The International Skating Union has organised the World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women since 1936. Unofficial championships were held in the years 1933–1935.^[1]

History

Distances used

• In the years 1933–1935, three distances were skated: 500 m, 1000 m and 1500 m.
• In the years 1936–1955, four distances were skated: 500 m, 1000 m, 3000 m and 5000 m (the old combination).
• In the years 1956–1982, four distances were skated: 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and 3000 m (the mini combination).
• Since 1983, four distances are skated: 500 m, 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m (the small combination).

Ranking systems used

• Since 1933, the samalog system has been in use.

Records

• Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (nee Kleemann) of East Germany won a total of 8 world championship titles, three consecutive in 1991–1993, and another five consecutive titles in 1995–1999.
• Ireen Wüst has a record 13 medals, 12 of each which were won in consecutive championships (2007–2018) – seven golds (2007, 2011–2014, 2017, 2020), four silvers (2008, 2015, 2016, 2018) and two bronzes (2009, 2010). Previously, this record belonged to Claudia Pechstein of Germany – 11 medals in consecutive championships (1996–2006) with one gold (2000), eight silvers (1996–1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006) and two bronzes (2002, 2005).

Medal winners

Unofficial championships

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1933	Oslo	Liselotte Landbeck	Synnøve Lie	Helen Bina
1934	Oslo	Undis Blikken	Verné Lesche	Synnøve Lie
1935	Oslo	Laila Schou Nilsen	Synnøve Lie	Kit Klein

Official championships

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1936	Stockholm	Kit Klein	Verné Lesche	Synnøve Lie
1937	Davos	Laila Schou Nilsen	Synnøve Lie	Verné Lesche
1938	Oslo	Laila Schou Nilsen (3 [a])	Verné Lesche	Synnøve Lie
1939	Tampere	Verné Lesche	Liisa Salmi	Laura Tamminen
1940	Not held due to World War II
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947	Drammen	Verné Lesche (2)	Else Marie Christiansen	Maggi Kvestad
1948	Turku	Maria Isakova	Lidia Selikhova	Zoya Kholshevnikova
1949	Kongsberg	Maria Isakova	Zoya Kholshevnikova	Rimma Zhukova
1950	Moscow	Maria Isakova (3)	Zinaida Krotova	Rimma Zhukova
1951	Eskilstuna	Eevi Huttunen	Randi Thorvaldsen	Ragnhild Mikkelsen
1952	Kokkola	Lidia Selikhova	Maria Anikanova	Randi Thorvaldsen
1953	Lillehammer	Khalida Shchegoleyeva	Rimma Zhukova	Lidia Selikhova
1954	Östersund	Lidia Selikhova (2)	Rimma Zhukova	Sofya Kondakova
1955	Kuopio	Rimma Zhukova	Tamara Rylova	Sofya Kondakova
1956	Kvarnsveden	Sofya Kondakova	Rimma Zhukova	Tamara Rylova
1957	Imatra	Inga Artamonova	Tamara Rylova	Lidia Selikhova
1958	Kristinehamn	Inga Artamonova	Tamara Rylova	Sofya Kondakova
1959	Sverdlovsk	Tamara Rylova	Valentina Stenina	Lidia Skoblikova
1960	Östersund	Valentina Stenina	Tamara Rylova	Lidia Skoblikova
1961	Tønsberg	Valentina Stenina	Albina Tuzova	Lidia Skoblikova
1962	Imatra	Inga Voronina-Artamonova	Lidia Skoblikova	Albina Tuzova
1963	Karuizawa	Lidia Skoblikova	Inga Voronina-Artamonova	Valentina Stenina
1964	Kristinehamn	Lidia Skoblikova (2)	Inga Voronina-Artamonova	Tamara Rylova
1965	Oulu	Inga Voronina-Artamonova (4)	Valentina Stenina	Stien Kaiser
1966	Trondheim	Valentina Stenina (3)	Kim Song-soon	Stien Kaiser
1967	Deventer	Stien Kaiser	Lāsma Kauniste	Dianne Holum
1968	Helsinki	Stien Kaiser (2)	Ans Schut	Carry Geijssen
1969	Grenoble	Lāsma Kauniste	Stien Kaiser	Ans Schut
1970	West Allis	Atje Keulen-Deelstra	Stien Kaiser	Sigrid Sundby
1971	Helsinki	Nina Statkevich	Stien Kaiser	Lyudmila Titova
1972	Heerenveen	Atje Keulen-Deelstra	Stien Baas-Kaiser	Dianne Holum
1973	Strömsund	Atje Keulen-Deelstra	Tatyana Shelekhova	Trijnie Rep
1974	Heerenveen	Atje Keulen-Deelstra (4)	Tatyana Averina	Nina Statkevich
1975	Assen	Karin Kessow	Tatyana Averina	Sheila Young
1976	Gjøvik	Sylvia Burka	Tatyana Averina	Sheila Young
1977	Keystone	Vera Bryndzei	Galina Stepanskaya	Galina Nikitina
1978	Helsinki	Tatyana Averina	Galina Stepanskaya	Marion Dittmann
1979	The Hague	Beth Heiden	Natalya Petrusyova	Sylvia Burka
1980	Hamar	Natalya Petrusyova	Beth Heiden	Bjørg Eva Jensen
1981	Sainte-Foy	Natalya Petrusyova (2)	Karin Enke	Sarah Docter
1982	Inzell	Karin Busch	Andrea Schöne	Natalya Petrusyova
1983	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Andrea Schöne	Karin Enke	Valentina Lalenkova-Golovenkina
1984	Deventer	Karin Enke	Andrea Schöne	Gabi Schönbrunn
1985	Sarajevo	Andrea Schöne (2)	Gabi Schönbrunn	Sabine Brehm
1986	The Hague	Karin Kania	Andrea Ehrig	Sabine Brehm
1987	West Allis	Karin Kania	Andrea Ehrig	Yvonne van Gennip
1988	Skien	Karin Kania (5)	Yvonne van Gennip	Erwina Ryś-Ferens
1989	Lake Placid	Constanze Moser-Scandolo	Gunda Kleemann	Yvonne van Gennip
1990	Calgary	Jacqueline Börner	Seiko Hashimoto	Constanze Moser-Scandolo
1991	Hamar	Gunda Kleemann	Heike Warnicke-Schalling	Lia van Schie
1992	Heerenveen	Gunda Niemann	Emese Hunyady	Seiko Hashimoto
1993	Berlin	Gunda Niemann	Emese Hunyady	Heike Warnicke-Schalling
1994	Butte	Emese Hunyady	Ulrike Adeberg	Mihaela Dascălu
1995	Savalen	Gunda Niemann	Lyudmila Prokasheva	Annamarie Thomas
1996	Inzell	Gunda Niemann	Claudia Pechstein	Mie Uehara
1997	Nagano	Gunda Niemann	Claudia Pechstein	Tonny de Jong
1998	Heerenveen	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann	Claudia Pechstein	Anni Friesinger
1999	Hamar	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (8)	Claudia Pechstein	Tonny de Jong
2000	Milwaukee	Claudia Pechstein	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann	Maki Tabata
2001	Budapest	Anni Friesinger	Claudia Pechstein	Renate Groenewold
2002	Heerenveen	Anni Friesinger	Cindy Klassen	Claudia Pechstein
2003	Gothenburg	Cindy Klassen	Claudia Pechstein	Daniela Anschütz
2004	Hamar	Renate Groenewold	Claudia Pechstein	Wieteke Cramer
2005	Moscow	Anni Friesinger (3)	Cindy Klassen	Claudia Pechstein
2006	Calgary	Cindy Klassen (2)	Claudia Pechstein	Kristina Groves
2007	Heerenveen	Ireen Wüst	Anni Friesinger	Cindy Klassen
2008	Berlin	Paulien van Deutekom	Ireen Wüst	Kristina Groves
2009	Hamar	Martina Sáblíková	Kristina Groves	Ireen Wüst
2010	Heerenveen	Martina Sáblíková	Kristina Groves	Ireen Wüst
2011	Calgary	Ireen Wüst	Christine Nesbitt	Martina Sáblíková
2012	Moscow	Ireen Wüst	Martina Sáblíková	Christine Nesbitt
2013	Hamar	Ireen Wüst	Diane Valkenburg	Yekaterina Shikhova
2014	Heerenveen	Ireen Wüst	Olga Graf	Yvonne Nauta
2015	Calgary	Martina Sáblíková	Ireen Wüst	Ida Njåtun
2016	Berlin	Martina Sáblíková	Ireen Wüst	Antoinette de Jong
2017	Hamar	Ireen Wüst	Martina Sáblíková	Miho Takagi
2018	Amsterdam	Miho Takagi	Ireen Wüst	Annouk van der Weijden
2019	Calgary	Martina Sáblíková (5)	Miho Takagi	Antoinette de Jong
2020	Hamar	Ireen Wüst (7)	Ivanie Blondin	Antoinette de Jong
2022	Hamar	Irene Schouten	Miho Takagi	Antoinette de Jong

All-time medal count

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	24	25	20	69
2	Netherlands	16	11	21	48
3	Germany	12	12	5	29
4	East Germany	10	8	5	23
5	Czech Republic	5	2	1	8
6	Norway	4	5	9	18
7	Canada	3	6	5	14
8	Finland	3	4	2	9
9	Austria	2	2	0	4
10	United States	2	1	7	10
11	Japan	1	3	4	8
12	Russia	0	1	1	2
13	Kazakhstan	0	1	0	1
	North Korea	0	1	0	1
15	Poland	0	0	1	1
	Romania	0	0	1	1
Totals (16 entries)		82	82	82	246

Unofficial World Championships of 1933–1935 (not recognized by the ISU) included

Multiple medalists

Boldface denotes active skaters and highest medal count among all skaters (including those not included in these tables) per type.

Rank	Skater	Country	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (Kleemann)	East Germany  Germany	1989	2000	8	2	–	10
2	Ireen Wüst	Netherlands	2007	2020	7	4	2	13
3	Martina Sáblíková	Czech Republic	2009	2019	5	2	1	8
4	Karin Kania (Enke, Busch)	East Germany	1981	1988	5	2	–	7
5	Inga Voronina (Artamonova)	Soviet Union	1957	1965	4	2	–	6
6	Atje Keulen-Deelstra	Netherlands	1970	1974	4	–	–	4
7	Valentina Stenina	Soviet Union	1959	1966	3	2	1	6
8	Anni Friesinger	Germany	1998	2007	3	1	1	5
9	Maria Isakova	Soviet Union	1948	1950	3	–	–	3
	Laila Schou Nilsen	Norway	1935	1938	* 3 *	–	–	* 3 *

* including one medal won at the unofficial championship of 1935.