Speed Skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Dates 11 – 25 February 2006
Medal Events 12

Italy had never won an Olympic speed skating medal prior to 2006, although it was home to two fast outdoor rinks in South Tyrol, at Baselga di Pinè and Collalbo (Klobenstein). The newly built Oval Lingotto was the country’s first indoor rink. Since the Olympics, it has been used as a multi-purpose sports facility, hosting among others the 37th Chess Olympiad, the 2006 World Fencing Championships and the 2009 European Indoor Athletics Championships.

For the first time since 1988, the Olympic speed skating program had been extended, with the team pursuit added for both men and women. The admission of the event in 2004 had come as a surprise, having not yet been held at senior World Championships at that time (it was contested at the 2005 World Championships). This meant it did not meet general IOC requirements for new events, but intensive lobbying by ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta proved successful. Another team pursuit question mark was the planned format, which had never been tested in competition prior to the Games. In the end, the new competition proved popular with most followers and skaters, as well as the media.

The gold medals in Torino were divided by skaters from six countries, the highest number since 1968. Host nation Italy won medals for the first, with Enrico Fabris winning two individual medals and leading the pursuit team to gold. This also made him the most successful skater, followed by Cindy Klassen, who won five medals (including one gold), the first skater since Eric Heiden to win 5 speed skating medals at a single Olympics.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
500 metres, Men Olympic 13 February 2006 37 12
1,000 metres, Men Olympic 18 February 2006 41 13
1,500 metres, Men Olympic 21 February 2006 41 14
5,000 metres, Men Olympic 11 February 2006 28 15
10,000 metres, Men Olympic 24 February 2006 16 8
Team Pursuit (8 laps), Men Olympic 15 – 16 February 2006 36 8
500 metres, Women Olympic 14 February 2006 30 10
1,000 metres, Women Olympic 19 February 2006 36 12
1,500 metres, Women Olympic 22 February 2006 35 13
3,000 metres, Women Olympic 12 February 2006 28 15
5,000 metres, Women Olympic 25 February 2006 16 10
Team Pursuit (6 laps), Women Olympic 15 – 16 February 2006 35 8
174 (97/77) 19 (16/16)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
500 metres, Men Joey CheekUSA Dmitry DorofeyevRUS Lee Gang-SeokKOR
1,000 metres, Men Shani DavisUSA Joey CheekUSA Erben WennemarsNED
1,500 metres, Men Enrico FabrisITA Shani DavisUSA Chad HedrickUSA
5,000 metres, Men Chad HedrickUSA Sven KramerNED Enrico FabrisITA
10,000 metres, Men Bob de JongNED Chad HedrickUSA Carl VerheijenNED
Team Pursuit (8 laps), Men ItalyITA CanadaCAN NetherlandsNED
500 metres, Women Svetlana ZhurovaRUS Wang ManliCHN Ren HuiCHN
1,000 metres, Women Marianne TimmerNED Cindy KlassenCAN Anni FriesingerGER
1,500 metres, Women Cindy KlassenCAN Kristina GrovesCAN Ireen WüstNED
3,000 metres, Women Ireen WüstNED Renate GroenewoldNED Cindy KlassenCAN
5,000 metres, Women Clara HughesCAN Claudia PechsteinGER Cindy KlassenCAN
Team Pursuit (6 laps), Women GermanyGER CanadaCAN Russian FederationRUS

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
United States USA 3 3 1 7
Netherlands NED 3 2 4 9
Canada CAN 2 4 2 8
Italy ITA 2 0 1 3
Germany GER 1 1 1 3
Russian Federation RUS 1 1 1 3
People's Republic of China CHN 0 1 1 2
Republic of Korea KOR 0 0 1 1