Speed skating at the Winter Olympics
IOC Discipline CodeSSK
Governing bodyISU
Events14 (men: 7; women: 7)
Games

Long track speed skating has been featured as a sport in the Winter Olympics since the first winter games in 1924. Women's events were added to the Olympic program for the first time in 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics.

Summary

Games Year Events Best Nation
119245 Finland
219284 Norway
319324 United States
419364 Norway
719484 Norway
819524 Norway
919564 Soviet Union
1019608 Soviet Union
1119648 Soviet Union
1219688 Netherlands
1319728 Netherlands
1419769 Soviet Union
1519809 United States
1619849 East Germany
17198810 East Germany
18199210 Germany
19199410 Norway
20199810 Netherlands
21200210 Netherlands
22200612 United States
23201012 South Korea
24201412 Netherlands
25201814 Netherlands
26202214 Netherlands

History

The governing body for speed skating, the International Skating Union (ISU), was included in the list of recognized federations when the International Olympic Committee was founded, but was first discussed seriously for the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. No speed skating events were contested, although figure skating – also governed by the ISU – was on the programme. The preliminary calendar for the 1916 Summer Olympics, to be held in Berlin, listed a 3-event allround competition,[1] but these Games were cancelled because of World War I.

The International Winter Sports Week in Chamonix, retro-actively dubbed the 1924 Winter Olympics, contained five speed skating events. Uncommon for the time, it not only included an all-round competition, but also awarded medals for the individual distances: 500 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and 10000 m. The all-round event was dropped before the 1928 Games, even though it remained the only World Championship format in the sport until the 1970s; single distance World Championships were not established until 1996.

The 1932 speed skating events were held according to the North American rules, meaning the skaters competed in small packs of skaters (the format paved the way for the development of short track speed skating), instead of the common against-the-clock format. These Games in Lake Placid, New York also saw the first female speed skaters at the Olympics in a set of demonstration events, with all victories being achieved by North American athletes. Women's events were also set to be held at the 1940 Winter Olympics,[1] which were cancelled. After the war, they were withdrawn again by the decision of the IOC until the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, when the women skated 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and 3000 m.

Following the introduction of World Sprint Championships in the early 1970s, the 1000 m for men was added in Innsbruck 1976, while the women's 5000 m, reinstated by the ISU as an official distance in 1981, made its Olympic debut in 1988. The latest addition to the Olympic speed skating programme is the team pursuit, which was added for the 2006 Turin Games. Its inclusion was remarkable as it had not yet been contested at a senior World Championship in the form skated at the Olympics at the time of inclusion. It had however been contested at a senior World Championship, the Dutch team won the 2005 title in Inzell, but in that form they only had to skate once and be the fastest, while the Olympic form required three starts.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Haralds Silovs became the first athlete in Olympic history to participate in both short track (1500m) and long track (5000m) speed skating, and the first to compete in two different disciplines on the same day.[2][3][4][5]

Events

Men's

The following table shows when events were contested at each Games. Women's events were demonstrated in 1932.

= official event, (d) = demonstration event

Event242832364852566064687276808488929498020610141822Years
500 metres24
1000 metres13
1500 metres24
5000 metres24
10000 metres[6]24
all-round1
mass start2
team pursuit5
Total events534444444445555555566677

Women's

= official event, (d) = demonstration event

Event242832364852566064687276808488929498020610141822Years
500 metres(d)17
1000 metres(d)17
1500 metres(d)17
3000 metres17
5000 metres9
mass start2
team pursuit5
Total events344445555555566677

Medal table

Sources (after the 2022 Winter Olympics):[7]
Accurate as of 2022 Winter Olympics.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Netherlands (NED)484441133
2 United States (USA)30221971
3 Norway (NOR)28293087
4 Soviet Union (URS)24171960
5 Germany (GER)13151038
6 Canada (CAN)10161642
7 Sweden (SWE)94518
8 East Germany (GDR)812929
9 Finland (FIN)78924
10 Japan (JPN)5101126
11 South Korea (KOR)510520
12 Russia (RUS)35513
13 Czech Republic (CZE)3238
14 West Germany (FRG)3003
15 China (CHN)2349
16 Italy (ITA)2147
17 Austria (AUT)1236
 Poland (POL)1236
19 Belgium (BEL)1113
20 United Team of Germany (EUA)1102
21 ROC0112
22 Belarus (BLR)0101
 North Korea (PRK)0101
24 Kazakhstan (KAZ)0011
 Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)0011
Totals (25 entries)204207200611

Number of speed skaters by country

     = Countries that did not participate in the Olympic Winter Games in that year or didn't exist at the time.
Country242832364852566064687276808488929498020610141822Years
 Australia (AUS) 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 4 2 2 1 1 1 15
 Austria (AUT)3833427314433541112220
 Belarus (BLR) 2 4 5 1 1 4 6
 Belgium (BEL) 4 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 3 3 13
 British Virgin Islands (IVB) 1 1
 Canada (CAN)1371443547108871691317161816151923
 China (CHN) 13 12 4 10 6 12 12 15 14 10 13 11
 Chinese Taipei (TPE) 1 3 1 3
 Colombia (COL) 2 1 2
 Czechoslovakia (TCH) 2 1 3 2 1 2 6
 Czech Republic (CZE) 1 1 2 2 3 2 6
 Denmark (DEN) 1 1 1 1 3 5
 Estonia (EST) 2 1 2 1 3
 Finland (FIN)3615566710864432313443322
 France (FRA)4213351212411123117
 Germany (GER) 3 2 1 14 15 14 13 13 13 14 9 5 12
 United Team of Germany (EUA) 4 12 13 3
 East Germany (GDR) 1 2 9 9 10 11 6
 West Germany (FRG) 9 7 3 4 7 5 6
 Great Britain (GBR)43533235226121215
 Hungary (HUN)115243121221113
 Italy (ITA)4363242633345488569719
 Japan (JPN) 4 7 6 5 8 8 12 13 9 8 9 13 15 17 18 20 19 19 17 16 15 21
 Kazakhstan (KAZ) 8 7 8 4 5 6 6 5 8
 North Korea (PRK) 9 6 6 4 5 2 1 7
 South Korea (KOR) 3 4 5 4 2 4 2 5 6 6 5 9 13 12 14 16 15 16 10 19
 Latvia (LAT) 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10
 Lithuania (LTU) 1 1
 Mongolia (MGL) 3 3 2 2 2 5
 Netherlands (NED) 2 5 4 7 6 5 5 9 10 7 9 11 11 14 13 16 17 20 19 20 20 18 22
 New Zealand (NZL) 1 1 1 3 1 5
 Norway (NOR)58671212116914149118788108109991224
 Poland (POL)11234233453451010141017
 Portugal (POR) 1 1
 Romania (ROU) 3 2 3 4 2 2 2 1 1 9
 Russia (RUS) 12 18 13 19 17 20 6
 Soviet Union (URS) 12 16 18 18 9 16 16 17 17 9
 Unified Team (EUN) 19 1
 Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) 4 16 2
 Sweden (SWE)21116979101111910678512311123
 Switzerland (SUI)52331111112212
 Ukraine (UKR) 2 4 2 3
 United States (USA)64125978151518161411131719171417181817131224
 Yugoslavia (YUG) 4 2 2 3
Countries10146161514181722191819202421232125231924232930
Speed skaters31403152686788103137137118122127139142155151171166175180179184
Year242832364852566064687276808488929498020610141822

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Kluge 1995, page ?.
  2. "Latvia's quick-change artist makes Olympic history". Toronto Star. 2010-02-14. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  3. Harris, Beth (2010-02-13). "Latvian speedskater is 1st to do double duty". Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
  4. CTV Olympics, "Latvian skater makes Olympic history", Agence France Press, 14 February 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  5. New York Times, "Crosstown Ride to a Speedskating First", Associated Press, 30 January 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  6. The 10000 m event at the 1928 Games was cancelled during the fifth heat due to thawing ice.
  7. "Olympic Analytics - Medals by Countries". olympanalyt.com. Retrieved 2022-02-20.

Bibliography

  • Kluge, Volker. Olympische Winterspiele: Die Chronik - Chamonix 1924 - Lillehammer 1994. Berlin, Germany: Sportverlag, 2nd revised and updated edition, 1994. ISBN 3-328-00631-1

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