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.
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Calgary, Canada, from 13 to 28 February 1988. A total of 1,423 athletes representing 57 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 46 events from 10 different sports and disciplines. Five new events were contested at these Games—men's and women's Super G in alpine skiing, team events in Nordic combined and ski jumping, and women's 5000 metres in speed skating—and two events returned to the program—men's and women's combined in alpine skiing.
Long-track speed skating, usually simply referred to as speed skating, is the Olympic discipline of speed skating where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as ice skating marathon, short track speedskating, inline speedskating, and quad speed skating are also called speed skating.
Speed skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics, was held from 30 January to 7 February. Eight events were contested at the Eisschnelllaufbahn Innsbruck.
Speed skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics, was held from 8 to 20 February. Ten events were contested at M-Wave.
Speed skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, was held from 9 to 20 February. Ten events were contested at L'anneau de vitesse. It was the last time in Winter Olympics in which speed skating events were contested in an outdoor ice rink.
Speed skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, was held from 5 to 14 February. Nine events were contested at Eisschnelllaufbahn Innsbruck. This was the first Olympics which included the men's 1000 metres, and the first change to the men's program at the Olympics since the elimination of the all-round event in 1928.
Speed skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics, was held from 9 February to 18 February. Nine events were contested at James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink.
Speed skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics was held from 9 to 18 February. Nine events were contested at Zetra Ice Rink.
Speed skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics, was held from 4 to 12 February. Eight events were contested at Makomanai Open Stadium in Sapporo, Japan. This was the first Olympics at which electronic times were recorded to the hundredth of a second.
Speed skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics, was held from 4 to 12 February. Eight events were contested at L'Anneau de Vitesse in Grenoble, France.
Speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics, was held from 13 to 25 February. Ten events were contested at Hamar Olympic Hall.
The World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union. The World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships for Men was introduced, also by ISU, in 1996, and has been occurring annually ever since.
Speed skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Adler Arena, Sochi, Russia, between 8 and 22 February 2014.
Speed skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics was held at the Gangneung Oval in Gangneung, South Korea between 10 and 24 February 2018.
The men's 500 m competition in speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 12 February, at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. The event was won by three Asians, Gao Tingyu of China, the 2018 bronze medalist, who set a new Olympic record, Cha Min-kyu of South Korea, replicating his 2018 success, and Wataru Morishige of Japan, his 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 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 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.
