Speed skating at the Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the Winter Olympics
Governing body ISU
Events 14 (men: 7; women: 7)
Games

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.

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 rules of the American speed skating federation, meaning the skaters competed in small packs of skaters (similar to 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, although their events were only demonstration events. 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 After the war, they were withdrawn again until 1960, when the women skated 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and 3000 m.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

Event2428323648525660646872768084889294980206101418Years
500 metres23
1000 metres 12
1500 metres23
5000 metres23
10000 metres[6]23
all-round1
mass start1
team pursuit4
Total events53444444444555555556667

Women's

= official event, (d) = demonstration event

Event2428323648525660646872768084889294980206101418Years
500 metres(d)16
1000 metres(d)16
1500 metres(d)16
3000 metres14
5000 metres8
mass start1
team pursuit4
Total events53444444444555555556667

Medal table

Updated after the 2018 Winter Olympics.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Netherlands (NED)424039121
2 United States (USA)29221768
3 Norway (NOR)27292884
4 Soviet Union (URS)24171960
5 Germany (GER)13151038
6 Canada (CAN)9131537
7 East Germany (GDR)812929
8 Finland (FIN)78924
9 Sweden (SWE)74516
10 South Korea (KOR)58316
11 Japan (JPN)471021
12 Russia (RUS)35513
13 Czech Republic (CZE)3227
14 West Germany (FRG)3003
15 Italy (ITA)2024
16 China (CHN)1348
17 Austria (AUT)1236
 Poland (POL)1236
19 United Team of Germany (EUA)1102
20 Belgium (BEL)0112
21 Belarus (BLR)0101
 North Korea (PRK)0101
23 Kazakhstan (KAZ)0011
 Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)0011
Totals (24 nations)190193186569

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.
Country2428323648525660646872768084889294980206101418Years
 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 12
 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 2
 Colombia (COL) 2 1
 Czechoslovakia (TCH) 2 1 3 2 1 2 6
 Czech Republic (CZE) 1 1 2 2 3 5
 Denmark (DEN) 1 1 1 1 3 5
 Estonia (EST) 2 1 2 3
 Finland (FIN)3615566710864432313443322
 France (FRA)4213351212411123117
 Germany (GER) 3 2 1 14 15 14 13 13 13 14 9 11
 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)4353323522612114
 Hungary (HUN)115243121221113
 Italy (ITA)436324263334548856919
 Japan (JPN) 4 7 6 5 8 8 12 13 9 8 9 13 15 17 18 20 19 19 17 16 20
 Kazakhstan (KAZ) 8 7 8 4 5 6 6 7
 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 18
 Latvia (LAT) 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 9
 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 21
 New Zealand (NZL) 1 1 1 3 4
 Norway (NOR)586712121169141491187881081099923
 Poland (POL)112342334534510101416
 Portugal (POR) 1 1
 Romania (ROU) 3 2 3 4 2 2 2 1 8
 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 1
 Sweden (SWE)211169791012119967851231122
 Switzerland (SUI)5233111111211
 Ukraine (UKR) 2 4 2 3
 United States (USA)641259781515181614111317191714171818171323
 Yugoslavia (YUG) 4 2 2 3
Countries101461615141817221918192024212321252319242329
Speed skaters31403152686788103137137118122127139142155151171166175180179184
Year2428323648525660646872768084889294980206101418

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.

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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