1988
And the new Olympic season gives a new record, 31 participants: AUS, AUT, BEL, CAN, CHN, CZE, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, GRE, HUN, IRE, ITA, JAP, KOR, MGL, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, POR, PRK, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA, VIR, YUG. Thus we need a preliminary round of 15 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, CAN, GDR, NED, SWE, ITA, USA, JAP and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: HUN-URS, YUG-GBR, CAN-FRG, POR-JAP, NOR-SWE, CZE-KOR, SWI-POL, GRE-AUT, NED-MGL, NZL-FIN, BEL-USA, FRA-ROM, PRK-CHN, GDR-VIR, AUS-IRE. The matches:
Hungary-USSR 0-11, since Hunyady left, Hungarian skating is ebbing
Yugoslavia-Britain 4-6
Canada-West Germany 9-2
Portugal-Japan 0-11
Norway-Sweden 6-5, that was tough — the 1000ms of Hagen and Magnusson (1.14,96 and 1.14,97) were decisive
Czechoslovakia-South Korea 2-9
Switzerland-Poland 2-9
Greece-Austria 0-11
Netherlands-Mongolia 11-0
New Zealand-Finland 0-11
Belgium-USA 0-11
France-Romania 10-1
North Korea-China 7-4, quite a battle
East Germany-Virgin Islands 11-0, not such a battle this
Australia-Ireland 6-0, another Irishman shipped in
The first round proper then consists of: AUS, AUT, CAN, FIN, FRA, GBR, GDR, ITA, JAP, KOR, NED, NOR, POL, PRK, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, NED, GDR, USA and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: GBR-NED, AUS-GDR, FRA-KOR, NOR-FIN, CAN-URS, USA-JAP, PRK-AUT, ITA-POL. The matches proceed as follows:
Britain-Netherlands 0-11
Australia-East Germany 0-11
France-South Korea 3-8
Norway-Finland 11-0
Canada-USSR 3-8
USA-Japan 8-3
North Korea-Austria 3-8
Italy-Poland 4-7
The quarter-final consists of: AUT, GDR, KOR, NED, NOR, POL, URS, USA. The finalists from last year, NED and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: USA-URS, GDR-NED, KOR-AUT, NOR-POL. Results of the matches:
USA-USSR 6-5, could have been a final
East Germany-Netherlands 6-5, could have been a final also
South Korea-Austria 4-7, first semi-final since 1956!
Norway-Poland 7-4
Semi-final draw: GDR-USA, AUT-NOR — URS missing for the first time since 1971. Matches:
East Germany-USA 7-4, should have been a final...
Austria-Norway 4-7
Bronze final: USA-Austria 10-1
FINAL: East Germany-Norway
39,12- 40,75 (1-0) 1.17,65- 1.21,88 (2-0) 2.00,16- 2.09,34 (3-0) 4.12,09- 4.35,35 (4-0) 7.17,12- 7.54,11 (5-0) 36,45- 37,31 (6-0) 1.13,11- 1.14,96 (7-0) 1.52,06- 1.55,04 (8-0) 4.07,7 - 4.14,05 (9-0) 6.51,42- 6.43,59 (9-1) 14.19,16-13.48,51 (9-2)
Final result 9-2
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x URS GOLD 35x NED GOLD 8x FIN GOLD 4x SWE GOLD 2x GDR GOLD 1988 AUT Silver 4x JAP Silver 3x FRG Silver 2x HUN Silver 2x USA Silver 2x CZE Silver 1955 CHN Silver 1965 CAN bronze 1897 LAT bronze 1940 GBR bronze 1949 PRK bronze 1963 SWI 4th 3x POL 4th 3x FRA 4th 2x DEN 4th 1912 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 KOR 4th 1982 EST QF 5x ROM QF 2x LIT QF 1927 AUS QF 1974 MGL 1R 7x NZL 1R 6x YUG 1R 2x ISV 1R 1972 POR 1R 1987 ESP PR 7x ISR PR 5x RSA PR 4x ICE PR 2x COL PR 1933 GRE PR 1984 HKG PR 1986 TPE PR 1986 IRE PR 1987