Speed skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics
# Speed skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics

At the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, four speed skating events were scheduled, all for men, but medals were only awarded for three events, because the 10.000 m event was not completed. The Allround event, which was only organized in 1924, was removed from the program. The competitions were held on Monday, 13 February 1928 and on Tuesday, 14 February 1928.

In the 10,000-meter race, Irving Jaffee was leading the competition, having outskated Norwegian defending world champion Bernt Evensen in their heat, when rising temperatures thawed the ice. In a controversial ruling, the Norwegian referee canceled the entire competition. Although the International Olympic Committee reversed the referee's decision and awarded Jaffee the gold medal, the International Skating Union later overruled the IOC and restored the ruling. Evensen, for his part, publicly said that Jaffee should be awarded the gold medal, but that never happened.

## Medal summary

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 500 metres details | Bernt Evensen Norway | 43.4 | none awarded | none awarded | John Farrell United States | 43.6 |
| 500 metres details | Clas Thunberg Finland | 43.4 | none awarded | none awarded | Jaakko Friman Finland | 43.6 |
| 500 metres details | Clas Thunberg Finland | 43.4 | none awarded | none awarded | Roald Larsen Norway | 43.6 |
| 1500 metres details | Clas Thunberg Finland | 2:21.1 | Bernt Evensen Norway | 2:21.9 | Ivar Ballangrud Norway | 2:22.6 |
| 5000 metres details | Ivar Ballangrud Norway | 8:50.5 | Julius Skutnabb Finland | 8:59.1 | Bernt Evensen Norway | 9:00.1 |
| 10,000 metres details | The competition was cancelled in the fifth heat because of thawing ice | The competition was cancelled in the fifth heat because of thawing ice | The competition was cancelled in the fifth heat because of thawing ice | The competition was cancelled in the fifth heat because of thawing ice | The competition was cancelled in the fifth heat because of thawing ice | The competition was cancelled in the fifth heat because of thawing ice |

## Participating nations

A total of 40 speed skaters from 14 nations competed at the St. Moritz Games:

* Austria (3)
* Canada (3)
* Estonia (2)
* Finland (6)
* France (2)
* Germany (3)
* Great Britain (3)
* Hungary (1)
* Latvia (1)
* Lithuania (1)
* Netherlands (2)
* Norway (8)
* Sweden (1)
* United States (4)

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Norway | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Finland | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | United States | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (3 entries) | Totals (3 entries) | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
