Speed skating at the Winter Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Speed skating at the Winter Olympics
Governing body	ISU
Events	14 (men: 7; women: 7)
Games
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Medalists

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
1	1924	5	Finland
2	1928	4	Norway
3	1932	4	United States
4	1936	4	Norway
7	1948	4	Norway
8	1952	4	Norway
9	1956	4	Soviet Union
10	1960	8	Soviet Union
11	1964	8	Soviet Union
12	1968	8	Netherlands
13	1972	8	Netherlands
14	1976	9	Soviet Union
15	1980	9	United States
16	1984	9	East Germany
17	1988	10	East Germany
18	1992	10	Germany
19	1994	10	Norway
20	1998	10	Netherlands
21	2002	10	Netherlands
22	2006	12	United States
23	2010	12	South Korea
24	2014	12	Netherlands
25	2018	14	Netherlands
26	2022	14	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, 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, 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.

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

Women's

• = official event, (d) = demonstration event

Medal table

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

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Netherlands (NED)	48	44	41	133
2	United States (USA)	30	22	19	71
3	Norway (NOR)	28	29	30	87
4	Soviet Union (URS)	24	17	19	60
5	Germany (GER)	13	15	10	38
6	Canada (CAN)	10	16	16	42
7	Sweden (SWE)	9	4	5	18
8	East Germany (GDR)	8	12	9	29
9	Finland (FIN)	7	8	9	24
10	Japan (JPN)	5	10	11	26
11	South Korea (KOR)	5	10	5	20
12	Russia (RUS)	3	5	5	13
13	Czech Republic (CZE)	3	2	3	8
14	West Germany (FRG)	3	0	0	3
15	China (CHN)	2	3	4	9
16	Italy (ITA)	2	1	4	7
17	Austria (AUT)	1	2	3	6
	Poland (POL)	1	2	3	6
19	Belgium (BEL)	1	1	1	3
20	United Team of Germany (EUA)	1	1	0	2
21	Republic of China (ROC)	0	1	1	2
22	Belarus (BLR)	0	1	0	1
	North Korea (PRK)	0	1	0	1
24	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	0	0	1	1
	Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)	0	0	1	1
Totals (25 entries)		204	207	200	611

Number of speed skaters by country

Country	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	Years
Australia (AUS)				1		1	1	2		1	2	1	2	2	4	2	2				1	1	1		15
Austria (AUT)		3		8	3	3	4	2	7	3	1	4		4	3	3	5	4	1	1	1	2	2	20
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)	1	3	7	1	4	4	3	5	4	7	10	8	8	7	16	9	13	17	16	18	16	15	19	23
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)	3	6	1	5	5	6	6	7	10	8	6	4	4	3	2	3		1	3	4	4	3	3	22
France (FRA)	4	2					1	3	3	5	1	2	1	2	4	1		1	1		2	3	1	17
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)	4	3			5	3	3	2	3	5	2	2	6	1	2	1								15
Hungary (HUN)		1		1	5	2			4	3				1		2	1	2	2			1	1	13
Italy (ITA)					4	3	6	3	2	4	2	6	3	3	3	4	5	4	8	8	5	6	9	19
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)	5	8	6	7	12	12	11	6	9	14	14	9	11	8	7	8	8	10	8	10	9	9	9	24
Poland (POL)	1			1				2	3			4	2	3	3	4	5	3	4	5	10	10	14	17
Portugal (POR)																		1							1
Romania (ROU)													3	2		3	4	2	2	2			1	1	9
Soviet Union (URS)							12	16	18	18	9	16	16	17	17										9
Unified Team (EUN)																19									1
Russia (RUS)																	12	18	13	19	17	20			6
Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)																							4		1
Republic of China (ROC)																								16	1
Sweden (SWE)	2	1	1	1	6	9	7	9	10	11	11	9	10	6	7	8	5		1	2	3	1	1	23
Switzerland (SUI)					5		2		3	3		1	1	1			1	1			1		2	12
Ukraine (UKR)																	2	4	2						3
United States (USA)	6	4	12	5	9	7	8	15	15	18	16	14	11	13	15	19	16	14	17	18	18	17	13	24
Yugoslavia (YUG)														4	2	2									3
Countries	10	14	6	16	15	14	18	17	22	19	18	19	20	24	21	23	21	25	23	19	24	23	29	30
Speed skaters	31	40	31	52	68	67	88	103	137	137	118	122	127	139	142	155	151	171	166	175	180	179	184
Year	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18

See also

In Spanish: Patinaje de velocidad en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños

• Ice sledge speed racing at the Winter Paralympics
• List of Olympic venues in speed skating
• List of Olympic medalists in speed skating