1,500 metres, Men

The world record holder was Ard Schenk, the 1972 champion, but he had turned professional after Sapporo, had retired in 1974, and was not in Innsbruck. In his absence there was really no favorite as the event was wide open. But the competition came down to two pairs, the second and the fourth. The second pair had two top skaters, American Dan Carroll, who had been second in the 1,500 at the 1975 World Championships, and Dutch skater Hans van Helden, who had won the distance at the 1974 Worlds. They were about equal at 300 metres but Van Helden pulled away on the second lap, and bettered Carroll, 2:00.87 to 2:02.26. The fourth pairing matched Norwegian Jan Egil Storholt, winner of the distance at the 1975 Europeans, and Soviet Yury Kondakov, who had been third all-around at the 1975 World Championships. At 700 m they were both behind Van Helden’s pace, but caught up on the third lap. Storholt finished in 1:59.38, with Kondakov close behind in 1:59.97. They would win the gold and silver medals with van Helden taking bronze, and Carroll finishing fifth. For Storholt, the gold medal was a nice birthday present. Van Helden added the bronze to the bronze he had won two days earlier in the 5,000.