Athletes representing 14 NOCs received at least one medal, with 11 NOCs winning at least one gold medal.[9] Athletes from the Soviet Union won the most gold medals, with 11, and most overall medals, with 25.[9] The Netherlands won their first gold medal at the Winter Games, doing so in the women’s figure skating individual event,[10] while North Korea won their first medal of any kind, taking silver in women's 3,000 metres speed skating.[5] Soviet speed skater Lidiya Skoblikova won four gold medals which was both the most gold and overall medals among individual participants.[7]
Medal table
The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC conventional sorting in its published medal tables. The table uses the Olympic medal table sorting method. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won, where a nation is an entity represented by a NOC. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals.[11][12] If teams are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by their IOC country code.[13]
At the 1964 Winter Olympics, athletes were tied in three events. In the women's 3000 metres speed skating and women's giant slalom events there were two-way ties for second, which resulted in two silver medals and no bronze medals being awarded in each event.[14][15] In the men's 500 metres speed skating event there was a three-way tie for second, which resulted in three silver medals and no bronze medal being awarded.[16]
At the 1964 Olympics, Kilius/Bäumler, Wilkes/Revell, and Joseph/Joseph placed second, third, and fourth respectively. In 1966, Kilius/Bäumler's were disqualified after it was discovered that they had signed professional contracts during the Olympics.[17] At the time, only amateurs were allowed to compete in the Olympic Games.[18] The silver medals were then awarded to Wilkes/Revell and the bronze medals to Joseph/Joseph.[17]
After a successful appeal by the German IOC, arguing that other pairs had signed similar contracts but had not been exposed and disqualified, Kilius and Bäumler were re-awarded the silvers in 1987.[17][19] The placements of Wilkes/Revell and Joseph/Joseph remained unclear for many years, as neither pair had been asked to return their medals.[17] In December 2013, the IOC clarified that, since 1987, the intended result was meant to reflect that both the German and Canadian pairs are the silver medalists and the Americans are the bronze medalists.[17]
