Short track speed skating

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 penalized (PEN) from a race, and having their time rendered invalid.

• Impeding: Pushing, blocking,tripping or otherwise causing an impediment for another skater
• Off track: Skating outside the designated track
• Team skating: Conspiring with members from the same country, club, or other individual skaters to determine the race result. For example, forming a wall to impede passing. These infractions are rarely called as it is difficult to prove.
• Assistance: Giving physical assistance to another skater. For example: pushing a teammate from behind for an extra boost, or allowing a teammate to lean on another for stability in corners
• Shooting the line or Kicking out: Driving the foot in lead ahead to reach the finish faster, resulting in the lead foot lifting off the ice and creating a dangerous situation for others
• Unsportsmanlike conduct: Acting in a manner not befitting an athlete or a role model. Including cursing at a competitor, kicking your feet, striking other skaters or officials, etc.
• Equipment: Not wearing the proper safety equipment, losing equipment during the race, or exposure of skin not on face or neck.
• False Start: Leaving before firing of the starter's pistol. On the second violation in the race, the offender on that start is disqualified.^[1]
• Did not finish: Usually due to injury, the skater did not finish the race.
• Did not skate: The skater did not go to the starting line.

Classes

Short track at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, Innsbruck

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:

• Tiny Tot: 2–4
• Peewee: 5–7
• Pony: 8–10
• Midget: 11–12
• Sub Junior: 13–14
• Junior: 15–16
• Intermediate: 17–18
• Senior: 19–29
• Master1: 30–39
• Master2: 40–49
• Master3: 50–59
• Master4: 60+

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	Semen Elistratov	Russia	Dresden, Germany	February 6, 2016	1:22.607
1500 meters	Noh Jin-Kyu	South Korea	Shanghai, China	December 10, 2011	2:09.041
3000 meters	Noh Jin-Kyu	South Korea	Warsaw, Poland	March 19, 2011	4:31.891
5000 m relay	Canada*	Canada	Calgary, Canada	October 19, 2012	6:30.958
* 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	Zhou Yang	China	Salt Lake City, UT	February 9, 2008	2:16.729
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	1985	6	0	2	8	6	1	0	7	12	1	2	15	22	13	5	40	34	14	7	55
Marc Gagnon	Canada	1975	3	0	2	5	4	2	1	7	7	2	3	12	15	9	4	28	22	11	7	40
Kim Ki-hoon	South Korea	1967	3	0	0	3	1	2	1	4	4	2	1	7	2+	1+	2+	5+	6+	3+	3+	12+
Lee Ho-Suk	South Korea	1986	1	4	0	5	2	2	0	4	3	6	0	9	8	5	4	17	11	11	4	26
Apolo Anton Ohno	United States	1982	2	2	4	8	1	2	1	4	3	4	5	12	8	5	6	19	11	9	11	31
Charles Hamelin	Canada	1984	3	1	0	4	0	2	3	5	3	3	3	9	11	12	7	30	14	15	10	39
Kim Dong-Sung	South Korea	1980	1	1	0	2	2	0	1	3	3	1	1	5	10	7	3	20	13	8	4	25

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	1976	2	2	1	5	6	1	0	7	8	3	1	12	26	12	5	43	34	15	6	55
Wang Meng	China	1985	4	1	1	6	3	3	0	6	7	4	1	12	18	11	3	32	25	15	4	44
Chun Lee-kyung	South Korea	1976	4	0	1	5	3	2	0	5	7	2	1	10	10	11	3	24	17	13	4	34
Sylvie Daigle	Canada	1962	1	1	0	2	5	2	1	8	6	3	1	10	22+	8+	?	31+	28+	11+	1+	40+
Jin Sun-yu	South Korea	1988	3	0	0	3	3	0	0	3	6	0	0	6	10	3	1	14	16	3	1	20
Nathalie Lambert	Canada	1962	1	2	0	3	3	2	2	7	4	4	2	10	14+	3+	2+	19+	18+	7+	4+	29+
Choi Eun-kyung	South Korea	1984	2	2	0	4	2	1	0	3	4	3	0	7	12	3	3	18	16	6	3	25
Park Seung-hi	South Korea	1992	2	0	3	5	1	2	0	3	3	2	3	8	8	4	1	13	11	6	4	21
Zhou Yang	China	1991	3	0	0	3	0	1	1	2	3	1	1	5	5	4	4	13	8	5	5	18

See also

• Short track speed skating at the Winter Olympics

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Short track speed skating.

• Short Track a Sesto San Giovanni (MILANO)
• Short Track from FRANCE (PARIS)
• International Skating Union
• Speed Skating Canada
• US Speed Skating
• Italian Short Track Speed Skating
• ShorttrackOnLine, European competition results