1969
Is speedskating on the wane as an international sport? Only 22 participants in this post-Olympic season, the lowest since 1956: AUT, BEL, CAN, CZE, FIN, FRA, FRG, GDR, HUN, ITA, KOR, JAP, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, PRK, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 6 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, NOR, FIN, USA, NED, URS, AUT, FRG and POL, are exempt. The draw is: CAN-ROM, HUN-PRK, FRA-JAP, ITA-BEL, SWI-CZE, KOR-GDR. The matches:
Canada-Romania 2-8, Canadian speedskating at a low ebb...
Hungary-North Korea 8-2
France-Japan 0-10
Italy-Belgium 7-2
Switzerland-Czechoslovakia 6-4
South Korea-East Germany 0-10
The first round proper then consists of: AUT, FIN, FRG, GDR, HUN, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, NED, FRG, NOR and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: USA-HUN, ROM-FIN, NED-SWI, NZL-JAP, NOR-POL, AUT-GDR, SWE-FRG, ITA-URS. The matches proceed as follows:
USA-Hungary 7-3
Romania-Finland 0-10
Netherlands-Switzerland 10-0
New Zealand-Japan 0-10
Norway-Poland 10-0
Austria-East Germany 2-8
Sweden-West Germany 7.5-2.5
Italy-USSR 0-10
The quarter-final consists of: FIN, GDR, JAP, NED, NOR, SWE, URS, USA. The finalists from last year, NED and NOR, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: NOR-SWE, JAP-USA, FIN-URS, GDR-NED. Results of the matches:
Norway-Sweden 7-3
Japan-USA 6-4
Finland-USSR 4-6
East Germany-Netherlands 1-9
Semi-final draw: NED-NOR, JAP-URS. Matches:
Netherlands-Norway 6-4
Japan-USSR 1-9
Bronze final: Norway-Japan 9-1
FINAL: Netherlands-USSR
45,4 - 44,4 (0-1) 1.30,0 - 1.31,2 (1-1) 2.18,5 - 2.22,9 (2-1) 4.50,3 - 5.00,5 (3-1) 40,0 - 38,8 (3-2) 1.21,4 - 1.23,2 (4-2) 2.02,0 - 2.05,3 (5-2) 4.17,7 - 4.25,2 (6-2) 7.13,2 - 7.35,0 (7-2) 15.03,6 -15.43,7 (8-2)
Final result 8-2
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x URS GOLD 21x FIN GOLD 4x NED GOLD 4x SWE GOLD 2x AUT Silver 4x FRG Silver 2x HUN Silver 2x JAP Silver 2x CZE Silver 1955 USA Silver 1964 CHN Silver 1965 CAN bronze 1897 LAT bronze 1940 GBR bronze 1949 PRK bronze 1963 SWI 4th 3x POL 4th 2x FRA 4th 2x DEN 4th 1912 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 GDR 4th 1964 EST QF 5x LIT QF 1927 KOR QF 1949 ROM 1R 9x AUS 1R 7x MGL 1R 3x NZL 1R 3x ICE PR 2x RSA PR 2x COL PR 1933 ESP PR 1957