Olympic Skating Rink
| Place | Squaw Valley |
| Altitude | 1890 m above sea level |
| Type | Outdoor, Artificial ice |
Map
Squaw Valley is a town and ski resort in California, USA, near Lake Tahoe, with a population of approximately 2,500. Very surprisingly, and after a close vote with Innsbruck, Squaw Valley was chosen to host the 1960 Winter Olympic Games.
The Olympic Skating Rink was built in 1959 as the first artificial track in the history of Olympic speed skating. Located at an altitude of 1890 m above sealevel, it was one of the highest tracks in the history of speed skating - 200 metres higher than Medeo. The combination of artificial surface and high altitude made this a very fast track, and during one successful year it proved to be one of the fastest tracks in the world.
Probably one of the most legendary World Records in the history of speed skating - 15.46,6 by Knut Johannessen on 10.000 m - was set here during the Games. He was the first to break 16 minutes, and the previous World Record was beaten by 46 seconds! The 1500 m record set by Juhani Järvinen during the opening races in 1959 was a World Record for almost 7 years - also through the speed skating revolution of 1963. Just before the Games started, Viktor Kosichkin did 4.29,2 in a 3000 m training race - more than 10 seconds below the World Record, and shortly after the Games had finished Yevgeni Grishin was the first to break 40 seconds on 500 m with 39,6 in a test race, so this time was not recognized as a World Record. Unfortunately, wind hampered the athletes during some of the Olympic races, so the times were not as good as they could have been on all distances.
After the Olympic Games the track was deconstructed and a parking ground was built on the place. The freezing system is said to have been moved to West Allis in 1966.
Last updated on 22 December 2006 by Bjarte Hetland.Tournaments
| Olympic Winter Games 1960 | 18—28 February 1960 |
World Records
| Distance | Time | Skater | Nation | Date |
| 10000 m Men | 15.46,6 | Knut Johannesen | 
| 27 February 1960 |
| 1500 m Men | 2.06,3 | Juhani Järvinen | 
| 1 March 1959 |
| 1500 m Women | 2.25,2 | Lidia Skoblikova | 
| 21 February 1960 |