Editing Speed skating (section)

===Team pursuit===
[[File:PyeongChang 2018 5156 (40538330421).jpg|thumb|Sven Kramer, Jan Blokhuijsen and Koen Verweij (NED) in team pursuit at the 2018 Winter Olympics.]]
The team pursuit is a team event in speed skating and is skated by teams of three skaters. Races resemble the [[team pursuit]] event in [[track cycling]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://content.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/vancouver/medals/Speed-Skating |title=Olympic Medal Winners for Speed Skating|work=[[USA Today]]|access-date=25 March 2013}}</ref> Two teams race at a time, starting at a line in the middle of the straightaway. One team starts on each side of the track. Only the inner lane is used. The distance is eight laps for men and six for women. The team's time is the third skater to cross the finish line.

There are several formats for the team pursuit. The Olympic format is unusual in that it is a cup format, with several rounds of exclusion between two teams. In the World Cup and World Championships, one race is skated and the teams are ranked by their finishing time. In the Olympic format, a team that overtakes the other has automatically won the race and the remaining distance is not skated. In practice, the distance is so short that this rarely happens unless one team has a fall.

The team pursuit is a new event in major international competitions.  The event was introduced at international level at the world junior championships around the turn of the millennium, and to the [[speed skating World Cup|World Cup]] in 2003, but it was not considered an official ISU event until around 2004, and eventually introduced at the Olympics in 2006.