5,000 metres, Men

He did not hold the world record, as he did in the 10,000, but the favorite was Norwegian Sten Stensen. He had won the distance at almost all the major internationals in 1974 and 1975, and at the recent 1976 European Championships. The world record holder was Hans van Helden who had recorded 7:07.82 at Davos in January 1976. Van Helden went off in the second pair and came across in 7:26.54 to take the lead. But it would not last long as Stensen was up next, helped by skating right after an ice preparation, and he went out much faster than Van Helden’s pace, and maintained it, finishing in 7:24.48, a time that would bring him the gold medal. The silver went to Dutchman Piet Kleine, who never challenged Stensen, and was behind Van Helden most of the way, only to finish with a faster lap for 7:26.47.

Hans van Helden had one of the longest international careers of any skater. He appeared at the 1973 European Championships and competed at the 1988 World Championships. He won many distance titles, and the 1976 and 1977 Dutch All-around titles, but never won a major international all-around. Stensen was near the end of his career. Primarily a distance skater, he was the 1974 World Champion and 1975 European Champion.