1,500 metres, Men

The season had barely started, when the first time below 1:50 was reported from Erben Wennemars, though the time was not recognized as a world record. The first official sub-1:50 record was set in a Berlin World Cup by Ids Postma, only to be bettered by Kevin Overland later the same day. At the Dutch Olympic Trials, Rintje Ritsma again lowered it, to 1:48.88. Other favorites included the other Dutch skaters (Bos and Hersman (who replaced Wennemars after his injury in the 500 m) and Ådne Søndrål, Olympic silver medalist back in 1992, and runner-up at the two most recent World Championships.

The first to approach 1:50 was American KC Boutiette, who had converted from inline skating and had competed at the 1994 Games as a substitute for Dan Jansen in this event. His time of 1:50.04 held out until the last three pairs, with Jan Bos beating it first with 1:49.75. Next up were Postma and Søndrål, who fought out an exciting duel. Postma got off to a better start, but the Norwegian caught up, and at 1,100 m, the two were exactly equal. With Postma having the final inner curve, he seemed to have the advantage and beat Søndrål. But Postma stumbled slightly, and Søndrål had a very powerful last lap. He broke the world record by more than a second (1:47.87), with Postma also finishing well below the old mark. Only Ritsma, runner-up in 1994 and Overland were remaining, and Ritsma’s splits matched those of the two leaders. However, like Postma, he was unable to keep up with Søndrål’s pace in the final lap, and had to settle for a bronze. Søndrål’s world record wouldn’t last long, as the Norwegian broke it himself by nearly 1.5 seconds at the World Single Distance Championships in Calgary later that year.