Speed Skating Rules: Everything for You to Know

Speed skating is an Olympic kind of sport, in which athletes should overcome a particular distance faster in comparison with their opponents. At present, speed skaters compete on round tracks. There are men’s and women’s speed skating competitions. The given article is going to present the most important peculiarities of the sport of speed skating.

General Rules

When it comes to official competitions, athletes form pairs to run against the clock. At the start, one athlete occupies the outside lane; his opponent occupies the inside lane. After each lap, the athletes should change lanes. Thus, it can sometimes happen that both athletes find themselves on the straight line close to each other. In this case, the athlete on the inside lane should make way to the athlete from the outside lane. If this rule is violated, a guilty runner gets a disqualification. When it comes to team and mass-start events, they take place along the inside lane only.

In short track races, athletes also run counter-clockwise but up to 6 athletes are allowed to participate in a single race. Runners may not create any obstacles or help others. In addition, it is prohibited to touch markers that limit the track as well as to place one of their legs forward with the blade being pulled away from the ice.

Short Track vs. Speed Skating

Short track appeared historically later in comparison with speed skating, and it was being considered as a speed skating variation for a certain period of time. Not long ago, it became a separate kind of sport. The general principles are roughly the same: athletes run counter-clockwise on an ice track and try to overcome a distance as fast as it is possible. With this, there still exist some differences between the two kinds of sport:

1. A short track distance is 111.12 meters with a curve radius being 8 meters.
2. There take place only short distance races; you will not face 5000- and 10000-meter short track events.
3. Up to 6 athletes may compete in a single race.
4. There are no lanes on the track. In addition, it is not necessary for athletes to change their lanes; it is up to every single runner to choose the lane that is the most suitable for him or her.
5. Short track skates are sharpened differently to make it easier to enter a curve. In addition, these skates are made differently which is represented by firmly fixed blades.

Speed Skating Track

A speed skating track is represented by a 400-meter-long oval (quite seldom, the length can be 333 meters). A radius of the inner curves is 25-26 meters. Its straight parts are approximately 100 meters long.

As it has already been mentioned, the speed skating track consists of the inside and outside lanes. One of the track straight parts is considered transitive; it is this place where athletes should change their lanes after every lap.

Equipment

Clap skates are the skates specially designed for the sport of speed skating. There is a special spring hinge that attaches blades to the front parts of the boots. This is made intentionally to increase a repulsion phase, which will correspondingly lead to achieving greater speed.

A speed skating suit (uniform) should follow the natural shapes of the athletes’ bodies. Any elements that can change this natural shape are prohibited. To make speed skating events safer, athletes are advised to have shin, ankle, and knee guards.

A speed skating protective helmet should follow the shape of the athletes’ heads. When it comes to short track competitions, athletes should wear protective glasses, gloves, and neck pads.

Competitions

There are a lot of international speed skating competitions, and the most popular among them are as follows:

1. Olympic Games – the most prestigious speed skating event held every four years.
2. Speed Skating World Championships – a set of international competitions organized by the International Skating Union (ISU).
3. Speed Skating European Championships.
4. World Cup – a set of winter sporting competitions held under the auspices of the International Speed Skating Federation.
5. National Championships.

History

Speed skating is one of the most ancient kinds of sport in the world history. Archeological findings state that prototypes of skates in their modern meaning were created at least 3000 years ago. The first speed skating clubs appeared in Scotland in 1742. In 1763, the first speed skating competitions took place but there were precise rules that could govern that event. As a result, it was an ordinary skating race. The first speed skating rules appeared in 1772.

1830 was the point when speed skating clubs started appearing in England, the USA, and Russia. The first national speed skating tournament took place in England in 1879. The Netherlands hosted the first Speed Skating World Championships in 1889. The win was awarded to a Russian athlete. In 1892, the International Skating Union appeared. This official body made an order that the World Championships would take place on an annual basis. The ISU is responsible for organizing and running speed skating competitions even nowadays.