The Winter Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.
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 111.112 metres (364.54 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.
Clara Hughes, is a Canadian cyclist and speed skater who has won multiple Olympic medals in both sports. Hughes won two bronze in the 1996 Summer Olympics and four medals over the course of three Winter Olympics. She is tied with Cindy Klassen as the Canadian with the most Olympic medals, with six medals total.
Tara Kristen Lipinski is an American former competitive figure skater, actor, and sports commentator. A former competitor in ladies' singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World champion, a two-time Champions Series Final champion (1997–1998), and the 1997 U.S. national champion. She was until 2019, the youngest skater to win a U.S. Nationals. She was also the youngest skater to win a World Figure Skating title and the youngest to win an Olympic gold medal. She is the first woman to complete a triple loop-triple loop combination, her signature jump, in competition.
Nancy Ann Kerrigan is an American former figure skater and actress. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 1992 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympics, and she was the 1993 US National Figure Skating Champion. Kerrigan was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2004.
Bonnie Kathleen Blair is a retired American 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.
Lidiya Pavlovna Skoblikova is a retired Russian speed skater and coach. She represented the USSR Olympic team during the Olympic Winter Games in 1960, 1964 and 1968, and won a total of six gold medals, which is still a record for a speed skater. She also won 25 gold medals at the world championships and 15 gold medals at the USSR National Championships in several distances. She was also the first athlete to earn six gold medals in the Winter Olympics and the first to earn four gold medals at a single Olympic Winter Games. She was the most successful athlete at the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics, sharing the honour for 1960 Games with her compatriot Yevgeny Grishin.
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.
Tomomi Okazaki is a Japanese speed skater who has competed in five Olympic Games. She won a bronze medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Okazaki was the oldest member of the Japanese team at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Arianna Fontana OMRI is an Italian short track speed skater, who has won eight Olympic medals, among these a gold in the 500m short track at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Her medal haul following the 2018 Games made her the female short track skater with the most Olympic medals, and tied her with male skaters Apolo Ohno and Viktor An. It also made her the Italian sportswoman with the second highest number of Winter Olympic medals, behind Stefania Belmondo. She specialises in the 500 m event. She is nicknamed La Freccia Bionda.
Hong Kong, a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China, sent a delegation to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 12–28 February 2010. The delegation competed under the name "Hong Kong, China" (中國香港). This was the SAR's third appearance at a Winter Olympics, and the delegation consisted of a single short-track speed skater, Han Yueshuang. Han's best performance was 24th in the women's 500 metres.
Elise Christie is a British short track speed skater. She is coached by Nicky Gooch and she specialises in the 1000m event. She is ten times a European gold medalist, including two overall European titles in 2015 and 2016. In the 2017 World Championships in Rotterdam she won world titles in the 1000m and 1500m events, as well as the overall gold, the first British woman and first European woman to do so.
Noh Seon-yeong is a South Korean speed skater who holds the national record for the women's long track speed skating 1500 metres. She represented her country at four Winter Olympic Games.
Kim Bo-reum is a South Korean speed skater. She is the current South Korean record holder in the women's long track speed skating 3000 and 5000 metres. She is a two-time Olympian and specialises in the women's mass start.
Miho Takagi is a Japanese speed skater.
The Netherlands competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, between 9 and 25 February 2018. Speed skater Jan Smeekens was appointed as flag bearer for the opening ceremony, which was attended by King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also observed the sporting events that featured Dutch competitors.
Singapore sent a delegation to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018. This marked the debut for Singapore at the Winter Olympics. The country was represented by single competitor, speed skater Cheyenne Goh. She did not advance out of the qualifying round of her event, the women's 1500 metres race.
Kathryn Thomson is a British short track speed skater who competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Michelle Lynn Kline is a former American female speed skater. She competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics and 1994 Winter Olympics representing United States.
