The first record in the 100 metres for men (athletics) was recognised by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1912.
Sven Tomas Gustafson is a retired Swedish speed skater, and one of the most successful distance skaters of the 1980s.
Igor Alekseyevich Malkov is a former speedskater.
Oscar Wilhelm Mathisen was a Norwegian speed skater and celebrity, almost rivalling Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen as symbols for a young nation. He represented Kristiania Skøiteklub.
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.
Finn Helgesen was a speed skater from Norway.
Julius Ferninand Skutnabb was a Finnish speed skater. A fireman by profession, he made his international debut at the World Allround Championships in 1914, but his international career was interrupted by World War I. He kept competing nationally, becoming the Finnish Allround Champion in 1914, 1916, and 1917. International activity resumed in 1922 and Skutnabb, already 32 years old, finished fifth at the World Allround Championships that year. After placing sixth at the world championships the following year, his best year came in 1924.
Karl Åke Seyffarth was a Swedish speed skater who specialised in long distance events. He set new world records on the 5,000 m (8:13.7) in 1941 and on the 3000 m (4:45.7) in 1942. He became European Allround Champions in 1947, winning both the 5,000 m and the 10000 m on his way to becoming European Champion. In addition to speed skating, Seyffarth also was one of Sweden's leading cyclists, but this career was hampered by an injury in a dirt biking accident in 1943.
Jenny Wolf is a former German speed skater. On 10 March 2007 at the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, she broke the world record for the women's 500 m in her second race. She finished sixth on the 500 m at the 2006 Winter Olympics of Turin, and tenth on the same distance in 2002.
Lee Sang-hwa is a South Korean retired speed skater who specialises in the sprint distances. She is a two-time Olympic champion in 500 metres and the 2010 World Sprint champion. She is the current world record holder in women's 500 metres with the time of 36.36 seconds set in Salt Lake City on 16 November 2013, and also holds the South Korean record on 1000 metres. She has also won three World Championships medals in 500 metres, and has placed in the top three in World Cup events four times in this distance. Her first World Cup victory, however, came on the non-Olympic distance 100 metres. On the 1000 metres, however, she has never placed higher than fifth in international events.
Leo Ensio Linkovesi was a Finnish speedskater who specialised on the shorter distances, the 500 m and the 1000 m.
Lasse Daniel Efskind is a Norwegian medical doctor, primarily known for his speedskating career and his books. He is the son of Leif Efskind (1904–1987), professor of medicine at the University of Oslo and a pioneer in the field of heart operations.
Hasse Börjes is a Swedish speed skater, Olympic silver medalist and former world record holder in the 500 m.
The 2008–09 ISU Speed Skating World Cup, officially the Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating 2008–2009, was a series of international speed skating competitions which ran the entire season. The season started on 7 November 2008 in Berlin, Germany, and ended on 7 March 2009 in Salt Lake City, United States. In total, nine competition weekends were held at eight different locations, twelve cups were contested, and 84 races took place. The World Cup is organized by the International Skating Union (ISU).
Frogner stadion is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway, which has artificial ice in the winter for speed skating and bandy. The artificial grass is used in the summertime for soccer and American football. It is located close to the Frogner Park, between the park and Majorstuen. One match, Norway-Belarus, was played here at the 2013 Bandy World Championship.
The 2012 European Speed Skating Championships was the 37th continental speed skating event for women and the 106th for men, that was held at the City Park Ice Rink in Budapest, Hungary, from 6 to 8 January 2012. The competition was also a qualifying event for the 2012 World Allround Speed Skating Championships as the entry quotas were allocated according to the results of the European Championships.
The 2013–14 ISU Speed Skating World Cup, officially the Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating 2013–2014, was a series of international speed skating competitions that ran the entire season. The season started on 8 November 2013 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and concluded with the final on 16 March 2014 in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Compared to previous seasons, there were fewer competition weekends; the season was restricted due to the 2014 Winter Olympics, which were arranged in Sochi, Russia, during February 2014. In total, six competition weekends were held at six different locations, twelve cups were contested, and 72 races took place.
The men's 500 metres races of the 2014–15 ISU Speed Skating World Cup 3, arranged in Sportforum Hohenschönhausen, in Berlin, Germany, were held on the weekend of 5–7 December 2014.
The 2013 European Speed Skating Championships was the 38th continental allround speed skating event for women and the 107th for men. The championships were held at the Thialf in Heerenveen, Netherlands, from 11 through 13 January 2013. Both the men's and women's championship consisted of four separate distance events and the winners are the skaters with the lowest points total after four distances. The competition was also a qualifying event for the 2013 World Allround Speed Skating Championships as the entry quotas were allocated according to the results of the European Championships. Sven Kramer and Ireen Wüst won the European titles.
Pavel Aleksandrovich Kulizhnikov is a Russian speed skater. He won the men's 500 metres event at the 2015 World Single Distance Championships as well as the 2015 World Sprint Championships, becoming the youngest winner since speed skating icon Eric Heiden of the United States. In 2015, he became the first speed skater to finish the 500-meter in under 34 seconds with a world record of 33.98. In 2020 he became the first speed skater to break 1:06 in the 1000 metres. At the 2016 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships, Kulizhnikov won the men's 500 m and 1000 m, becoming the first man to win gold in both distances at the same speed skating World Single Distances Championships.
