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| Event type

5 kilometres, Women

Date 5 February 1964 — 9:00
StatusOlympic
LocationLanglaufstadion, Seefeld
Participants32 from 11 countries
DetailsCourse Length: ?
Height Differential: 64 m
Intermediate 1: 2.5 km
Maximum Climb: 39 m
Total Climbing: 150 m

The 5 km cross country race for women was a new event on the Olympic program, first introduced at the World Championships 1962, and as expected ending in a clean sweep for the Soviets with Alevtina Kolchina as World champion.

After the Soviet domination in the 10 km race four days earlier, the 5 km race was expected to be another triumphant day for the Soviets. When the intermediate times after 2.5 km were announced in the Seefeld Cross Country Stadium, it was met with surprise. In the lead was a 22-year-old skier from Finland, Senja Pusula, 3.1 seconds ahead of another first time Olympian, Sweden’s Toini Gustafsson. But it was very close. Less than two seconds behind Gustafsson followed the newly crowned Olympic Champion Klavdiya Boyarskikh, another Nordic surprise, the 21-year-old Finn Mirja Lehtonen, and two more Soviet skiers, Yevdokiya Mekshilo and Kolchina.

Pusula faded in the last part of the race and dropped down to ninth place at the finish, but her teammate Lehtonen was the big surprise of the day. Starting one and a half minute earlier than Boyarskikh, she continued her pace, and Boyarskikh had to struggle hard at the final part of the race to beat the young Finn by a scant margin of 2.4 seconds. Kolchina was able to advance from her sixth position halfway and secured her only individual Olympic medal.

PosNumberCompetitorNOCTime
130Klavdiya BoyarskikhURS17:50.5Gold
227Mirja LehtonenFIN17:52.9Silver
325Alevtina KolchinaURS18:08.4Bronze
417Yevdokiya MekshiloURS18:16.7
513Toini PöystiFIN18:25.5
622Toini GustafssonSWE18:25.7
712Barbro MartinssonSWE18:26.4
88Eeva RuoppaFIN18:29.8
920Senja PusulaFIN18:45.7
103Rita AchkinaURS18:51.1
1133Britt StrandbergSWE19:07.5
129Rita Czech-BlaselGER19:09.1
132Krastana StoevaBUL19:11.2
1429Stefania BiegunPOL19:16.0
=1523Renate DannhauerGER19:17.0
=1532Ingrid WigernæsNOR19:17.0
1731Christine NestlerGER19:21.4
1818Babben EngerNOR19:26.5
191Elfriede SpiegelhauerGER19:52.3
2019Heiderun LudwigAUT20:11.3
2110Nadezhda VasilevaBUL20:24.2
2226Eva Paulusová-BenešováTCH20:24.7
2324Teresa TrzebuniaPOL20:25.8
244Czesława StopkaPOL20:34.4
2515Jarmila ŠkodováTCH20:46.1
266Eva BřízováTCH20:48.2
2714Weronika BudnyPOL21:07.1
2828Nadezhda MihaylovaBUL21:18.9
2916Katalin HemrikHUN21:26.7
3011Jigjeegiin JavzandulamMGL22:57.5
317Dorjgotovyn PürevloovMGL24:55.8
325Gun ÄdelSWE26:09.0
DNS21Roza DimovaBUL