Short-track speed skating

Competitive skating on an ice hockey rink

Short-track speed skating

3000 meters short-track relay during the 2014 Winter Olympics

Highest governing body| International Skating Union
Characteristics
Mixed-sex| Yes
Type| Separate competitions for male and female
Equipment| ice skates, helmet, gloves, suit, shin guards, neck guard, safety glasses
Presence
Olympic| 1988 (demonstration)
1992–present
Preparation of the ice Placement of rubber cones

Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of 111.111 metres (364.54 ft). The rink itself is 60 metres (196.85 ft) long by 30 metres (98.43 ft) wide, which is the same size as an Olympic-sized figure skating rink and an international-sized ice hockey rink. Related sports include long-track speed skating and inline speed skating.

## History

[edit]

Short-track skating developed from speed skating events that were held with mass starts. This form of speed skating was mainly practised in the United States and Canada, as opposed to the international form (derived from Europe), where athletes skated in pairs. At the 1932 Winter Olympics, speed skating events were conducted in the mass start form. Competitions in North America tended to be held indoors, for example in Madison Square Garden, New York, and therefore on shorter tracks than was usual for outdoor skating.

In 1967, the International Skating Union (ISU) adopted short-track speed skating, although it did not organize international competitions until 1976. World Championships in short-track speed skating have been officially held since 1981, although events held in 1976–1980 under different names have since received the status of World Championships retrospectively. The name of the competition was changed several times before it was eventually titled the "World Short Track Speed Skating Championships" in 1989; the championships are now held annually.

Short-track speed skating was introduced as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. It was upgraded to a full Olympic sport in 1992 and has been part of the Winter Olympics ever since. There were only four short-track events in the 1992 Winter Games, but the program was expanded to include six events in 1994 and 1998, and finally eight events in the 2002 Winter Games. The events are the same for both men and women: 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, plus the relay event (5000 meters for men, 3000 meters for women). Since the 2018–19 World Cup season, a 2000-meter mixed-team relay was added, and debuted in the 2022 Winter Olympics. A 3,000-meter super-final event is included in the European Championships, but this is not currently part of the Olympic short-track program.

## Rules

[edit]

Skaters who commit one of the following offenses risk immediate disqualification from a race and having their times rendered invalid and being suspended from playing for a short time.[1]

* Impeding: Intentionally pushing, blocking, tripping or otherwise causing an impediment for another skater
* Off track: Skating outside or inside the designated track
* Assistance: Giving physical assistance to another skater. For example: pushing a teammate from behind for an extra boost, or allowing a teammate to lean on another for stability in corners.
* Shooting the line or Kicking out: Driving the foot in lead ahead to reach the finish faster, resulting in the lead foot lifting off the ice and creating a dangerous situation for others
* Unsportsmanlike conduct: Acting in a manner not befitting an athlete or a role model. Including cursing at a competitor, kicking your feet, striking other skaters or officials, etc.
* Equipment: Not wearing the proper safety equipment, losing equipment during the race, or exposure of skin not on face or neck.
* False Start: Leaving before firing of the starter's pistol. The updated 2023 ISU regulations state that after the first false start, the offender would have to leave.
* Did not finish: Usually due to a fall, the skater did not finish the race.
* Did not skate: The skater did not go to the starting line.
* Finish not timed: The skater's finishing time was not recorded, usually when a skater takes too long to finish the race.

In relay races, each team has four skaters, who can take turns freely by tagging or pushing. A skater may be relayed at any time except during the last two laps. Usually, the outgoing skater pushes the incoming skater to help the teammate to gain speed. If a team member falls, the next person needs to be tagged. A relay team would be penalized if they committed the following:

* Not abiding by previous rules that applied to individual skaters
* Not receiving a tag from a teammate
* Exchanging after the center red line when there are three laps to go

Short-track at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, Innsbruck

## World records

[edit]

### Men

[edit]

Distance | Athlete | Nation | City | Date | Record time | Ref[2]

|
|
|
|
|
|

500 m  | Wu Dajing |  China | Salt Lake City, United States | 11 November 2018 | 39.505 | [3]
1000 m  | Hwang Dae-heon |  South Korea | Salt Lake City, United States | 12 November 2016 | 1:20.875 | [4]
1500 m  | Sjinkie Knegt |  Netherlands | Salt Lake City, United States | 13 November 2016 | 2:07.943 | [5]
3000 m  | Noh Jin-kyu |  South Korea | Warsaw, Poland | 19 March 2011 | 4:31.891 | [6]
5000 m
relay  | Csaba Burján
Cole Krueger
Shaoang Liu
Shaolin Sándor Liu |  Hungary | Calgary, Canada | 4 November 2018 | 6:28.625 | [7]

### Women

[edit]

Distance | Athlete | Nation | City | Date | Record time | Ref

|
|
|
|
|
|

500 m  | Xandra Velzeboer |  Netherlands | Salt Lake City, United States | 4 November 2022 | 41.416 | [8][9]
1000 m  | Suzanne Schulting |  Netherlands | Salt Lake City, United States | 4 November 2022 | 1:25.958 | [10]
1500 m  | Choi Min-jeong |  South Korea | Salt Lake City, United States | 12 November 2016 | 2:14.354 | [11]
3000 m  | Jung Eun-ju |  South Korea | Harbin, China | 15 March 2008 | 4:46.983 | [12]
3000 m
relay  | Selma Poutsma
Suzanne Schulting
Yara van Kerkhof
Xandra Velzeboer |  Netherlands | Beijing, China | 23 October 2021 | 4:02.809 | [13]

### Mixed

[edit]

Distance | Athlete | Nation | City | Date | Record time | Ref

|
|
|
|
|
|

2000 m
relay  | Teun Boer
Jens van `t Wout
Xandra Velzeboer
Michelle Velzeboer |  Netherlands | Beijing, China | 14 March 2025 | 2:35.339 | [14]

## Notable skaters

[edit]

The following is the list of athletes who are Individual gold medalist at the Olympic Winter Games or Overall World Champion and have won Olympic Winter Games or Overall World Championships at least three times.

### Men

[edit]

Athlete  | Nation  | Born  | Olympics  | World Championships (overall)  | Olympics +
World Championships (overall)  | World Championships
(distances, relay, team)  | Total

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  |  | Total |  |  |  | Total |  |  |  | Total |  |  |  | Total |  |  |  | Total
Ahn Hyun-Soo
(Viktor Ahn)  |  South Korea
Russia | 1985 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7  | 12 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 22 | 13 | 6 | 41 | 34 | 13 | 9 | 56
Marc Gagnon |  Canada | 1975 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7  | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 28 | 22 | 11 | 7 | 40
Charles Hamelin |  Canada | 1984 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7  | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 37 | 16 | 19 | 13 | 48
Kim Ki-hoon |  South Korea | 1967 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4  | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2+ | 1+ | 2+ | 5+ | 6+ | 3+ | 3+ | 12+
Apolo Anton Ohno |  United States | 1982 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4  | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 31
Lee Ho-Suk |  South Korea | 1986 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4  | 3 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 26
Kim Dong-Sung |  South Korea | 1980 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3  | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 25
Shaoang Liu |  China | 1998 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1  | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13

### Women

[edit]

Athlete  | Nation  | Born  | Olympics  | World Championships (overall)  | Olympics +
World Championships (overall)  | World Championships
(distances, relay, team)  | Total

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  |  | Total |  |  |  | Total |  |  |  | Total |  |  |  | Total |  |  |  | Total
Yang Yang (A) |  China | 1976 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7  | 8 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 26 | 12 | 5 | 43 | 34 | 15 | 6 | 55
Wang Meng |  China | 1985 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6  | 7 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 32 | 25 | 15 | 4 | 44
Chun Lee-kyung |  South Korea | 1976 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5  | 7 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 24 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 34
Choi Min-jeong |  South Korea | 1998 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5  | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 33
Sylvie Daigle |  Canada | 1962 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8  | 6 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 22+ | 8+ | ? | 31+ | 28+ | 11+ | 1+ | 40+
Jin Sun-yu |  South Korea | 1988 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3  | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 20
Suzanne Schulting |  Netherlands | 1997 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2  | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 15
Nathalie Lambert |  Canada | 1962 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7  | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 14+ | 3+ | 2+ | 19+ | 18+ | 7+ | 4+ | 29+
Choi Eun-kyung |  South Korea | 1984 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3  | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 25
Shim Suk-Hee |  South Korea | 1997 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5  | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 25
Park Seung-hi |  South Korea | 1992 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3  | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 21
Zhou Yang |  China | 1991 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2  | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 18
Arianna Fontana |  Italy | 1990 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4  | 2 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 21 | 36

## See also

[edit]

* Short-track speed skating at the Winter Olympics
* List of short-track speed skaters

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Special Regulations & Technical Rules Short Track Speed Skating 2021". International Skating Union. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
2. ^ "Short Track Results – Current World Records". ISU. Archived from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
3. ^ "Results - Men's 500m Final A". shorttrack.sportresult.com. 11 November 2018. Archived from the original on 24 April 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
4. ^ "ISU World Cup 2016/2017 Salt Lake City – Men's 1000m Results". shorttrack.sportresult.com. 12 November 2016. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
5. ^ "ISU World Cup 2016/2017 Salt Lake City – Men's 1500m Results". shorttrack.sportresult.com. 13 November 2016. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
6. ^ "2011 ISU World Team Championships – Men's 3000m Results". shorttrack.sportresult.com. 19 March 2011. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
7. ^ "ISU World Cup 2018/19 – Men's 5000m Relay Results". shorttrack.sportresult.com. 4 November 2018. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
8. ^ "Dutch break short track speed skating world records". NBC Sports. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
9. ^ "ISU World Cup 2022/2023 Salt Lake City - Women's 500m Results". ISU. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
10. ^ "ISU World Cup 2022/2023 Salt Lake City - Women's 1000m Results". ISU. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
11. ^ "ISU World Cup 2012/2013 Salt Lake City - Women's 1500m Results". ISU. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
12. ^ "2008 ISU World Team Championships, China - Women's 3000m Bracket #2 Results". ISU. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
13. ^ "ISU World Cup 2021/22 – Beijing (CHN) – Women – 3000 m Relay – Semifinals – Results". ISU. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
14. ^ "CNSG 2025 ISU World Short Track Championships". www.shorttrack.swisstiming.com. Retrieved 2025-03-14.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Short track speed skating.

* IOC – Short-track speed skating
* ISU – Short-track speed skating
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