1,500 metres, Women

Looking at the results of the 1991-92 season, the 1500 m was anticipated to become a duel between Austria’s Emese Hunyady and Gunda Niemann. The latter had recently established herself as the dominant female skater. In 1991, she had won the World Allround Championships with three distance wins, and she had already won four consecutive European titles (1989-1992), winning the 1,500 m every time. But Hunyady, who had married an Austrian to escape from her native Hungary, had beaten Niemann at the Collalbo World Cup, having won the Warszawa event in Niemann’s absence earlier on.

But as with other events in Albertville, the competition was adversely affected by the warm weather. Several countries complained about the ice preparation schedule, which left the pairs immediately after ice cleaning with considerably better circumstances than those skaters in later pairs. This was to the benefit of a German outsider, Jacqueline Börner. She had been the World Allround Champion in 1990, but later that year she had suffered severe injuries in a car accident. While bike training in Berlin with several teammates, she was hit by a Trabant, after an altercation between the car’s driver and the skaters. She sustained leg, knee, rib and head injuries, and was still walking with crutches a year before the Olympics. She recovered in time for the Olympic season, but did not have high hopes for the Games. A third place at the Berlin World Cup gave her hope for a bronze medal in Albertville. But her first pair performance of 2:05.87 would land her the gold medal. Duped by the conditions, Hunyady (pair five) did no better than seventh, while Niemann (pair six) finished just 0.05 seconds behind her teammate. The bronze was surprisingly won by Seiko Hashimoto, also a three time Olympian in track cycling. While she had been runner-up behind Börner at the 1990 World Championships, she had recently concentrated on sprinting, and her 1,500 m medal was unexpected.