A Brief history of Short Track Speed Skating.

Short Track Speed Skating: Brief history and review.

Short Track Speed Skating is the most common Winter sports and is a form of competitive Ice speed skating. – the first edition of its World Championships took place in 1976, and the sport was added to the Olympic program officially in 1992 – but people have actually been enjoying the thrills and spills of the event for well over a century.

What is 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 length of 111.12 metres (364.6 ft). The rink itself is 60 metres (200 ft) long by 30 metres (98 ft) wide, which is the same size as an Olympic-sized figure skating rink and an international-sized ice hockey rink. Short track speed skating is the sister sport to long track speed skating and the cousin sport to inline speed skating.

Short Track Speed Skating: Inventions, progress, Key moments so far. 

In 1905: Known initially as indoor Speed Skating, mass start races were first held in Canada and the United States, on oval tracks, in 1905,

By the 1920s, venues such as Madison Square Garden in New York were getting sizeable crowds for races.

 In 1967, the International Skating Union (ISU) adopted short track speed skating,

In 1976, Officially first World Short Track Speed Skating Championships was held.

At the 1988 Winter Olympics, Short track speed skating was introduced as a demonstration sport in Calgary, Alberta in Canada.

In 1992 Winter Olympics for the first time, Short track speed skating was introduced.

First Champions: The USA’s Alan Rattray was the first men’s World Champion, while Celeste Chlapaty, also from the United States, took the Ladies’ title.

First Olympic Gold medalist:   Kim Ki-hoon (Republic of Korea) won the first-ever Men’s Olympic gold, in the 1000m, then helped his team, Republic of Korea, win the Men’s 5000m Relay. The USA’s Cathy Turner was the first female gold medalist, while Canada won the Ladies’ 3000m Relay.

Most popular countries for Short Track Speed Skating.

 Short Track Speed Skating is the most popular winter sport USA as well in Canada, the sport caught on elsewhere, too, and spread via Japan to China and Korea, and later to Europe. Races were arranged in Great Britain, Australia, Belgium, France, and Japan...

Short Track Speed Skating Disciplines / Events.

 The events are the same for men and women Except One: 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, plus the relay event (5000 meters for men, 3000 meters for women). A 3000 meter super-final event is included in the European and World Championships, but this is not currently part of the Olympic short-track program.

Since Torino 2006 eight events have featured at each Olympics (500m, 1000m, 1500m, Men’s and Ladies’ Relays). Beijing 2022 will have one extra race on the roster, however, with the IOC approving the 2000m Mixed Relay for the next Olympics.

Short Track Speed Skating Champions.

In the early days of the sport, Canada reigned supreme. Sylvie Daigle, Nathalie Lambert, Gaetan Boucher, Guy and Michel Daignault, and Marc Gagnon all won multiple world titles.

 For the past two decades, however, China and the sport’s most successful -ever nation, Republic of Korea, have dominated, with Yang Yang and Li Jiajun (China), and Ahn Hyun-Soo (later to compete for Russia as Victor An), Jin Sun-yu and Choi Min Jeong (Korea) all shining.