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World Sprint Speed Skating Championships
Status	active
Genre	sporting event
Date(s)	varying
Frequency	annual
Country	varying
Inaugurated	1970

The World Sprint Speed Skating Championships are annual speed skating championships. The championships are held over a two-day period, with the skaters racing one 500 m and one 1,000 m each day (so-called sprint combination). Since the higher speeds towards the end of the race tend to favour the skater who skates the last outer lane, each skater starts both distances once in the inner lane and once in the outer lane. The times on those distances are then converted to points using the samalog system, and the skaters are then ranked according to the fewest points.

The International Skating Union has organised the World Sprint Championships for Men and the World Sprint Championships for Women since 1970 and both are held at the same time and venue. The first two years (1970 and 1971), they were called the ISU Sprint Championships. Since 2020, the men's and women's World Sprint Championships are held every even year – at same time and venue as the men's and women's World Allround Championships.

The (non-Olympic) team sprint world championship events are normally being held at the World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships since 2019. In a 2021–22 Olympic season this events were held during the 2022 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships.

Hosts

Year Venue Nation 1970 West Allis  United States 1971 Inzell  West Germany 1972 Eskilstuna  Sweden 1973 Oslo  Norway 1974 Innsbruck  Austria 1975 Gothenburg  Sweden 1976 West Berlin  West Germany 1977 Alkmaar  Netherlands 1978 Lake Placid  United States 1979 Inzell  West Germany 1980 West Allis  United States 1981 Grenoble  France 1982 Alkmaar  Netherlands 1983 Helsinki  Finland 1984 Trondheim  Norway 1985 Heerenveen  Netherlands 1986 Karuizawa  Japan 1987 Sainte Foy  Canada

Year Venue Nation 1988 West Allis  United States 1989 Heerenveen  Netherlands 1990 Tromsø  Norway 1991 Inzell  Germany 1992 Oslo  Norway 1993 Ikaho  Japan 1994 Calgary  Canada 1995 Milwaukee  United States 1996 Heerenveen  Netherlands 1997 Hamar  Norway 1998 Berlin  Germany 1999 Calgary  Canada 2000 Seoul  South Korea 2001 Inzell  Germany 2002 Hamar  Norway 2003 Calgary  Canada 2004 Nagano  Japan 2005 Salt Lake City  United States

Year Venue Nation 2006 Heerenveen  Netherlands 2007 Hamar  Norway 2008 Heerenveen  Netherlands 2009 Moscow  Russia 2010 Obihiro  Japan 2011 Heerenveen  Netherlands 2012 Calgary  Canada 2013 Salt Lake City  United States 2014 Nagano  Japan 2015 Astana  Kazakhstan 2016 Seoul  South Korea 2017 Calgary  Canada 2018 Changchun  China 2019 Heerenveen  Netherlands 2020 Hamar  Norway 2022 Hamar  Norway 2024 Inzell  Germany

Medal tables (1970–2024)

Sprint combination

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	21	23	17	61
2	Netherlands	11	15	24	50
3	Soviet Union	11	10	8	29
4	Canada	10	13	8	31
5	East Germany	10	8	3	21
6	Germany	8	6	6	20
7	Japan	7	12	13	32
8	South Korea	7	3	4	14
9	China	6	5	3	14
10	Russia	6	3	4	13
11	Norway	3	4	5	12
12	West Germany	2	0	3	5
13	Finland	1	2	0	3
14	Belarus	1	1	1	3
	Sweden	1	1	1	3
16	CIS	1	0	0	1
17	Poland	0	0	2	2
18	Australia	0	0	1	1
	Austria	0	0	1	1
	Czech Republic	0	0	1	1
	Italy	0	0	1	1
Totals (21 entries)		106	106	106	318

Team sprint

See also:

• World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships for Men#Team sprint
• World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships for Women#Team sprint

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Netherlands	1	0	1	2
	Norway	1	0	1	2
3	Poland	0	2	0	2
Totals (3 entries)		2	2	2	6

Combined all-time medal count including team sprint

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	21	23	17	61
2	Netherlands	12	15	25	52
3	Soviet Union	11	10	8	29
4	Canada	10	13	8	31
5	East Germany	10	8	3	21
6	Germany	8	6	6	20
7	Japan	7	12	13	32
8	South Korea	7	3	4	14
9	China	6	5	3	14
10	Russia	6	3	4	13
11	Norway	4	4	6	14
12	West Germany	2	0	3	5
13	Finland	1	2	0	3
14	Belarus	1	1	1	3
	Sweden	1	1	1	3
16	CIS	1	0	0	1
17	Poland	0	2	2	4
18	Australia	0	0	1	1
	Austria	0	0	1	1
	Czech Republic	0	0	1	1
	Italy	0	0	1	1
Totals (21 entries)		108	108	108	324

Notes

1. - Using the world record per 2012 as an example: at the world championships on 28/29 January 2012, Stefan Groothuis skated his 500 m races in 34.84 and 34.74 seconds, respectively, and his 1,000 m races in 1:07.50 and 1:06.96. His total score was therefore 34.840 + 34.740 + 33.750 + 33.480 = 136.810 points.

References

• "Medal Winners in World Sprint Championships" (PDF). International Skating Union.
• "World Sprint Speed Skating Championships Overview". International Skating Union.

• World Speed Skating Championships