World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships

Last updated

The World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships [1] [2] [3] are a series of speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union.

Contents

History

Since the late 19th century, speed skating championships were always decided by racing multiple distances – four different distances for the Allround Championships, and two different distances (which have to be skated twice) for Sprint Championships. However, the speed skating events at the Olympic Games were always individual distances, no medals are awarded for a combined event (the only exception being the 1924 Winter Olympics).

Towards the end of the 20th century, skaters started to specialize and it became rare that a skater was able to dominate both the short and the long distances. Perhaps the last skater able to do so was Eric Heiden, who won all five distances at the 1980 Winter Olympics. As a consequence of this specialization, the difference between the Olympic Games and the regular championships, and the popularity of both the Speed skating World Cup and Single Distance Championships held nationally in several countries, the International Skating Union decided to organise the World Single Distance Championships.

Starting in 1996, this originally was an annual event, but in 1998 it became clear that having World Single Distance Championships and the Single Distance Championships as held at the Winter Olympics during the same year was too much, so since 1999, the World Single Distance Championships are no longer held in (Winter) Olympic years.

Distances

The skaters compete in the following distances:

Men

(List of medal winners)

Women

(List of medal winners)

Notes
500 m 500 m
1,000 m 1,000 m
1,500 m 1,500 m
5,000 m 3,000 m
10,000 m 5,000 m
Team pursuit Team pursuit (since 2005)
Mass start Mass start (since 2015)
Team sprint Team sprint (2019–2020, since 2023)

Summary

ISU Single Distances Championships
NumberYearCityCountryEvents
1 1996 Hamar Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 10
2 1997 Warsaw Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 10
3 1998 Calgary Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 10
4 1999 Heerenveen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 10
5 2000 Nagano Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 10
6 2001 Salt Lake City Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 10
7 2003 Berlin Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 10
8 2004 Seoul Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 10
9 2005 Inzell Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 12
10 2007 Salt Lake City Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 12
11 2008 Nagano Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 12
12 2009 Richmond Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 12
13 2011 Inzell Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 12
14 2012 Heerenveen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 12
15 2013 Sochi Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 12
16 2015 Heerenveen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 14
17 2016 Kolomna Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 14
18 2017 Gangneung Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 14
19 2019 Inzell Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 16
20 2020 Salt Lake City Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 16
21 2021 Heerenveen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 14
22 2023 Heerenveen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 16
23 2024 Calgary Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 16
24 2025 Hamar Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 16

Medal summary

The medal table by nations is the total number of the 16 distances (men and women) at all of the 23 championships (1996–2025). The individual tables are about the eight distances by gender.

Nations

All medals, click on the nation to go to the list of medallists.

Updated after the 2025 World Championships.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands 12010479303
2Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 36332796
3Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 314243116
4Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 29183077
5Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 167629
6Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 15192458
7Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 13162857
8Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 12171443
9Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 1013831
10Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 69419
11Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 412723
12Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 2248
13Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2226
14 Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 2103
15 Russian Skating Union 13711
16Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan 1012
17 Flag of Poland.svg Poland 0279
18Flag of France.svg  France 0123
19 Flag of Belarus.svg Belarus 0112
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 0112
21 Flag of Finland.svg Finland 0022
22Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 0011
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 0011
Totals (23 entries)300303299902

Men

Top 10, including team pursuit and team sprint. Boldface denotes active skaters and highest medal count among all skaters (including those who are not included in these tables) per type.

RankSkaterCountryFromToGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Sven Kramer Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 20072020213226
2 Shani Davis Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 2004201584315
3 Bob de Jong Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1997201378520
4 Gianni Romme Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1996200472312
5 Erben Wennemars Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1999200862311
6 Jordan Stolz Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 202320256219
7 Jorrit Bergsma Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 201220235813
8 Carl Verheijen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2001200955313
9 Hiroyasu Shimizu Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1996200553210
10 Pavel Kulizhnikov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Russian Skating Union
201520215319

Women

Top 10, including team pursuit and team sprint. Boldface denotes active skaters and highest medal count among all skaters (including those who are not included in these tables) per type.

RankSkaterCountryFromToGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Martina Sáblíková Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 20072025167427
2 Ireen Wüst Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 200720211515131
3 Anni Friesinger Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 19972009129122
4 Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1996200111314
5 Irene Schouten Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2015202482515
6 Christine Nesbitt Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2007201372312
7 Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2016202565213
8 Miho Takagi Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2015202564616
9 Claudia Pechstein Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 199620175131230
10 Ivanie Blondin Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2015202559317

References

  1. "ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships 2016, Kolomna, Russia" (PDF). ISU.org. International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2016.
  2. "ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships 2017, Gangneung, Korea" (PDF). ISU.org. International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2017.
  3. "ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, 2019 Inzell, Germany". ISU.org. International Skating Union . Retrieved 12 July 2018.