The World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships[1][2][3] are a series of speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union.

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 were always individual distances, no medals are awarded for a combined event (the only exception being the 1924 Winter Olympics).

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, who won all five distances at the 1980 Winter Olympics. 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 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

(List of medal winners)

Women

(List of medal winners)

Notes
500 m 500 m
1,000 m 1,000 m
1,500 m 1,500 m
5,000 m 3,000 m
10,000 m 5,000 m
Team pursuit Team pursuit (since 2005)
Mass start Mass start (since 2015)
Team sprint Team sprint (2019–2020, since 2023)

Summary

ISU Single Distances Championships
Number Year City Country Events
1 1996 Hamar  Norway 10
2 1997 Warsaw  Poland 10
3 1998 Calgary  Canada 10
4 1999 Heerenveen  Netherlands 10
5 2000 Nagano  Japan 10
6 2001 Salt Lake City  United States 10
7 2003 Berlin  Germany 10
8 2004 Seoul  South Korea 10
9 2005 Inzell  Germany 12
10 2007 Salt Lake City  United States 12
11 2008 Nagano  Japan 12
12 2009 Richmond  Canada 12
13 2011 Inzell  Germany 12
14 2012 Heerenveen  Netherlands 12
15 2013 Sochi  Russia 12
16 2015 Heerenveen  Netherlands 14
17 2016 Kolomna  Russia 14
18 2017 Gangneung  South Korea 14
19 2019 Inzell  Germany 16
20 2020 Salt Lake City  United States 16
21 2021 Heerenveen  Netherlands 14
22 2023 Heerenveen  Netherlands 16

Medal summary

The medal table by nations is the total number of the 16 distances (men and women) at all of the 22 championships (1996–2023). The individual tables are about the eight distances by gender.

Nations

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

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Netherlands Netherlands1069571272
2 Germany36332796
3 Canada293439102
4 United States25152666
5 Czech Republic166325
6 Russia13162857
7 Japan12182353
8 Norway10151136
9 South Korea1011728
10 China39618
11 Austria2226
12Sweden Sweden2103
13 Italy17311
14Russian Skating Union13711
15 Belgium1236
16 Kazakhstan1012
17Poland Poland0134
18 France0123
19Belarus Belarus0112
New Zealand New Zealand0112
21Finland Finland0022
22 Great Britain0011
Totals (22 entries)268271267806

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.

Rank Skater Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Sven Kramer  Netherlands 2007 2020 21 3 2 26
2 Shani Davis  United States 2004 2015 8 4 3 15
3 Bob de Jong  Netherlands 1997 2013 7 8 5 20
4 Gianni Romme  Netherlands 1996 2004 7 2 3 12
5 Erben Wennemars  Netherlands 1999 2008 6 2 3 11
6 Jorrit Bergsma  Netherlands 2012 2023 5 8 – 13
7 Carl Verheijen  Netherlands 2001 2009 5 5 3 13
8 Hiroyasu Shimizu  Japan 1996 2005 5 3 2 10
9 Pavel Kulizhnikov  Russia
Russian Skating Union		 2015 2021 5 3 1 9
10 Douwe de Vries  Netherlands 2015 2020 5 – 1 6

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.

Rank Skater Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Martina Sáblíková  Czech Republic 2007 2023 16 6 2 24
2 Ireen Wüst  Netherlands 2007 2021 15 15 1 31
3 Anni Friesinger  Germany 1997 2009 12 9 1 22
4 Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann  Germany 1996 2001 11 3 – 14
5 Christine Nesbitt  Canada 2007 2013 7 2 3 12
6 Claudia Pechstein  Germany 1996 2017 5 13 12 30
7 Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong  Netherlands 2016 2023 5 4 2 11
8 Irene Schouten  Netherlands 2015 2023 5 1 5 11
9 Ivanie Blondin  Canada 2015 2023 4 5 2 11
10 Brittany Bowe  United States 2013 2023 4 3 5 12

References

  1. ^ "ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships 2016, Kolomna, Russia" (PDF). ISU.org. International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2016.
  2. ^ "ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships 2017, Gangneung, Korea" (PDF). ISU.org. International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2017.
  3. ^ "ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, 2019 Inzell, Germany". ISU.org. International Skating Union. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
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