Speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics records and five Olympic records were set in Lillehammer. Twenty-one nations competed in the speed skating events at Lillehammer. Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine made their Olympic speed skating debuts. Speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics Speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics, was held from 13 February to 25 February. Ten events were contested at Hamar Olympic Hall. Norway led the medal table in speed skating on home ice, led by Johann Olav Koss, who won three gold medals. Bonnie Blair was the most successful woman, with a pair of gold medals. Germany won the most total medals,
Winter Olympic Games every one of the five events in which he competed, winning a total of five individual gold medals and breaking the record for most individual golds in a single Olympics (both Summer and Winter). Hanni Wenzel won both the slalom and giant slalom and her country, Liechtenstein, became the smallest nation to produce an Olympic gold medallist. In the "Miracle on Ice", the American hockey team composed of college players beat the favoured seasoned professionals from the Soviet Union, and progressed to eventually win the gold medal. Sapporo, Japan, and Gothenburg, Sweden, were front-runners to host the 1984 Winter Olympics.