# Speed skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics, was held from 8 to 20 February. Ten events were contested at M-Wave. The Netherlands dominated the Nagano speed skating events, winning five gold medals and eleven medals overall, their highest total in any Winter games up until that point. Bart Veldkamp's bronze medal was the first in speed skating for Belgium, and the first at the Winter Games for the country in 50 years. Lyudmila Prokasheva's bronze medal for Kazakhstan was that country's first in the sport as well, and Prokasheva became the first woman from Kazakhstan to earn an Olympic medal.
Gianni Romme and Marianne Timmer led the individual medal tables, with two gold each.

## Medal summary
### Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Netherlands (NED) | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| 2 | Germany (GER) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Canada (CAN) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | Japan (JPN) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Norway (NOR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | United States (USA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (8 entries) | Totals (8 entries) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |

### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 500 metres details | Hiroyasu Shimizu Japan | 1:11.35 | Jeremy Wotherspoon Canada | 1:11.84 | Kevin Overland Canada | 1:11.86 |
| 1000 metres details | Ids Postma Netherlands | 1:10.64 (OR) | Jan Bos Netherlands | 1:10.71 | Hiroyasu Shimizu Japan | 1:11.00 |
| 1500 metres details | Ådne Søndrål Norway | 1:47.87 WR | Ids Postma Netherlands | 1:48.13 | Rintje Ritsma Netherlands | 1:48.52 |
| 5000 metres details | Gianni Romme Netherlands | 6:22.20 WR | Rintje Ritsma Netherlands | 6:28.24 | Bart Veldkamp Belgium | 6:28.31 |
| 10,000 metres details | Gianni Romme Netherlands | 13:15.33 WR | Bob de Jong Netherlands | 13:25.76 | Rintje Ritsma Netherlands | 13:28.19 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 500 metres details | Catriona Le May Doan Canada | 1:16.60 | Susan Auch Canada | 1:16.93 | Tomomi Okazaki Japan | 1:17.10 |
| 1000 metres details | Marianne Timmer Netherlands | 1:16.51 (OR) | Chris Witty United States | 1:16.79 | Catriona Le May Doan Canada | 1:17.37 |
| 1500 metres details | Marianne Timmer Netherlands | 1:57.58 WR | Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Germany | 1:58.66 | Chris Witty United States | 1:58.97 |
| 3000 metres details | Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Germany | 4:07.29 (OR) | Claudia Pechstein Germany | 4:08.47 | Anni Friesinger-Postma Germany | 4:09.44 |
| 5000 metres details | Claudia Pechstein Germany | 6:59.61 WR | Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Germany | 6:59.65 | Lyudmila Prokasheva Kazakhstan | 7:11.14 |

## Records

Five world records and twelve Olympic records were set in Nagano.
| Event | Date | Team | Time | OR | WR |
| Men's 500 metres | 9 February | Hiroyasu Shimizu (JPN) | 35.76 | OR | |
| Men's 500 metres | 11 February | Hiroyasu Shimizu (JPN) | 35.59 | OR | |
| Men's 1000 metres | 15 February | Ids Postma (NED) | 1:10.64 | OR | |
| Men's 1500 metres | 12 February | Ådne Søndrål (NOR) | 1:47.87 | OR | WR |
| Men's 5000 metres | 8 February | Gianni Romme (NED) | 6:22.20 | OR | WR |
| Men's 10000 metres | 17 February | Gianni Romme (NED) | 13:15.33 | OR | WR |
| Women's 500 metres | 13 February | Catriona Le May Doan (CAN) | 38.39 | OR | |
| Women's 500 metres | 14 February | Catriona Le May Doan (CAN) | 38.21 | OR | |
| Women's 1000 metres | 19 February | Marianne Timmer (NED) | 1:16.51 | OR | |
| Women's 1500 metres | 16 February | Marianne Timmer (NED) | 1:57.58 | OR | WR |
| Women's 3000 metres | 11 February | Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (GER) | 4:07.29 | OR | |
| Women's 5000 metres | 20 February | Claudia Pechstein (GER) | 6:59.61 | OR | WR |

## Participating NOCs

Twenty-five nations competed in the speed skating events at Nagano. New Zealand and Portugal made their Olympic speed skating debuts.
* Austria (4)
* Belarus (4)
* Belgium (1)
* Canada (17)
* China (12)
* Finland (1)
* France (1)
* Germany (13)
* Hungary (2)
* Italy (4)
* Japan (17)
* Kazakhstan (7)
* South Korea (13)
* Latvia (1)
* Netherlands (16)
* Norway (10)
* New Zealand (1)
* Poland (3)
* Portugal (1)
* North Korea (2)
* Romania (2)
* Russia (18)
* Switzerland (1)
* Ukraine (4)
* United States (14)