The 500 metres speed skating

Speed skating

Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...

event was part of the speed skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics

At the 1956 Winter Olympics, four speed skating events were contested. The competitions were held from Saturday, January 28 to Tuesday, January 31, 1956.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...

 programme. The competition was held on naturally frozen ice on the Lake Misurina

Lake Misurina

Lake Misurina is the greater natural lake of the Cadore and it is 1,754 m above sea level, fraction of Auronzo di Cadore . The perimeter is 2.6 km long, while the depth is 5 m....

. It was held on Saturday, January 28, 1956 started at 12 noon

12-hour clock

The 12-hour clock is a time conversion convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem and post meridiem...

 and ended at 1:15 p.m.

12-hour clock

The 12-hour clock is a time conversion convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem and post meridiem...

.

Forty-seven speed skaters from 17 nations competed.

Medalists

Records

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

World Record	40.2(*)	Yevgeny Grishin Yevgeny Grishin Yevgeny Romanovich Grishin was a Soviet/Russian speedskater. Grishin trained for the largest part of his speedskating career at CSKA Moscow...	Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo is a town and comune in the southern Alps located in Veneto, a region in Northern Italy. Located in the heart of the Dolomites in an alpine valley, it is a popular winter sport resort known for its ski-ranges, scenery, accommodations, shops and après-ski scene... /Lake Misurina Lake Misurina Lake Misurina is the greater natural lake of the Cadore and it is 1,754 m above sea level, fraction of Auronzo di Cadore . The perimeter is 2.6 km long, while the depth is 5 m....  (ITA Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... )	January 22, 1956
Olympic Record	43.1	Finn Helgesen Finn Helgesen Finn Helgesen was a speed skater from Norway. He was born in Drammen, Buskerud.At the Norwegian Championships, Helgesen won the 500 m in 1947 and 1949. He became Olympic Champion on the 500 m at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St...	St. Moritz St. Moritz St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...  (SUI Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... )	January 31, 1948

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

Yevgeny Grishin

Yevgeny Grishin

Yevgeny Romanovich Grishin was a Soviet/Russian speedskater. Grishin trained for the largest part of his speedskating career at CSKA Moscow...

 equalizied his own world record.

Results

Yevgeny Grishin

Yevgeny Grishin

Yevgeny Romanovich Grishin was a Soviet/Russian speedskater. Grishin trained for the largest part of his speedskating career at CSKA Moscow...

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

Place	Speed skater	Time
1		40.2 =WR
2		40.8
3		41.0
4		41.1
5		41.7
6		41.8
7		41.9
		41.9
9		42.2
		42.2
11		42.4
		42.4
13		42.5
		42.5
15		42.6
16		42.7
17		42.8
		42.8
		42.8
		42.8
21		42.9
22		43.1
		43.1
		43.1
25		43.2
		43.2
		43.2
28		43.5
		43.5
30		43.6
		43.6
32		43.8
33		43.9
34		44.0
		44.0
36		44.1
37		44.2
		44.2
		44.2
40		44.3
41		44.4
42		44.7
43		44.9
44		45.2
45		45.9
—		DNF
		DNF

Johnny Sands and Yuri Mikhaylov

Yuri Mikhaylov

Yuri Matveyevich Mikhaylov was a speed skater who competed for the Soviet Union....

did not finish after a fall.