The 5000 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 1956 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics

At the 1956 Winter Olympics, four speed skating events were contested. The competitions were held from Saturday, January 28 to Tuesday, January 31, 1956.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...

 programme. The competition was held on naturally frozen ice on the Lake Misurina

Lake Misurina

Lake Misurina is the greater natural lake of the Cadore and it is 1,754 m above sea level, fraction of Auronzo di Cadore . The perimeter is 2.6 km long, while the depth is 5 m....

. It was held on Sunday, January 29, 1956 started at 11 a.m.

12-hour clock

The 12-hour clock is a time conversion convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem and post meridiem...

 and ended at 3 p.m.

12-hour clock

The 12-hour clock is a time conversion convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem and post meridiem...

.

Forty-six speed skaters from 17 nations competed.

Medalists

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1956 Winter Olympics.

World Record	7:45.6(*)	Boris Shilkov Boris Shilkov Boris Arsenevich Shilkov is a former speed skater.- Short biography :Competing for the Soviet Union, Boris Shilkov lived in Leningrad , where he worked as an engineer...	Medeo Medeo The Medeu , or Medeo , is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world...  (URS Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.... )	January 9, 1955
Olympic Record	8:10.6(**)	Hjalmar Andersen Hjalmar Andersen Hjalmar "Hjallis" Johan Andersen is a former speed skater from Norway who won three gold medals at the 1952 Winter Olympic Games of Oslo, Norway. He was the only triple gold medalist at the 1952 Winter Olympics, and as such, became the most successful athlete there.-Short biography:Hjalmar...	Oslo Oslo Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...  (NOR Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... )	February 17, 1952

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

(**) The record was set on naturally frozen ice.

At first Helmut Kuhnert who skated in the first pair set a new Olympic record with 8:04.3 minutes. In the third pair Wim de Graaff

Wim de Graaff

Willem "Wim" de Graaff is a Dutch former speed skater who competed in the 1956 Winter Olympics and in the 1960 Winter Olympics.He was born in Rotterdam....

 bettered the Olympic record with 8:00.2 minutes. Finally Boris Shilkov

Boris Shilkov

Boris Arsenevich Shilkov is a former speed skater.- Short biography :Competing for the Soviet Union, Boris Shilkov lived in Leningrad , where he worked as an engineer...

set a new Olympic record with 7:48.7 minutes on the way to win the fourth heat and the gold medal.

Results

Place	Speed skater	Time
1		7:48.7 OR
2		7:56.7
3		7:57.5
4		8:00.2
		8:00.2
6		8:01.6
7		8:01.8
8		8:02.3
9		8:04.3
10		8:06.4
11		8:06.5
12		8:06.7
13		8:08.9
14		8:10.0
15		8:10.1
16		8:10.5
17		8:10.6
18		8:11.1
19		8:12.6
20		8:13.7
21		8:14.3
22		8:16.9
23		8:17.6
24		8:19.1
25		8:19.9
26		8:21.4
27		8:22.2
28		8:23.6
		8:23.6
30		8:24.5
31		8:25.5
32		8:28.8
33		8:30.5
34		8:30.8
35		8:32.5
36		8:34.3
37		8:36.7
38		8:39.4
39		8:39.5
40		8:40.0
41		8:41.1
42		8:42.5
43		8:47.4
44		8:48.0
45		8:48.3
46		8:53.5