The 1500 metres speed skating

Speed skating

Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...

event was part of the speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics

At the 1932 Winter Olympics, four speed skating events were contested. For the only time in the Olympic history, the speed skating were held as packstyle events, having all competitors skate at the same time. This competition form was not common in Europe and gave the runners from the United States...

 programme. The competition was held on Friday, February 5, 1932.

Eighteen speed skaters from six nations competed.

Like all other speed skating events at this Olympics the competition was held for the only time in packstyle format, having all competitors skate at the same time. This was the common style in North America and gave the runners from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 a major advantage over the European rivals.

Medalists

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1932 Winter Olympics.

World Record	2:17.4(*)	Oscar Mathisen Oscar Mathisen Oscar Wilhelm Mathisen was a Norwegian speed skater and celebrity, almost rivalling Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen as symbols for a young nation...	Davos Davos Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...  (SUI Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... )	January 18, 1914
Olympic Record	2:20.8	Clas Thunberg Clas Thunberg Arnold Clas Robert Thunberg was a Finnish speed skater who won five Olympic gold medals – three at the inaugural Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924 and two at the 1928 Winter Olympics held in St. Moritz...	Chamonix Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix is a commune in the Haute-Savoie département in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics...  (FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... )	January 27, 1924

(*) The record was set in a high altitude venue (more than 1000 metres above sea level) and on naturally frozen ice.

First round

Heat 1

Place	Name	Time	Qual.
1		2:49.3	Q
2			Q
3
4
5
6

Heat 2

Place	Name	Time	Qual.
1		2:58.0	Q
2			Q
3
4
5
6

Heat 3

Place	Name	Time	Qual.
1		2:29.9	Q
2			Q
3
4
5
6

Final

Place	Name	Time
1		2:57.5
2		5 m behind
3		6 m behind
4
5
6