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. 1980. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
2. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
3. "ISU - Speed Skating - Records - World Records". International Skating Union. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
4. "ISU - Speed Skating - Records - Olympic Records". International Skating Union. Retrieved January 29, 2014.