The women's 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 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 a women's event in Olympic speed skating. 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 Saturday, February 20, 1960.

Twenty-three speed skaters from ten nations competed.

Medalists

Records

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

World Record	45.6(*)	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...	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 11, 1955
Olympic Record		-

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

Helga Haase

Helga Haase

Helga Haase was a speedskater in the GDR. She was born in Danzig and died in East Berlin.-Career:...

 set the first Olympic record with 45.9 seconds.

Results

Helga Haase

Helga Haase

Helga Haase was a speedskater in the GDR. She was born in Danzig and died in East Berlin.-Career:...

became the first ever female Olympic champion in speed skating.

Place	Speed skater	Time
1		45.9 OR
2		46.0
3		46.1
4		46.2
5		46.6
6		46.8
		46.8
8		47.4
9		47.7
10		47.9
11		48.7
12		48.2
13		48.6
14		48.6
15		48.7
16		49.3
17		50.0
18		50.2
19		50.3
20		51.4
21		53.2
22		53.8
—		DNF