The women's 3000 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 1960 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the 1960 Winter Olympics

At the 1960 Winter Olympics, eight speed skating events were contested. For the first time women were allowed to participated in the Olympic speed skating events. The competitions were held from Saturday, February 20 to Tuesday, February 23, 1960 and from Wednesday, February 24 to Saturday,...

 programme. It was the first appearance of women's speed skating events at the Olympics and the 3000 metres were the last contest at this Games. The competition was held on the Squaw Valley Olympic Skating Rink

Squaw Valley Olympic Skating Rink

The Squaw Valley Olympic Skating Rink was a temporary venue constructed for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. Located outdoors near the Blyth Arena, it hosted the speed skating and some of the ice hockey events for those games.-Reference:...

 and for the first time at the Olympics on artificially frozen ice. It was held on Tuesday, February 23, 1960.

Twenty speed skaters from ten nations competed.

Medalists

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1960 Winter Olympics.

World Record	5:13.8(*)	Rimma Zhukova Rimma Zhukova Rimma Mikhaylovna Zhukova was a speed skater. She was born in Sverdlovsk, Russia.Rimma Zhukova competed for the Soviet Union and after having become Soviet Allround Champion three times and having won the prestigious Kirov prize four times, she became World Allround Champion in 1955. Zhukova was...	Medeo Medeo The Medeu , or Medeo , is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world...  (URS Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.... )	January 23, 1953
Olympic Record		-

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

The development of the Olympic record was the following: Gisela Toews with 5:48.3 minutes (winning the first pair), Elsa Einarsson with 5:32.2 minutes, Tamara Rylova

Tamara Rylova

Tamara Nikolayevna Rylova is a former speed skater.After World War II had ended, Soviet women started dominating speed skating and would continue do so for at least 20 years. Tamara Rylova was one of them. She trained at Burevestnik in Leningrad...

 with 5:30.0 minutes, Helena Pilejczyk

Helena Pilejczyk

Helena Pilejczyk , is a Polish speed skater with a remarkably long career.Helena Pilejczyk is best known as Olympic Bronze Medal winner on the 1,500 m in Squaw Valley , but the length of her career might be a bigger claim to fame...

 with 5:26.2 minutes, Christina Scherling with 5:25.5 minutes, Valentina Stenina

Valentina Stenina

Valentina Sergeyevna Stenina is a former speed skater who competed for the Soviet Union.Born Valentina Miloslavova in Babruysk , she fled to Sverdlovsk – taken by her mother – in 1941 because of World War II...

 with 5:16.9 minutes, and finally the new Olympic record was set by Lidiya Skoblikova with 5:14.2 minutes.

Results

Place	Speed skater	Time
1		5:14.2 OR
2		5:16.9
3		5:21.0
4		5:21.4
5		5:25.5
6		5:26.2
7		5:27.3
8		5:28.5
9		5:30.0
10		5:30.9
11		5:32.2
12		5:35.2
13		5:37.5
14		5:39.7
15		5:42.5
16		5:43.5
17		5:48.3
18		5:57.5
19		6:03.1
20		6:08.2