Speed skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics Speed skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics Speed skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, was held from 5 February to 14 February. Nine events were contested at Eisschnelllaufbahn Innsbruck. This was the first Olympics which included the men's 1000 metres, and the first change to the men's program at the Olympics since the elimination of the all-round event in 1928. The Soviet Union led the medal table, with four gold and nine overall. The silver medal for East Germany's Andrea Ehrig-Mitscherlich was the country's first in speed skating. Tatyana Averina led the individual medal table, winning a medal in all
John Curry to take figure skating lessons under the guidance of Ken Vickers at the Summerhill Road rink in Birmingham. After his father died of tuberculosis, when John was 16, he moved to London to study with Arnold Gerschwiler, who coached him to his first British title in 1971. In 1972, Curry found an American sponsor who enabled him to study in the United States with Gus Lussi and Carlo Fassi. Fassi coached Curry to European, World, and Olympic titles in 1976. In the same year, he was the flag bearer at the Winter Olympics for Great Britain and was voted BBC