History
Skates probably were developed about 3,000 years ago in Scandinavia, and early skates were made of polished bone, wood and then metal. In the Netherlands, skating served as a way to travel over the canals in winter, and iron-bladed skates were recorded there as early as 1250. Holland is considered the birthplace of modern speed skating, and the Dutch skating association is the forerunner of the International Skating Union (ISU).

By the 18th century, the popularity of speedskating had spread across northern Europe. The first known speedskating club was the Skating Club of Edinburgh, in Scotland, and the first speedskating competition is thought to be a 15-mile race held in England in 1763. Shortly thereafter, competitions sprang up across northern Europe, with the skaters, mostly made up of laborers, being judged by the aristocrats, who themselves were partial to the sport of figure skating.

In the United States, the first speedskating club was started in Philadelphia in 1849. The sport was adopted in New York and Washington shortly thereafter. In 1850, E.W. Bushnell of Philadelphia made the first all-steel skate, which did not require frequent sharpening, revolutionizing the sport. The first world championship was held in the Netherlands in 1889, and brought together the Dutch, Russian, American and English champions. Long-track speedskating, known in current skating circles as "speed" to distinguish it from short track, has been a part of the Olympic program since the first Winter Games in Chamonix Mont-Blanc in 1924. Originally only men participated, but women's events were included in the 1960 Squaw Valley Games. Speedskater Charles Jewtraw of Lake Placid, N.Y., won the first gold medal for the United States in the Winter Olympics on Jan. 26, 1924, taking the gold in the 500. Known for his explosive first 100 yards, Jewtraw's best 100 yards was 9.4 seconds, still a good time by today's standards.

Speedskating has produced more U.S. Olympic medals than any other sport, including the five golds won by Eric Heiden at the 1980 Games, and the six won by Bonnie Blair, who has won more than Olympic medals than any other American woman.

Olympic Events

Mens 500 Meters | 1000 | 1500 | 5000 | 10,000 Meters
Womens 500 Meters | 1000 | 1500 | 3000 | 5000 Meters		 Short Track
Men 500 Meters | 1000 | 1500 | 5000 Meter Relay
Women 500 Meters | 1000 | 1500 | 3000 Meter Relay

Mens
500 Meters
1924 Chamonix - Charles Jewtraw - USA - 44
1928 St. Moritz - Bernt Evensen - NOR - 43.4
1932 Lake Placid - John Shea - USA - 43.4
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Ivar Ballangrud - NOR - 43.4
1948 St. Moritz - Finn Helgesen - NOR - 43.1
1952 Oslo - Kenneth Henry - USA - 43.2
1956 Cortina - Yevgeny Grishin - SOV/RUS 40.2
1960 Squaw Valley - Yevgeny Grishin - SOV/RUS 40.2
1964 Innsbruck - Richard "Terry" McDermott - 40.1
1968 Grenoble - Erhard Keller - GER - 40.3
1972 Sapporo - Erhard Keller - GER - 39.44
1976 Innsbruck - Yevgeny Kulikov - SOV/RUS - 39.17
1980 Lake Placid - Eric Heiden - USA - 38.03
1984 Sarajevo - Sergei Fokichev - SOV/RUS - 38.19
1988 Calgary - Uwe-Jens Mey - GDR - 36.45
1992 Albertville - Uwe-Jens Mey - GDR - 37.14
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Aleksandr Golubev - RUS - 36.33
1998 Nagano - Hiroyasu Shimizu - JPN - 35.76/35.59 (1:11.35)

1000 Meters
1976 Innsbruck - Peter Mueller - USA - 1:19.32
1980 Lake Placid - Eric Heiden - USA - 1:15.18
1984 Sarajevo - Gaetan Boucher - CAN - 1:15:80
1988 Calgary - Nikolai Gulyaev - SOV/RUS - 1:13.03
1992 Albertville - Olaf Zinke - GER - 1:14.85
1994 Lillehammer - Hamar - Daniel Jensen - USA - 1:12.43
1998 Nagano - Ids Postma - HOL - 1:10.64

1500 Meters
1924 Chamonix - A. Clas Thunberg - FIN - 2:20.8
1928 St. Moritz - A. Clas Thunberg - FIN - 2:21.1
1932 Lake Placid - John Shea - USA -2:57.5
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Charles Mathisen - NOR - 2:19.2
1948 St. Moritz - Sverre Farstad - NOR -2:17.6
1952 Oslo - Hjalmar Andersen - NOR - 2:20.4
1956 Cortina - Yevgeny Grishin - SOV/RUS - 2:08.6
1960 Squaw Valley - Roald Aas - NOR - 2:10.4
1964 Innsbruck - Ants Antson - SOV/EST - 2:10.3
1968 Grenoble - Cornelis "Kees" Verkerk - HOL - 2:03.4
1972 Sapporo - Adrianus "Ard" Schenk - HOL - 2:02.96
1976 Innsbruck - Jan Egil Storholt - NOR - 1:59.38
1980 Lake Placid - Eric Heiden - USA - 1:55.44
1984 Sarajevo - Gaetan Boucher - CAN - 1: 58.36
1988 Calgary - Andre Hoffmann - GRD - 1:52.06
1992 Albertville - Johann Koss - NOR - 1: 54.81
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Johann Koss - NOR - 1: 51.29
1998 Nagano - Adne Sondral - NOR - 1:47.87

5000 Meters
1924 Chamonix - A. Clas Thunberg - FIN - 8:39.0
1928 St. Moritz - Ivan Ballangrud - NOR - 8:50.5
1932 Lake Placid - Irving Jaffee - USA - 9:40.8
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Ivan Ballangrud - NOR - 8:19.6
1948 St. Moritz - Reidar Liaklev - NOR - 8:29.4
1952 Oslo - Hjalmar Andersen - NOR - 8:10.6
1956 Cortina - Boris Shilkv - SOV/RUS - 7:48.7
1960 Squaw Valley - Viktor Kosichkin - SOV/RUS - 7:51.3
1964 Innsbruck - Knut Johannesen - NOR - 7: 38.4
1968 Grenoble - Fred Anton Maier - NOR - 7:22.4
1972 Sapporo - Adrianus "Ard" Schenk - HOL - 7:23.61
1976 Innsbruck - Sten Stensen - NOR - 7:24.48
1980 Lake Placid - Eric Heiden - USA - 7:02.29
1984 Sarajevo - S. Tomas Gustafson - SWE - 7:12.28
1988 Calgary - S. Tomas Gustafson - SWE - 6:44.63
1992 Albertville - Geir Karlstad - NOR - 6:59.97
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Johann Koss - NOR - 6:34.96
1998 Nagano - Gianni Romme - HOL - 6:22.20

10,000 Meters
1924 Chamonix - Julius Skutnabb - FIN - 18:04.8
1928 St. Moritz - Irving Jaffee - USA - 18:36..5
1932 Lake Placid - Irving Jaffee - USA - 19:13.6
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Ivar Ballangrud - NOR - 17:24.3
1948 St. Moritz - Ake Seyffarth - SWE - 17:26.3
1952 Oslo - Hjalmar Andersen - NOR - 16:54.8
1956 Cortina - Sigvard Ericsson - SWE - 16: 35.9
1960 Squaw Valley - Kurt Johannesen - NOR - 15:46.6
1964 Innsbruck - Jonny Nilsson - SWE - 15:50.1
1968 Grenoble - Johnny Hoglin - SWE - 15: 23.6
1972 Sapporo - Adrianus "Ard" Schenk - HOL - 15:01.35
1976 Innsbruck - Piet Kleine - HOL - 14:50.59
1980 Lake Placid - Eric Heiden - USA - 14:28.13
1984 Sarajevo - Igor Malkov - SOV/RUS - 14: 39.90
1988 Calgary - S. Tomas Gustafson - SWE - 13:48.20
1992 Albertville - Bart Veldkamp - HOL - 14:12.12
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Johann Koss - NOR - 13:30.55
1998 Nagano - Gianni Romme - HOL - 13:15.33

Womens
500 Meters
1960 Squaw Valley - Helga Haase - GDR - 45.9
1964 Innsbruck - Lydia Skoblikova - SOV/RUS - 45.0
1968 Grenoble - Lyudmila Titova - SOV/RUS - 46.1
1972 Sapporo - Anne Henning - USA - 43.33
1976 Innsbruck - Sheila Young - USA- 42.76
1980 Lake Placid - Karin Enke - GDR - 41.78
1984 Sarajevo - Christa Rothenburger - GDR - 41.02
1988 Calgary - Bonnie Blair - USA - 39.10
1992 Albertville - Bonnie Blair - USA - 40.33
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Bonnie Blair - 39.25
1998 Nagano - Catriona LeMay Doan - CAN - 38.39 or 38.21(1:16.60)

1000 Meters (World Record - Christine Witty - 1:15.43)
1960 Squaw Valley - Klara Guseva - SOV/RUS - 1:34.1
1964 Innsbruck - Lydia Skoblikova - SOV/RUS - 1:33.2
1968 Grenoble - Carolina Geijssen - HOL - 1:32.6
1972 Sapporo - Monika Pflug - GER - 1:31.4
1976 Innsbruck - Tatyana Averina - SOV/RUS - 1:28.43
1980 Lake Placid - Natalya Petruseva - SOV/RUS - 1:24.1
1984 Sarajevo - Karin Enke - GDR - 1:21.61
1988 Calgary - Christa Rothenburger - GDR - 1:17.65
1992 Albertville - Bonnie Blair - USA - 1:21.9
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Bonnie Blair - USA - 1:18.74
1998 Nagano - Marianne Timmer - HOL - 1:16.51

1500 Meters (World Record - Marianne Timmer - HOL - 1:57.58)
1960 Squaw Valley - Lydia Skoblikova - SOV/RUS - 2:25.2
1964 Innsbruck - Lydia Skoblikova - SOV/RUS - 2:22.6
1968 Grenoble - Kaija Mustonen - FIN - 2:22.4
1972 Sapporo - Dianne Holum - USA - 2:20.85
1976 Innsbruck - Galina Stepanskaya - SOV/RUS - 2:16.58
1980 Lake Placid - Annie Borckink - HOL - 2:10.95
1984 Sarajevo - Karin Enke - GDR - 2:03.42
1988 Calgary - Yvonne Van Gennip - HOL - 2:00.68
1992 Albertville - Jacqueline Borner - GER - 2:05.87
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Emese Hunyady - AUT - 2:02.19
1998 Nagano - Marianne Timmer - HOL - 1:57.58 (OR)

3000 Meters (World Record -Claudia Pechstein - 4:07.13)
1960 Squaw Valley - Lydia Skoblikova - SOV/RUS - 5:14.3
1964 Innsbruck - Lydia Skoblikova - SOV/RUS - 5:14.9
1968 Grenoble - Johanna Schut - HOL - 4:56.2
1972 Sapporo - Christina Baas-Kaiser - HOL - 4:52.14
1976 Innsbruck - Tatyana Averina - SOV/RUS - 4:45.19
1980 Lake Placid - Bjorg Eva Jensen - NOR - 4:32.1
1984 Sarajevo - Andrea Schone (Mitscherlich) - GDR - 4:24.79
1988 Calgary - Yvonne Van Gennip - HOL - 4:11.94
1992 Albertville - Gunda Niemann (Kleemann) - GER - 4:19.9
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Svetlana Bazhanova - RUS - 4:17.43
1998 Nagano - Gunda Niemann (Kleemann) - GER - 4:07.29

5000 Meters
1988 Calgary - Yvonne Van Gennip - HOL - 7:14.13
1992 Albertville - Gunda Niemann (Kleemann) - GER - 7:31.57
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Claudia Pechstein - GER - 7:14.37
1998 Nagano - Claudia Pechstein - GER - 6:59.61

Short Track
Men
500 Meters
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Chae Ji-hoon - KOR - 43.45
1998 Nagano - Takafumi Nishitani - JPN - 42.862

1000 Meters
1992 Albertville - Kim Ki-hoon - KOR - 1:30.76
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Kim Ki-hoon - KOR - 1:34.57
1998 Nagano - Kim Dong-sung - KOR - 1:32.375

1500 Meters
New Event

5000 Meter Relay
1992 Albertville - KOR - 7:14.02
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - ITA - 7:11.74
1998 Nagano - CAN - 7:06.075

Women
500 Meters
1992 Albertville - Cathy Turner - USA - 47.04
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Cathy Turner - USA - 45.98
1998 Nagano - Annie Perreault - CAN - 46.568

1000 Meters

1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - Chun Lee-Kyung - KOR - 1:36.97
1998 Nagano - Chun Lee-Kyung - KOR - 1:42.776

1500 Meters
New Event

3000 Meter Relay
1992 Albertville - CAN - 4:36.62
1994 Lillehammer -Hamar - KOR - 4:26.64
1998 Nagano - KOR - 4:16.260