Speed skating rink

A speed skating rink (or speed skating oval) is an ice rink in which a speed skating competition is held.

The rink

A standard long track speed skating track is, according to the regulations of the International Skating Union (ISU), a double-laned track with two curved ends each of 180°, in which the radius of the inner curve is not less than 25 metres and not more than 26 metres. The width of the competition lanes is 4 metres. At the opposite straight of the finishing line, there is a crossing area, where the skaters must change lane.[1]

At international competitions, the track must be 400 metres long, with a warm-up lane at least 4 metres wide inside the competition lanes.[2] For Olympic competitions, the track must also be enclosed within a building.[3]

The design and dimensions of a speed skating track have remained more or less unchanged since the foundation of ISU in 1892.

The speed skating track is also used for the sports of Icetrack cycling and Ice speedway

Measurement and demarcation

The dimensions of a standard speed skating rink

The measurement of the track is made half a meter into the lane.[4] The total length of the track is the distance a competitor skates each lap, i.e. the length of two straights, one inner curve and one outer curve, in addition to the extra distance skated when changing lanes in the cross-over area, which on a standard track equals 7 centimeters.

A 400 m track with inner radius 25.0 m has 113.57 m long straights
A 400 m track with inner radius 25.5 m has 112.00 m long straights
A 400 m track with inner radius 26.0 m has 110.43 m long straights

The demarcation of the competition lanes are made by painted lines in the ice (or a set of painted marks) and movable blocks of rubber. On outdoor tracks, snow may also be used for demarcation of the competition lanes.[5]

Alternative speed skating tracks

Although ISU regulations state that minimum measures for a standard speed skating track, alternative track lengths may be used for competition. The minimum requirements are track length on 200 meters, radius of inner curve of 15 meters and width of the competition lanes 2 meters.[6]

Short track speed skating tracks have a length of 111.111 metres (364.54 ft). The rink is 60 metres (200 ft) long by 30 metres (98 ft) wide, which is the same size as an international-sized ice hockey rink.

Combination with other sports

Medeu is also suitable for bandy

Many speed skating venues have ice hockey rinks or no ice area at all inside the oval. A few are suitable also for bandy, like Hamar Olympic Hall,[7] Ice Palace Krylatskoye,[8] and Medeu.[9] The Beijing National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, China, which is in the process of being built for the 2022 Winter Olympics, is also designed appropriately for that sport.[10][11] There is a growing cooperation between International Skating Union and Federation of International Bandy, since both have an interest in more indoor venues with large ice surfaces being built.[12] In Norway there is an agreement in place, stating that an indoor arena intended primarily for either bandy or long track speed skating, shall have ice surface for the other sport as well.

Indoor speed skating tracks

Below is a complete list of the indoor 400 m speed skating tracks around the world. The data presented are retrieved from the online database Speed Skating News.[13]

Country	City	Track name	Elevation (m)	Finished
Belarus	Minsk	Minsk Arena	209	2010
Canada	Calgary	Olympic Oval	1105	1987
Canada	Fort St. John	Pomeroy Sport Centre	671	2009
Canada	Richmond	Richmond Olympic Oval	4	2008*
China	Changchun	Jilin Provincial Speed Skating Rink	210	2005
China	Daqing	Daqing Stadium	149	2005
China	Harbin	Heilongjiang Indoor Rink	141	1995
China	Qiqihar	Indoor Icerink	146	2007
China	Shenyang	Bayi Speed Skating Oval	48	1999
China	Ürümqi	Xinjiang Ice Sport Centre	1710	2015
Germany	Berlin	Sportforum Hohenschönhausen	34	1985
Germany	Erfurt	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Halle	214	2001
Germany	Inzell	Max Aicher Arena	690	2011
Italy	Torino	Oval Lingotto	233	2005
Japan	Nagano	M-Wave	346	1996
Japan	Obihiro	Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi Oval	79	2009
Kazakhstan	Astana	Alau Ice Palace	348	2011
Netherlands	Breda	Kunstijsbaan Breda	5	2001
Netherlands	Dronten	Leisure World Ice Center	-3	1998
Netherlands	Enschede	IJsbaan Twente	27	2008
Netherlands	Groningen	Kardinge	0	1993
Netherlands	Heerenveen	Thialf	0	1986
Netherlands	Hoorn	De Westfries	0	2006
Netherlands	Tilburg	Ireen Wüst IJsbaan	13	2009
Netherlands	Leeuwarden	Elfstedenhal	0	2015
Norway	Botngård, Bjugn	Fosenhallen	8	2007
Norway	Hamar	Vikingskipet	125	1992
Norway	Stavanger	Sørmarka Arena	48	2010
Poland	Tomaszów Mazowiecki	Ice Arena Tomaszów Mazowiecki	153	2017
Russia	Chelyabinsk	Uralskaya Molniya	222	2005
Russia	Kolomna	Speed Skating Centre	120	2006
Russia	Moscow	Ice Palace Krylatskoye	127	2004
Russia	Sochi	Adler Arena Skating Center	5	2012
South Korea	Gangneung	Gangneung Oval	26	2015
South Korea	Seoul	Taereung Indoor Ice Rink	63	2000
Sweden	Gothenburg	Rudhallen	40	2002
USA	West Allis, Milwaukee	Pettit National Ice Center	216	1993
USA	Kearns, Salt Lake City	Utah Olympic Oval	1423	2000

Note: The Richmond Olympic Oval was dismantled upon completion of the 2010 Winter Olympics and is no longer used for speed skating. However, if the need arises the speed skating rink can be reinstalled.

Other major speed skating tracks

In the table below, some of the world's major outdoor speed skating tracks still in use are listed. This is not a complete list of speed skating venues, but lists most of the outdoor tracks used for world cup competitions and championships the past years. The data in the table are retrieved from the Speed Skating News database.[13]

Country	City	Track name	Altitude (meters)	Finished	Other
Austria	Innsbruck	Olympia Eisstadion	586	1963	Winter Olympics 1964 and 1976
Canada	Halifax	Emera Oval	30	2011
Canada	Québec City	Anneau Gaétan-Boucher	103	1972	Artificial ice in 1985, now closed, converted to an indoor oval. The building complex is now as know the « Centre de Glaces » for autumn 2021. This oval is now covered and should be on the indoor list as of Fall(?) 2022. The name of the 400 m ice track hasn't changed.
Canada	Winnipeg	Susan Auch Oval	234	1979	Natural ice
Finland	Helsinki	Oulunkylän Liikuntapuisto	39	1977
Finland	Seinäjoki	Jääurheilukeskus	44	1952
Hungary	Budapest	Városligeti Műjégpálya	115	1968
Italy	Baselga di Piné	Ice Rink Piné	998	1985	Winter Olympics 2026, to expand for indoor configuration.
Italy	Collalbo	Arena Ritten	1173	1989
Kazakhstan	Almaty	Medeu	1691	1951	Artificial ice in 1972, Included in the defeated bid for 2014 and 2022 Winter Olympics in Almaty.
Netherlands	Amsterdam	Jaap Eden IJsbaan	-5	1961
Netherlands	Deventer	De Scheg	6	1992	Semi-covered
Netherlands	The Hague	De Uithof	0	1989	Semi-covered
Netherlands	Haarlem	IJsbaan Kennemerland	0	1977	Semi-covered
Netherlands	Utrecht	De Vechtsebanen	-2	1970	Semi-covered
Norway	Oslo	Frogner stadion	42	1914	Artificial ice in 2010
Norway	Oslo	Valle Hovin	92	1966	Included in the cancelled bid for 2022 Winter Olympics in Oslo and Lillehammer.
Poland	Warsaw	Tor Stegny	82	1979
Poland	Zakopane	Tor Cos	932	1956	Included in the cancelled bid for 2022 Winter Olympics in Krakow.
Switzerland	Davos	Eisstadion Davos	1560	1894	Natural ice, Included in the cancelled bid for 2022 Winter Olympics in Kanton of Graubünden.
USA	Lake Placid	James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink	568	1977	Winter Olympics 1980, Winter Universiade 2023.
USA	Roseville	John Rose Minnesota Oval	276	1993	Refrigerated Ice