Speed skating at the XI Olympic Winter Games
Pictogram for speed skating
Venue	Makomanai Open Stadium
Date	4–12 February 1972
No. of events	8
Competitors	118 from 18 nations
← 1968 1976 →

Speed skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics
500 m	men	women
1000 m		women
1500 m	men	women
3000 m		women
5000 m	men
10,000 m	men
v t e

Speed skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics, was held from 4 to 12 February. Eight events were contested at Makomanai Open Stadium in Sapporo, Japan.^[1] This was the first Olympics at which electronic times were recorded to the hundredth of a second.^[2]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Netherlands (NED)	4	3	2	9
2	United States (USA)	2	1	1	4
3	West Germany (FRG)	2	0	0	2
4	Norway (NOR)	0	2	2	4
5	Soviet Union (URS)	0	1	2	3
6	Sweden (SWE)	0	1	1	2
Totals (6 entries)		8	8	8	24

The Netherlands topped the medal table, with four golds and nine overall, led by Ard Schenk's three gold medals.

Schenk led the individual medal table, winning each of the three longer distance events. The most successful female skater was the Netherlands's Stien Kaiser, who won one gold and one silver medal.

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres details	Erhard Keller  West Germany	39.44 (OR)	Hasse Börjes  Sweden	39.69	Valery Muratov  Soviet Union	39.80
1500 metres details	Ard Schenk  Netherlands	2:02.96 (OR)	Roar Grønvold  Norway	2:04.26	Göran Claeson  Sweden	2:05.89
5000 metres details	Ard Schenk  Netherlands	7:23.61	Roar Grønvold  Norway	7:28.18	Sten Stensen  Norway	7:33.39
10,000 metres details	Ard Schenk  Netherlands	15:01.35 (OR)	Kees Verkerk  Netherlands	15:04.70	Sten Stensen  Norway	15:07.08

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
500 metres details	Anne Henning  United States	43.33 (OR)	Vera Krasnova  Soviet Union	44.01	Lyudmila Titova  Soviet Union	44.45
1000 metres details	Monika Pflug  West Germany	1:31.40 (OR)	Atje Keulen-Deelstra  Netherlands	1:31.61	Anne Henning  United States	1:31.62
1500 metres details	Dianne Holum  United States	2:20.85 (OR)	Stien Kaiser  Netherlands	2:21.05	Atje Keulen-Deelstra  Netherlands	2:22.05
3000 metres details	Stien Kaiser  Netherlands	4:52.14 (OR)	Dianne Holum  United States	4:58.67	Atje Keulen-Deelstra  Netherlands	4:59.91

Seven of the eight events had new Olympic records set, with only the men's 5000 metres record remaining unbroken.^[3][4]

Event	Date	Team	Time	OR	WR
Men's 500 metres	5 February	Erhard Keller (FRG)	39.44	OR
Men's 1500 metres	6 February	Ard Schenk (NED)	2:02.96	OR
Men's 10,000 metres	7 February	Ard Schenk (NED)	15:01.35	OR
Women's 500 metres	10 February	Anne Henning (USA)	43.33	OR
Women's 1000 metres	11 February	Monika Pflug (FRG)	1:31.40	OR
Women's 1500 metres	9 February	Dianne Holum (USA)	2:20.85	OR
Women's 3000 metres	12 February	Stien Kaiser (NED)	4:52.14	OR

Eighteen nations competed in the speed skating events at Sapporo.