Speed skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics
# Speed skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, was held from 9 to 20 February. Ten events were contested at L'anneau de vitesse. It was the last time in Winter Olympics in which speed skating events were contested in an outdoor ice rink.

## Medal summary

### Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Germany (GER) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | Norway (NOR) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | United States (USA) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Netherlands (NED) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | China (CHN) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | South Korea (KOR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (8 entries) | Totals (8 entries) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |

Germany, in its first Olympics since reunification, topped the medal table with five gold medals, and eleven total medals. All the medals were won by athletes from the former East Germany. Germany's Gunda Niemann led the individual medal table with two golds and a silver, and Norway's Johan Olav Koss was the most successful male skater, with one gold and one silver.

South Korea's Kim Yoon-Man and China's Ye Qiaobo became the first ever medalists for their countries at the Winter Olympics. Bonnie Blair collected two gold medals to become the second most successful female speed skater of the games.

### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 500 metres details | Uwe-Jens Mey Germany | 37.14 | Toshiyuki Kuroiwa Japan | 37.18 | Junichi Inoue Japan | 37.26 |
| 1000 metres details | Olaf Zinke Germany | 1:14.85 | Kim Yoon-man South Korea | 1:14.86 | Yukinori Miyabe Japan | 1:14.92 |
| 1500 metres details | Johann Olav Koss Norway | 1:54.81 | Ådne Søndrål Norway | 1:54.85 | Leo Visser Netherlands | 1:54.90 |
| 5000 metres details | Geir Karlstad Norway | 6:59.97 | Falko Zandstra Netherlands | 7:02.28 | Leo Visser Netherlands | 7:04.96 |
| 10,000 metres details | Bart Veldkamp Netherlands | 14:12.12 | Johann Olav Koss Norway | 14:14.58 | Geir Karlstad Norway | 14:18.13 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 500 metres details | Bonnie Blair United States | 40.33 | Ye Qiaobo China | 40.51 | Christa Luding Germany | 40.57 |
| 1000 metres details | Bonnie Blair United States | 1:21.90 | Ye Qiaobo China | 1:21.92 | Monique Garbrecht Germany | 1:22.10 |
| 1500 metres details | Jacqueline Börner Germany | 2:05.87 | Gunda Niemann Germany | 2:05.92 | Seiko Hashimoto Japan | 2:06.88 |
| 3000 metres details | Gunda Niemann Germany | 4:19.90 | Heike Warnicke Germany | 4:22.88 | Emese Hunyady Austria | 4:24.64 |
| 5000 metres details | Gunda Niemann Germany | 7:31.57 | Heike Warnicke Germany | 7:37.59 | Claudia Pechstein Germany | 7:39.80 |

## Records

There were no Olympic or World records set at the 1992 Games, as the outdoor rink in Albertville (as of today the last speed skating outdoor rink in Winter Games history) was not conducive to fast times.

## Participating NOCs

Twenty-three nations competed in the speed skating events at Albertville. The Unified Team made its only Olympic appearance.

* Australia (2)
* Austria (3)
* Canada (9)
* China (10)
* Unified Team (19)
* Finland (2)
* France (1)
* Great Britain (1)
* Germany (14)
* Hungary (2)
* Italy (4)
* Japan (15)
* South Korea (5)
* Mongolia (2)
* Netherlands (14)
* Norway (8)
* Poland (4)
* North Korea (5)
* Romania (3)
* Sweden (8)
* Czechoslovakia (2)
* United States (19)
* Yugoslavia (2)
