1954
The speedskating world is slowly growing, and this year we have a record 23 participants: AUS, AUT, BEL, CAN, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ITA, JAP, KOR, NED, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 7 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, ITA, FIN, URS, BEL, NED, AUT, JAP and NOR, are exempt. The draw is: AUS-AUT, FRG-USA, SWI-CAN, CZE-DEN, GDR-HUN, ROM-SWE, GBR-KOR. The matches:
Australia-Austria 0-6
West Germany-USA 8-1
Switzerland-Canada 5-3
Czechoslovakia-Denmark 11-0
East Germany-Hungary 0-8
Romania-Sweden 0-11
Britain-Korea 6-0
The first round proper then consists of: AUT, BEL, CZE, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, HUN, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, SWE, SWI, URS. The semi-finalists from last year, NED, FIN, URS and NOR, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: CZE-NED, AUT-URS, NOR-SWI, HUN-JAP, ITA-SWE, BEL-FRG, POL-FRA, FIN-GBR. The matches proceed as follows:
Czechoslovakia-Netherlands 5-6
Austria-USSR 0-11
Norway-Switzerland 11-0
Hungary-Japan 2-7
Italy-Sweden 1-10
Belgium-West Germany 0-9
Poland-France 5.5-2.5
Finland-Britain 9-2
The quarter-final consists of: FIN, FRG, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, SWE, URS. The finalists from last year, NED and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: FIN-NOR, NED-SWE, URS-POL, FRG-JAP. Results of the matches:
Finland-Norway 3-8
Netherlands-Sweden 2.5-8.5
USSR-Poland 0-11
West Germany-Japan 3-8
Semi-final draw: URS-NOR, SWE-JAP. Matches:
USSR-Norway 10-1, again!
Sweden-Japan 11-0
Bronze final: Norway-Japan 11-0
FINAL: USSR-Sweden
47,3 - 52,4 (1-0) 1.36,3 - 1.49,3 (2-0) 2.39,6 - 2.56,8 (3-0) 5.09,2 - 5.59,1 (4-0) 9.14,4 -10.08,5 (5-0) 42,3 - 43,1 (6-0) 1.28,5 - 1.44,9 (7-0) 2.13,3 - 2.14,2 (8-0) 4.55,6 - 4.46,0 (8-1) 8.08,5 - 8.15,5 (9-1) 16.52,1 -17.08,9 (10-1)
Final result 10-1
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 45x URS GOLD 9x FIN GOLD 4x NED GOLD 2x SWE GOLD 2x AUT Silver 4x FRG Silver 2x HUN Silver 2x JAP Silver 2x USA bronze 2x CZE bronze 1895 CAN bronze 1897 LAT bronze 1940 GBR bronze 1949 SWI 4th 3x FRA 4th 1902 DEN 4th 1912 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 EST QF 5x POL QF 4x LIT QF 1927 KOR QF 1949 ROM 1R 5x AUS 1R 2x GDR 1R 1953 COL PR 1933 ICE PR 1953