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| Event type

500 metres, Men

Date24 February 1960
StatusOlympic
LocationSpeed Skating Oval, Squaw Valley, California
Participants46 from 15 countries
Olympic Record 40.2 / Yevgeny Grishin URS / 28 January 1956
StarterDick McCarterUSA
RefereeSven LåftmanSWE

The event was conceded to Soviet sprinter Yevgeny Grishin who had not lost a 500 since 1956, and had only been beaten twice at the distance internationally, placing second at the 1956 World Championships, and fifth at the 1955 Worlds. Grishin was the defending champion and the world record holder, twice setting the record in 1956 at Misurina. He was actually a solid all-around skater, having won the 1956 European Championship and placing third at the Worlds in 1954 and 1956, but had not skated at the Worlds in 1958-59. The early leader in the race was Norway’s Alv Gjestvang, posting 40.8 in the second pair. His time was beaten in the fifth pair by American Bill Disney, who finished in 40.3. That time held up until the 15th pair, in which Grishin skated. He was looking to win easily, and it appeared he would break the 40-second barrier, but he stumbled badly on the homestretch, costing him perhaps a full second. But his dominance was such that he still won, finishing in 40.2 for his second consecutive gold medal in the event. In the next pair, his teammate, Rafael Grach, posted 40.4 to win the bronze medal. Grishin had shared the 1,500 gold in 1956 and a few days later, would also defend his gold medal in that event, remarkably again sharing the gold in a tie for first place. Grishin would compete thru 1964, retiring after winning a silver medal in the 500 at Innsbruck. In 1963 at Medeo, he broke the world record twice, posting 39.6 on 27 January to break the 40-second barrier, a time he bettered with 39.5 the next day.

PosPairCompetitorNOCTime
115OYevgeny GrishinURS40.2Gold=OR
25OBill DisneyUSA40.3Silver
316ORafael GrachURS40.4Bronze
410OHans WilhelmssonSWE40.5
510IGennady VoroninURS40.7
62IAlv GjestvangNOR40.8
=73OTerry McDermottUSA40.9
=714OToivo SalonenFIN40.9
91OFumio NagakuboJPN41.1
=1021IHenk van der GriftNED41.2
=1021OYury MalyshevURS41.2
=1017OEddie Rudolph, Jr.USA41.2
1311OColin HickeyAUS41.3
144OHroar ElvenesNOR41.4
1518OAndré KouprianoffFRA41.5
=1616IYoshitaki HoriJPN41.8
=167IJuhani JärvinenFIN41.8
186IRaymond GillozFRA42.0
1920OLeo TynkkynenFIN42.1
=2019OKnut JohannesenNOR42.3
=207OHelmut KuhnertGER42.3
=2019IHerbert SöllnerGER42.3
=208IGünther TilchGER42.3
=2412INils AanessNOR42.5
=2413OManfred SchülerGER42.5
2622IPer-Olof BrogrenSWE42.7
2714IJohnny SandsCAN42.8
2812OWim de GraaffNED42.9
2915IFranz OffenbergerAUT43.0
=309OOlle DahlbergSWE43.1
=3022ORalf OlinCAN43.1
3218IMario GiosITA43.3
=336OJan PesmanNED43.4
=3311IGunnar SjölinSWE43.4
3513IRoy TuttyAUS43.5
=3620ITakeo MizooJPN43.7
=3623IAntonio NittoITA43.7
389ITerry MonaghanGBR44.0
393IRenato De RivaITA44.1
405IHermann StrutzAUT44.4
418OLarry MasonCAN44.7
421IJouko JokinenFIN45.1
432OShinkichi TakemuraJPN45.9
444IJang YeongKOR50.0
DNF23OBill CarowUSA
DNF17ITerry MalkinGBR