3,000 metres, Women

The overwhelming favorite for this event was Gunda Niemann of Germany. World record holder in the event since 1990, she was the defending champion from Albertville 1992. She had also won the event at the 1991, 1992 and 1993 World Championships (when she also won the allround world title), and six times in a row at the European Championships from 1989 through 1994. Having skated 4.12 at the World Cup and European Championships (both held in Hamar), it was thought she might even approach the world record.

But things turned out differently. Skating in the third pair, Gunda Niemann stepped on a lane marker and fell after about 430 m. Taking her opponent Seiko Hashimoto with her, Niemann got up quickly and continued her race. But in the confusion, she continued in the wrong lane, for which she was eventually disqualified. With Niemann gone, this left Olympic gold up for grabs. Her compatriot, 1992 bronze medalist in the 5,000 m, Claudia Pechstein, was leading after Niemann’s fall with a strong time of 4:18.34. She had defeated another favorite, Carla Zijlstra, who had won the last pre-Olympic World Cup in absence of Niemann. In pair four, Hungarian-born Emese Hunyady (Austria) skated. The 1993 European Champion started out carefully, giving her the power for three fast final laps, landing her just ahead of Pechstein with 4:18.14. After six pairs, there was only one serious contender left: Svetlana Bazhanova. The Russian had placed second behind Niemann in the Berlin and Davos World Cups earlier in the year, and had been 3rd in the 3,000 m at the European Championships earlier in the season (behind Niemann and Zijlstra). Starting with the same pace as Pechstein, Bazhanova held on longer than the German, finishing in a new personal best of 4:17.43. The Olympic gold would remain Bazhanova’s only international title. In 1993 and 1998, she did win bronze medals at the European Allround Championships.