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
1976 Winter Olympics The selection process for the 1976 Winter Olympics consisted of four bids, and saw Denver, United States, selected ahead of Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The selection was made at the 70th IOC Session in Amsterdam on 12 May 1970. In a statewide referendum on 7 November 1972, Colorado voters rejected funding for the games, and for the only time a city awarded the Games rejected them. Denver officially withdrew on 15 November, and the IOC then offered the games to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but they too declined owing to a change of government following