Editing Speed skating (section)

== History ==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2025}}
[[File:Schaatswedstrijd voor vrouwen op de Stadsgracht in Leeuwarden - 21 januari 1809 - Nicolaas Baur - 1809 - SK-A-5020 - Rijksmuseum.jpg|thumb|[[Nicolaas Bauer]]: Women's speed skating competition on the town canal at Leeuwarden, 1809.]]
[[File:Kortebaanwedstrijd in Hindelopen.jpg|thumb|Speed skating match on the [[Zuiderzee]] near [[Hindeloopen]], [[Netherlands]], in 1828]]

The origins of speed skating date back over a [[millennium]] in the North of Europe, especially [[Scandinavia]] and the [[Netherlands]], where the natives added bones to their shoes and used them to travel on frozen rivers, canals and lakes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.medievalists.net/2015/12/did-people-ice-skate-in-the-middle-ages/|title=Did People Ice Skate in the Middle Ages?|last=Alvarez|first=Sandra|website=www.medievalists.net|access-date=28 August 2024}}</ref> Later, in Norway, King [[Eystein Magnusson]], later King Eystein I of [[Norway]], boasts of his skills racing on bone skates, so called "ice legs".{{cn|date=February 2025}}

However, skating and speed skating was not limited to the Netherlands and Scandinavia; in 1592, a Scotsman designed a skate with an iron blade. It was iron-bladed skates that led to the spread of skating and, in particular, speed skating.
By 1642, the first known skating club, The Skating Club of Edinburgh, was born, and, in 1763, the first speed skating race known in any detail was held from [[Wisbech]] to [[Whittlesey]] on the [[The Fens|Fens]] in [[England]] for a prize sum of 20 [[guinea (coin)|guinea]]s, won by John Lamb of Wisbech.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000189/17630204/009/0002|title=County News|via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]|access-date=11 November 2019}}</ref>
While in the Netherlands, people began touring the waterways connecting the 11 cities of Friesland, a challenge which eventually led to the [[Elfstedentocht]].

The first known speed skating competition for women was in [[Heerenveen]], the Netherlands from 1 to 2 February 1805. The competition was won by [[Trijntje Pieters Westra]].<ref name=knaw>{{Cite web|url=http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/TrijntjePieters|title=Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland|date=17 September 2019|website=resources.huygens.knaw.nl}}</ref><ref name=speedskatingnews>{{Cite web|url=https://www.speedskatingnews.info/en/data/skater/trijntje-pieters-westra/|title=Competition results, statistics and records; SpeedSkatingNews|website=speedskatingnews.info|access-date=3 April 2020}} 1001 Vrouwen uit de Nederlandse geschiedenis</ref>

By 1851, North Americans had discovered a love of the sport, and the all-steel blade was later developed there. In Norway speed skating also became popular, as there was a huge interest in the [[1885 speed skating race at Frognerkilen]] between [[Axel Paulsen]] and [[Renke van der Zee]].
The Netherlands came back to the fore in 1889 with the organization of the first world championships. The ISU ([[International Skating Union]]) was also born in the Netherlands in 1892.
By the start of the 20th century, skating and speed skating had come into its own as a major popular sporting activity.

===ISU development===
[[File:JaapEden.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Jaap Eden]], the first official world champion]]

Organized races on ice skates developed in the 19th century. Norwegian clubs hosted competitions from 1863, with races in [[Oslo|Christiania]] drawing five-digit crowds.<ref>{{in lang|no}} ''Olympiske vinterleker 1924–2006'', Åge Dalby, Jan Greve, [[Per Jorsett]], {{ISBN|82-7286-162-3}}, Akilles forlag 2006, p. 29</ref> In 1884, the Norwegian [[Axel Paulsen]] was named Amateur Champion Skater of the World after winning competitions in the [[United States]]. Five years later, a sports club in Amsterdam held an ice-skating event they called a world championship, with participants from [[Russia]], the [[United States]] and the [[United Kingdom]], as well as the host country. The ''Internationale Eislauf Vereinigung'', now known as the [[International Skating Union]], was founded at a meeting of 15 national representatives in [[Scheveningen]] in 1892, the first international winter sports federation. The Nederlandse Schaatsrijderbond was founded in 1882<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.knsb.nl/content/langebaan/watislangebaan.asp Wat is Langebaanschaatsen] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305133755/http://www.knsb.nl/content/langebaan/watislangebaan.asp |date=5 March 2009 }}, KNSB.nl</ref> and organised the world championships of 1890 and 1891.<ref name=wchallm>{{cite web|title=History of the World Championship Allround Men|url=http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=championships&g=m&type=wchall|publisher=SpeedskatingResults.com|access-date=10 September 2012}}</ref> Competitions were held around tracks of varying lengths—the 1885 match between [[Axel Paulsen]] and Remke van der Zee was skated on a track of 6/7 mile (1400 metres)—but the 400 metre track was standardised by the ISU in 1892, along with the standard distances for world championships, 500&nbsp;m, 1500&nbsp;m, 5000&nbsp;m and 10,000&nbsp;m. Skaters started in pairs, each to their own lane, and changed lanes for every lap to ensure that each skater completed the same distance. This is what is now known as long track speed skating. Competitions were exclusively for amateur skaters, which was enforced. Peter Sinnerud was disqualified for professionalism in 1904 and lost his world title.

Long track [[List of world records in speed skating|world records]] were first registered in imperial distances and since 1880 in metrical distances. The latter ones improved rapidly since their adoption as standard distances by the ISU, with [[Jaap Eden]] lowering the world 5000-metre record by half a minute during the Hamar European Championships in 1894. However, the record stood for 17 years, and it took over 50 years to lower it by further half a minute.<ref>{{in lang|no}} ''Skøytesportens stjerner'', Knut Bjørnsen and Per Jorsett, J. W. Cappelens forlag 1971, p. 183</ref><ref name=wr5000>{{cite web|title=Evolution of the world record 5000 meters Men|url=http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=records&g=m&event=5000|publisher=SpeedskatingResults.com|access-date=10 September 2012}}</ref>

===Elfstedentocht===
[[File:De 10e Elfstedentocht.ogv|thumb|Historical footage of the 1954 [[Elfstedentocht]] with Dutch commentary]]

The [[Elfstedentocht]] was organized as a competition in 1909 and has been held at irregular intervals, whenever the ice on the course is deemed good enough. Other outdoor races developed later, with [[Friesland]] in the northern Netherlands hosting a race in 1917, but the Dutch natural ice conditions have rarely been conducive to skating. The Elfstedentocht has been held 15 times in the nearly 100 years since 1909, and, before artificial ice was available in 1962, national championships had been held in 25 of the years between 1887, when the first championship was held in [[Slikkerveer]], and 1961. Since artificial ice became common in the Netherlands, Dutch speed skaters have been among the world top in long track ice skating and marathon skating. Another solution to still be able to skate marathons on natural ice became the Alternative Elfstedentocht. The Alternative Elfstedentocht races take part in other countries, such as [[Austria]], [[Finland]] or [[Canada]], and all top marathon skaters, as well as thousands of recreative skaters, travel from the Netherlands to the location where the race is held. According to the [[NRC Handelsblad]] journalist Jaap Bloembergen, the country "takes a carnival look" during international skating championships.<ref>[http://www.nrc.nl/W2/Lab/Profiel/Netherlands/sports.html Less orange during the uneven years], from nrc.nl, published 1 July 1999</ref>

=== Olympic Games ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-05456, St. Moritz, Winterolympiade.jpg|thumb|Speed skating at the [[1928 Winter Olympics]] in [[St. Moritz]], [[Switzerland]]]]
{{Main|Speed skating at the Winter Olympics}}
At the 1914 Olympic Congress, the delegates agreed to include ice speed skating in the 1916 Olympics, after figure skating had featured in the 1908 Olympics. However, World War I put an end to the plans of Olympic competition, and it was not until the winter sports week in Chamonix in 1924—retroactively awarded Olympic status—that ice speed skating reached the Olympic programme. Charles Jewtraw from Lake Placid, New York, won the first Olympic gold medal, though several Norwegians in attendance claimed Oskar Olsen had clocked a better time.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}} Timing issues on the 500 were a problem within the sport until electronic clocks arrived in the 1960s; during the 1936 Olympic 500–metre race, it was suggested that Ivar Ballangrud's 500-metre time was almost a second too good. Finland won the remaining four gold medals at the 1924 Games, with Clas Thunberg winning 1,500 metres, 5,000 metres, and allround. It was the first and only time an allround Olympic gold medal has been awarded in speed skating. Speed Skating is also a sport in today's Olympics.

Norwegian and Finnish skaters won all the gold medals in world championships between the world wars, with Latvians and Austrians visiting the podium in the European Championships. However, North American races were usually conducted pack-style, similar to the marathon races in the Netherlands, but the Olympic races were to be held over the four ISU-approved distances. The ISU approved the suggestion that the speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics should be held as pack-style races, and Americans won all four gold medals. Canada won five medals, all silver and bronze, while defending World Champion Clas Thunberg stayed at home, protesting against this form of racing. At the World Championships held immediately after the games, without the American champions, Norwegian racers won all four distances and occupied the three top spots in the allround standings.

Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, and Japanese skating leaders protested to the USOC, condemning the manner of competition and expressing the wish that mass-start races were never to be held again at the Olympics. However, the ISU adopted the short track speed skating branch, with mass-start races on shorter tracks, in 1967, arranged international competitions from 1976, and brought them back to the Olympics in 1992.

===Technical developments===
[[File:Monique Angermüller (23-02-2008).jpg|thumb|[[Monique Angermüller]] on [[clap skate]]s and in a full body-covering suit in 2008]]

Artificial ices entered the long track competitions with the [[1960 Winter Olympics]], and the competitions in 1956 on [[Lake Misurina]] were the last Olympic competitions on natural ice. 1960 also saw the first Winter Olympic competitions for women. [[Lidia Skoblikova]] won two gold medals in 1960 and four in 1964.

More aerodynamic skating suits were also developed, with Swiss skater [[Franz Krienbühl]] (who finished 8th on the Olympic 10,000&nbsp;m at the age of 46) at the front of development.<ref>{{in lang|no}} ''Olympiske vinterleker 1924–2006'', Åge Dalby, Jan Greve, Per Jorsett, {{ISBN|82-7286-162-3}}, Akilles forlag 2006, p. 252</ref> After a while, national teams took over development of bodysuits, which are also used in short track skating, though without headcover attached to the suit—short trackers wear helmets instead, as falls are more common in mass-start races. Suits and indoor skating, as well as the [[clap skates|clap skate]], has helped to lower long track world records considerably; from 1971 to 2009, the average speed on the men's 1500 metres has been raised from 45 to 52&nbsp;[[km/h]]. Similar speed increases are shown in the other distances.

===Professionalism===
After the 1972 season, European long track skaters founded a professional league, International Speedskating League, which included [[Ard Schenk]], three-time Olympic gold medallist in 1972, as well as five Norwegians, four other Dutchmen, three Swedes, and a few other skaters. [[Jonny Nilsson]], 1963 world champion and Olympic gold medallist, was the driving force behind the league, which folded in 1974 for economic reasons, and the ISU also excluded tracks hosting professional races from future international championships.<ref>{{in lang|no}} ''Olympiske vinterleker 1924–2006'', Åge Dalby, Jan Greve, Per Jorsett, {{ISBN|82-7286-162-3}}, Akilles forlag 2006, p. 230</ref> The ISU later organised its own World Cup circuit with monetary prizes, and full-time professional teams developed in the Netherlands during the 1990s, which led them to a dominance on the men's side only challenged by Japanese 500&nbsp;m racers and American inline skaters who changed to long tracks to win Olympic gold.

===North American professionals===
During the 20th century, [[roller skating]] also developed as a competitive sport. Roller-skating races were professional from an early stage.<ref>Turner, James, in collaboration with Zaidman, Michael (1997). The History of Roller Skating. National Museum of Roller Skating. {{ISBN|0-9658192-0-5}}.</ref> Professional World Championships were arranged in North America between the competitors on that circuit.<ref>[http://www.hickoksports.com/history/rollerskate03.shtml Roller Skating 3: Types of Competition] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120905220659/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/rollerskate03.shtml |date=5 September 2012 }}, from hickoksprots.com. Retrieved 25 December 2006.</ref> Later, [[roller derby]] leagues appeared, a professional contact sport that originally was a form of racing. [[International Roller Sports Federation|FIRS]] World Championships of inline speed skating go back to the 1980s,<ref>[http://www.hickoksports.com/history/wminline.shtml World In-Line Skating Medalists – Men] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120903143310/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/wminline.shtml |date=3 September 2012 }}</ref> but many world champions, such as [[Derek Parra]] and [[Chad Hedrick]], have switched to ice in order to win Olympic medals.

Like roller skating, ice speed skating was also professional in North America. [[Oscar Mathisen]], five-time ISU world champion and three-time European champion, renounced his amateur status in 1916 and travelled to America, where he won many races but was beaten by [[Bobby McLean]] of [[Chicago]], four-time American champion,<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1146.html Ice Skating], The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago</ref> in one of the races. Chicago was a centre of ice speed skating in America; the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' sponsored a competition called the Silver Skates from 1912 to 2014.

===Short track enters the Olympics===
{{Main|Short track speed skating at the Winter Olympics}}

In 1992, short track speed skating was accepted as an Olympic sport. Short track speed skating had little following in the long track speed skating countries of Europe, such as Norway, the Netherlands and the former Soviet Union, with none of these nations having won official medals (though the Netherlands won two gold medals when the sport was a demonstration event in 1988). The Norwegian publication ''Sportsboken'' spent ten pages detailing the long track speed skating events at the Albertville Games in 1993, but short track was not mentioned by word, though the results pages appeared in that section.<ref>''Sportsboken 1992'', Schibsted forlag, {{ISBN|82-516-1428-7}}</ref>

Although this form of speed skating is newer, it is growing faster than long-track speed skating, largely because short track can be done on an ice hockey rink rather than a long-track oval.