Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track". The International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of competitive ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating".
Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters skate on an oval ice track with a length of 111.111 metres (364.54 ft). The rink itself is 60 metres (196.85 ft) long by 30 metres (98.43 ft) wide, which is the same size as an Olympic-sized figure skating rink and an international-sized ice hockey rink. Related sports include long-track speed skating and inline speed skating.
The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Netherlands, in July 1892, making it one of the oldest international sport federations. The ISU was formed to establish standardized international rules and regulations for the skating disciplines it governs, and to organize international competitions in these disciplines. It is now based in Switzerland.
Claudia Pechstein is a German speed skater. She has won five Olympic gold medals. With a total of nine Olympic medals, five gold, two silver, and two bronze, she was previously the most successful Olympic speed skater, male or female, of all time,. Pechstein is the most successful German Winter Olympian of all time. After the World Championships in Norway in February 2009, Pechstein was accused of blood doping and banned from all competitions for two years.
Bart Swings is a Belgian long track speed skater and inline speed skater. He is the 2022 Olympic champion on the speed skating mass start. Swings won Belgium's first gold medal in 74 years and is the first Belgian athlete ever to have won two medals in the Winter Olympics. In 2023 he won the Belgian National Sports Merit Award, the highest trophy for a sportsperson or team in Belgium.
Denis Igoryevich Yuskov is a former Russian speed skater. He is a three-time gold medalist in men's 1500 meters at the World Single Distance Championships and the World Cup-2016 holder at the distance 1500 m.
Brittany Starr Bowe is an American speed skater and former inline skater and basketball player. She has won eight gold, one silver, and two bronze medals from the world inline speedskating championships. From her junior years, she has another 21 world championship medals. She also has a gold medal from the combined sprint event in roller skating at the 2007 Pan American Games.
Colombia competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018. The country returned to the Winter Olympics after last competing in 2010, which also marked its debut. The Colombian team consisted of three males and one female, competing in three different sports.
Pedro Causil is an inline speed skater and (ice) speed skater.
World Skate is the only governing body in the world for all sports performed on skating wheels. The organisation is the successor of the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS) founded on 21 April 1924.
Sylke Luding is a former East German long track speed skater, who was active between 1982 and 1991. She was a member of SC Einheit Dresden and the East Germany national sprint team and represented her nation at international competitions.
The women's 500 m competition in speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 13 February, at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. Erin Jackson of the United States became the Olympic champion, winning her first Olympic medal. She was also the first female Black athlete to medal in speed skating. Miho Takagi of Japan won the silver medal, and Angelina Golikova, representing the Russian Olympic committee, won bronze, also her first Olympic medal.
The women's 1000 m competition in speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 17 February, at the Beijing National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. Miho Takagi of Japan won the event, becoming the first Japanese Olympic gold medalist in this event, and second Asian gold medalist after Zhang Hong in 2014. It was also her first Olympic gold medal in an individual event. Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands won the silver medal, her first Olympic medal. Brittany Bowe of the United States was third, her first individual Olympic medal.
The men's 1000 m competition in speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics will be held on 18 February, at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. Thomas Krol of the Netherlands won the event, it was his first Olympic gold medal. Laurent Dubreuil of Canada won the silver medal, his first Olympic medal. Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen of Norway won bronze.
The men's 1500 m competition in speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics will be held on 8 February, at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands defended his 2018 title and became again the Olympic champion. Thomas Krol, also of the Netherlands, won the silver medal. Kim Min-seok of South Korea won bronze.
The women's 1500 m competition in speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 7 February, at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. Ireen Wüst of the Netherlands won the distance. She set a new Olympic record and won her sixth Olympic gold medal, thereby becoming the first person to win individual gold medals at five different Olympics. Miho Takagi of Japan won silver, and Antoinette de Jong of the Netherlands bronze.
The women's 3000 m competition in speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 5 February, at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. The event was won by Irene Schouten representing the Netherlands for whom it was the first Olympic gold medal. Schouten also set the new Olympic record. Francesca Lollobrigida of Italy was second, and Isabelle Weidemann of Canada third. For both of them, it was the first Olympic medal. In addition, Lollobrigida's medal was the first ever Italian Olympic medal in women's speed skating.
The men's 5000 m competition in speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 6 February, at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. The event was won by Nils van der Poel of Sweden. Patrick Roest of the Netherlands won the silver medal, and Hallgeir Engebråten of Norway the bronze medal. For van der Poel and Engebråten these are the first Olympic medals. Van der Poel's medal was the first Olympic medal in speed skating for Sweden since 1988, when Tomas Gustafson won both 5000 m and 10000 m.
The men's 10,000 m competition in speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 11 February, at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. Nils van der Poel of Sweden won the event, a few days after winning the 5000 m distance, and set a new world record. Patrick Roest of the Netherlands won the silver medal, and Davide Ghiotto of Italy the bronze, his first individual Olympic medal.
The men's 1000 metres competition in short track speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 5 February (heats) and 7 February (finals), at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. Ren Ziwei of China won the event, achieving his first individual Olympic gold medal. His teammate, Li Wenlong took the silver – his first Olympic medal, and Shaoang Liu of Hungary won the bronze.
