1997 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships
# 1997 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships

The 1997 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships were held between 7 and 9 March 1997 in the Tor Stegny, Warsaw, Poland.

## Schedule

| Date | Events |
| - | - |
| March 7 | 5000 m men |
| March 7 | 500 m women (1st) |
| March 7 | 500 m women (2nd) |
| March 7 | 3000 m women |
| March 8 | 500 m men (1st) |
| March 8 | 500 m men (2nd) |
| March 8 | 1500 m men |
| March 8 | 1000 m women |
| March 8 | 5000 m women |
| March 9 | 1000 m men |
| March 9 | 10000 m men |
| March 9 | 1500 m women |

## Medal summary

### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 500 m details | Manabu Horii Japan | 1:13.55 37.08 36.47 | Roger Strøm Norway | 1:13.58 37.00 36.58 | Hiroyasu Shimizu Japan | 1:13.97 37.28 36.69 |
| 1000 m details | Ådne Søndrål Norway | 1:14.40 | Jan Bos Netherlands | 1:14.81 | Martin Hersman Netherlands | 1:05.07 |
| 1500 m details | Rintje Ritsma Netherlands | 1:53.58 | Ådne Søndrål Norway | 1:55.16 | Neal Marshall Canada | 1:55.65 |
| 5000 m details | Rintje Ritsma Netherlands | 7:02.34 | Gianni Romme Netherlands | 7:03.22 | Frank Dittrich Germany | 7:12.12 |
| 10000 m details | Gianni Romme Netherlands | 14:18.75 | Rintje Ritsma Netherlands | 14:30.60 | Bob de Jong Netherlands | 14:33.82 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 500 m details | Xue Ruihong China | 1:21.06 40.75 40.31 | Sabine Völker Germany | 1:21.33 40.61 40.72 | Franziska Schenk Germany | 1:21.91 40.70 41.21 |
| 1000 m details | Marianne Timmer Netherlands | 1:21.31 | Sandra Zwolle Netherlands | 1:21.92 | Franziska Schenk Germany | 1:22.10 |
| 1500 m details | Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Germany | 2:04.43 | Anni Friesinger Germany | 2:06.18 | Marianne Timmer Netherlands | 2:07.54 |
| 3000 m details | Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Germany | 4:20.34 | Claudia Pechstein Germany | 4:24.18 | Carla Zijlstra Netherlands | 4:28.46 |
| 5000 m details | Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Germany | 7:19.85 | Carla Zijlstra Netherlands | 7:25.80 | Claudia Pechstein Germany | 7:30.84 |

### Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Netherlands (NED) | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
| 2 | Germany (GER) | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Norway (NOR) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Japan (JPN) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | China (CHN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (6 entries) | Totals (6 entries) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
