| Event: | Speed skating |
| Games: | 1976 Winter |
| Venue: | Eisschnellaufbahn |
| Dates: | 5–14 February 1976 |
| Competitors: | 111 |
| Num Events: | 9 |
| Nations: | 19 |
| Prev: | 1972 |
| Next: | 1980 |
Speed skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, was held from 5 to 14 February. Nine events were contested at Eisschnelllaufbahn Innsbruck.[1] 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.[2]
The Soviet Union led the medal table, with four gold and nine overall. The silver medal for East Germany's Andrea Ehrig-Mitscherlich was the country's first in speed skating.
Tatyana Averina led the individual medal table, winning a medal in all four women's events, two gold and two bronze. Sheila Young 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, who both won one gold and one silver medal, splitting the long distance events. The Dutch speed skater Hans van Helden won the bronze-medals on all the three longest distances for men. The Russian speed skater Valery Muratov 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.
| 500 metres | 39.17 (OR) | 39.25 | 39.54 | ||||
| 1000 metres | 1:19.32 (OR) | 1:20.45 | 1:20.57 | ||||
| 1500 metres | 1:59.38 (OR) | 1:59.97 | 2:00.87 | ||||
| 5000 metres | 7:24.48 | 7:26.47 | 7:26.54 | ||||
| 10,000 metres | 14:50.59 (OR) | 14:53.30 | 15:02.02 |
| 500 metres | 42.76 (OR) | 43.12 | 43.17 | ||||
| 1000 metres | 1:28.43 (OR) | 1:28.57 | 1:29.14 | ||||
| 1500 metres | 2:16.58 (OR) | 2:17.06 | 2:17.96 | ||||
| 3000 metres | 4:45.19 (OR) | 4:45.23 | 4:45.24 |
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.[3] [4]
| Event | Date | Team | Time | OR | WR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 February | 39.17 | OR | ||||
| 12 February | 1:19.32 | OR | ||||
| 13 February | 1:59.38 | OR | ||||
| 14 February | 14:50.59 | OR | ||||
| 6 February | 42.76 | OR | ||||
| 7 February | 1:28.43 | OR | ||||
| 5 February | 2:16.58 | OR | ||||
| 8 February | 4:45.19 | OR |
Nineteen nations competed in the speed skating events at Innsbruck.