Short track speed skating

Short track speed skating

500 meters short track heat at the 2004 World Cup in Saguenay
Highest governing body International Skating Union
Characteristics
Mixed gender Yes
Equipment ice skates, helmet, gloves, suit
Presence
Olympic 1988 (demonstration)
1992 - present

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 circumference of 111.12 m. The rink itself is 60 m by 30 m, which is the same size as an international-sized ice hockey rink. Short track speed skating is the sister sport to long track speed skating.

History

Skaters at the starting line.

Short track speed skating originated in the speed skating events held with mass starts. This form of speed skating was mainly practiced in the United States and Canada, as opposed to the international form, where skaters skated in pairs. At the 1932 Winter Olympics, speed skating events were conducted in the mass start form. Competitions in North America were also held indoors, for example in Madison Square Garden, New York, and therefore on shorter tracks than usual for outdoor skating.

In 1967, the International Skating Union adopted short track speed skating, although it did not organize international competitions until 1976. World Championships have been held since 1981 (though events held in 1976-1980 under different names later received the status of World Championships). After several changes in the name of the competition (last time in 1989), the event is now held annually as the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.

At the 1988 Winter Olympics, held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, short track was a demonstration sport. It was upgraded to a full Olympic sport in 1992 and has been part of the Winter Olympics since. The programme was expanded from four events in 1992 to eight in 2002. The events are the same for both men and women: 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000m, and the relay (5000 m (men)/3000 m (women)).

Rules

There are several actions that will result in skaters being disqualified from a race, and having their time rendered invalid.[1]

Classes

In Canada, short track competitions are held either as all-points meets, where skaters are seeded based only on their times for a standard distance (usually the 500m), or an age class, where people are seeded by age and gender. All-points meets allow racing against skaters of all ages and genders, with the exception of the Masters age class (30+). All-points meets are usually held at the local level in only certain provinces. Age class meets are utilized at the provincial and national levels. Age classes are:

Ages are determined as of July 1 or June 30 prior to competition. At International and Olympic competitions, skaters are placed by gender only.

World records

Men

Distance Athlete Nation City Date Record Time
500 meters JR Celski  United States Calgary, Canada October 21, 2012 39.937
1000 meters Hwang Daeheon  South Korea Salt Lake City, UT November 12, 2016 1:20.875
1500 meters Sjinkie Knegt  Netherlands Salt Lake City, UT November 13, 2016 2:07.943
3000 meters Noh Jin-Kyu  South Korea Warsaw, Poland March 19, 2011 4:31.891
3000 m relay Korea  South Korea Melbourne Feb 25, 2012 4:00.649
5000 m relay Canada*  Canada Calgary, Canada October 19, 20126:30.958
* Relay members for Canada were: Charles Hamelin, Francois Hamelin, Michael Gilday and Olivier Jean

Women

Distance Athlete Nation City Date Record Time
500 meters Fan Kexin  China Salt Lake City, UT November 9, 2014 42.504
1000 meters Shim Suk Hee  South Korea Calgary, Canada October 21, 2012 1:26.661
1500 meters Choi Min-jeong  South Korea Salt Lake City, UT November 12, 2016 2:14.354
3000 meters Jung Eun-Ju  South Korea Harbin, China March 15, 2008 4:46.983
3000 m relay South Korea*  South Korea Kolomna, Russia November 17, 2013 4:06.215
* Members of the Korean National Team: Shim Suk Hee, Kim Alang, Cho Ha-Ri, Park Seung-Hi.

Notable skaters

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

Men

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 198560286107 12121522135403414755
Marc Gagnon  Canada 197530254217 723121594282211740
Kim Ki-hoon  South Korea 196730031214 42172+1+2+5+6+3+3+12+
Lee Ho-Suk  South Korea 198614052204 3609854171111426
Apolo Anton Ohno  United States 198222481214 34512856191191131
Charles Hamelin  Canada 198431040235 3339111273014151039
Kim Dong-Sung  South Korea 198011022013 3115107320138425

Women

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 197622156107 8311226125433415655
Wang Meng  China 198541163306 7411218113322515444
Chun Lee-kyung  South Korea 197640153205 7211010113241713434
Sylvie Daigle  Canada 196211025218 6311022+8+?31+28+11+1+40+
Jin Sun-yu  South Korea 198830033003 6006103114163120
Nathalie Lambert  Canada 196212033227 4421014+3+2+19+18+7+4+29+
Choi Eun-kyung  South Korea 198422042103 4307123318166325
Park Seung-hi  South Korea 199220351203 323884113116421
Zhou Yang  China 199130030112 31155441385518

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Short track speed skating.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.