The World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships are a series of

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skatin ...

competitions organised by the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, N ...

History

Since the late 19th century, speed skating championships were always decided by racing multiple distances – four different distances for the Allround Championships, and two different distances (which have to be skated twice) for Sprint Championships. However, the speed skating events at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

were always individual distances, no medals are awarded for a combined event (the only exception being the

1924 Winter Olympics The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games (french: Iers Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 ( frp, Chamôni 1924), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, Franc ...

). Towards the end of the 20th century, skaters started to specialize and it became rare that a skater was able to dominate both the short and the long distances. Perhaps the last skater able to do so was

Eric Heiden Eric Arthur Heiden (born June 14, 1958) is an American physician and a former long track speed skater, road cyclist and track cyclist. He won an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at th ...

, who won all five distances at the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

. As a consequence of this specialization, the difference between the Olympic Games and the regular championships, and the popularity of both the

Speed skating World Cup The ISU Speed Skating World Cup is a series of international speed skating competitions, organised annually by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1985–86. Every year during the winter season, a number of competitions on different ...

and Single Distance Championships held nationally in several countries, the International Skating Union decided to organise the World Single Distance Championships. Starting in 1996, this originally was an annual event, but in 1998 it became clear that having World Single Distance Championships and the Single Distance Championships as held at the Winter Olympics during the same year was too much, so since 1999, the World Single Distance Championships are no longer held in (Winter) Olympic years. In 2020 it became clear that having three different World Speed Skating Championships (Allround Championships, Sprint Championships and Single Distances Championships) within each non-Olympic year is difficult as well, so starting since 2021, the World Single Distance Championships are held only in an odd years.

Distances

The skaters compete in the following distances:

Men

For medal winners, see

World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships for Men The ''World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships'' are a series of speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union. The World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships for Men was introduced, also by ISU, in 1996, ...

. * 500 m * 1,000 m * 1,500 m * 5,000 m * 10,000 m *

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

(since 2005) *

Mass start {{refimprove, date=February 2018 Mass start is a format of starting in some racing sports such as long-distance running in sport of athletics, speed skating, long-distance cross-country skiing and biathlon. There are usually many competitors in ...

(since 2015) *

Team sprint The team sprint (also sometimes known as the Olympic sprint) is a track cycling event. Despite its name, it is not a conventional cycling sprint event – it is a three-rider team time trial held over three laps of a velodrome. The current men's ...

(2019–2020)

Women

For medal winners, see

World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships for Women The International Skating Union has organised the World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships for Women since 1996. Locations * 1996 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships, 1996: Hamar, Norway * 1997 World Single Distance Speed S ...

. * 500 m * 1,000 m * 1,500 m * 3,000 m * 5,000 m *

(since 2005) *

(since 2015) *

(2019–2020)

Summary

Medal summary

The medal table by nations is the total number of the 16 distances (men and women) at all of the 21 championships (1996–2021). The individual tables are about the eight distances by gender.

Nations

All medals, click on the nation to go to the list of medallists.

Men

Top 10, including team pursuit and team sprint. Boldface denotes active skaters and highest medal count among all skaters (including those who are not included in these tables) per type.

Women

Top 10, including team pursuit and team sprint. Boldface denotes active skaters and highest medal count among all skaters (including those who are not included in these tables) per type.

References

{{World Speed Skating Championships Single