Speed skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Men's 500 metres

The 500 metres speed skating event was part of the speed skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics program. The competition was held on naturally frozen ice on the Lake Misurina. It was held on Saturday, 28 January 1956, and started at noon and ended at 1:15 PM. Forty-seven speed skaters from 17 nations competed.[1]

Men's 500 metres speed skating
at the VII Olympic Winter Games
Refer to caption
Pictogram for speed skating
VenueLake Misurina
Date28 January 1956
Competitors47 from 17 nations
Winning time40.2 =WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Yevgeny Grishin  Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Rafael Grach  Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Alv Gjestvang  Norway
← 1952
1960 →

Medalists

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Gold Silver Bronze
Yevgeny Grishin
  Soviet Union
Rafayel Grach
  Soviet Union
Alv Gjestvang
  Norway

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1956 Winter Olympics.

World record 40.2(*)   Yevgeny Grishin Cortina d'Ampezzo/Lake Misurina (ITA) 22 January 1956
Olympic record 43.1   Finn Helgesen St. Moritz (SUI) 31 January 1948

(*) The record was set in a high altitude venue (more than 1000 metres above sea level) and on naturally frozen ice.

Yevgeny Grishin equalized his own world record.

Results

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Yevgeny Grishin set a new world record only six days before this event on the same venue. He equalized his world record time and won the gold medal.

Place Speed skater Time
1   Yevgeny Grishin (URS) 40.2 =WR
2   Rafayel Grach (URS) 40.8
3   Alv Gjestvang (NOR) 41.0
4   Yuri Sergeev (URS) 41.1
5   Toivo Salonen (FIN) 41.7
6   Bill Carow (USA) 41.8
7   Colin Hickey (AUS) 41.9
  Bengt Malmsten (SWE) 41.9
9   Matti Hamberg (FIN) 42.2
  Juhani Järvinen (FIN) 42.2
11   Shinkichi Takemura (JPN) 42.4
  Johnny Werket (USA) 42.4
13   Finn Hodt (NOR) 42.5
  Yrjö Uimonen (FIN) 42.5
15   Bertil Eng (SWE) 42.6
16   Sigmund Søfteland (NOR) 42.7
17   Hroar Elvenes (NOR) 42.8
  Ken Henry (USA) 42.8
  Yoshitaki Hori (JPN) 42.8
  Bohumil Jauris (TCH) 42.8
21   Johnny Cronshey (GBR) 42.9
22   Taketsugu Asazaka (JPN) 43.1
  Guido Citterio (ITA) 43.1
  Gerard Maarse (NED) 43.1
25   Gordon Audley (CAN) 43.2
  Raymond Gilloz (FRA) 43.2
  Don McDermott (USA) 43.2
28   Jang Yeong (KOR) 43.5
  Vladimír Kolář (TCH) 43.5
30   Jaroslav Doubek (TCH) 43.6
  Kiyotaka Takabayashi (JPN) 43.6
32   Franz Offenberger (AUT) 43.8
33   Guido Caroli (ITA) 43.9
34   Jo Yun-sik (KOR) 44.0
  Helmut Kuhnert (EUA) 44.0
36   Ralf Olin (CAN) 44.1
37   Ernst Biel (AUT) 44.2
  Kees Broekman (NED) 44.2
  Sigvard Ericsson (SWE) 44.2
40   Erich Kull (SUI) 44.3
41   Kurt Eminger (AUT) 44.4
42   Gunnar Ström (SWE) 44.7
43   Wim de Graaff (NED) 44.9
44   Alex Connell (GBR) 45.2
45   John Hearn (GBR) 45.9
  Yuri Mikhaylov (URS) DNF
  Johnny Sands (CAN) DNF

Johnny Sands and Yuri Mikhaylov did not finish after a fall.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Speed Skating at the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Games: Men's 500 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
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