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
Germany at the Winter Olympics which were no separate contests yet. German athletes won Gold and Silver in both the men's and women's combined, for a 2nd rank overall. The 1940 Winter Olympics were to be held in Sapporo, but Japan withdrew in 1938 due to the Second Sino-Japanese War. In June 1939, Garmisch-Partenkirchen was selected again, but three months later World War II broke out and the 1940 Winter Games were cancelled in November 1939. The 1944 Winter Olympics did not take place either. For the 1948 Winter Olympics, with the war in recent memory, Germany (and Japan) was not invited as it had