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 ISU, the governing body of both ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating".
Eric Arthur Heiden is an American physician and a former long track speed skater, road cyclist and track cyclist. He won an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. Heiden was the most successful athlete at those Olympic Games, single-handedly winning more gold medals than all nations except for the Soviet Union (10) and East Germany (9). He is the most successful Winter Olympian from a single edition of any Winter Olympics. He delivered the Athlete's Oath at those same 1980 Games. His coach was Dianne Holum.
Speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics was held over fourteen days, from 9 to 23 February. Ten events were contested at the Utah Olympic Oval.
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 111.12 metres (364.6 ft). The rink itself is 60 metres (200 ft) long by 30 metres (98 ft) wide, which is the same size as an Olympic-sized figure skating rink and an international-sized ice hockey rink. Short track speed skating is the sister sport to long track speed skating and the cousin sport to inline speed skating.
Bonnie Kathleen Blair is an American retired speed skater. She is one of the top skaters of her era, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, winning five gold medals and one bronze medal.
Shani Earl Davis is an American speed skater.
Bart Veldkamp is a retired speed skater, who represented the Netherlands and later Belgium in international competitions, including the Winter Olympics. He currently is the national speed skating coach of Belgium.
Arnold Clas ("Classe") Robert Thunberg was a Finnish speed skater who won five Olympic gold medals – three at the inaugural Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924 and two at the 1928 Winter Olympics held in St. Moritz. He was the most successful athlete at both of these Winter Olympics, sharing the honour for 1928 Winter Olympics with Johan Grøttumsbraaten of Norway. No other athlete ever won such a high fraction of all Olympic events at a single Games. He was born and died in Helsinki.
Gianni Petrus Cornelis Romme is a Dutch marathoner and a former long track speed skater. He won two gold medals at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano and was the World allround champion in 2000 and 2003. Romme has been a coach since the 2006–07 speed skating season.
Cindy Klassen, is a Canadian retired long track speed skater. She is a six-time medallist having achieved one gold, two silver, three bronze at the Winter Olympics. Klassen is tied with Clara Hughes for Canada's all-time most decorated Olympian with six medals each. Both Klassen and Hughes are from Winnipeg.
Ireen Wüst is a Dutch long track allround speed skater.
Bob Johannes Carolus de Jong is a Dutch former speed skater who specialized in long distances: five and ten kilometers.
Speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held at the Richmond Olympic Oval, Richmond, British Columbia, between 13 and 27 February 2010.
Jacob Jorrit Bergsma is a Dutch speed skater and marathon skater. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m.
Zbigniew Marcin Bródka is a Polish speed skater and a 2014 Olympic champion in 1500 metres. He also works as a firefighter in the State Fire Service station in Łowicz.
Janina Danuta Poremska, married name Nowakowska is a former Polish pair skater. With skating partner Piotr Szczypa, she is a six-time Polish national champion and competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics.
Nana Takagi is a Japanese speed skater who is a member of the Nidec Sankyo speed skating team.
Miho Takagi is a Japanese speed skater.
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