Speed skating rink

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

The rink

A standard 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. [ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules] - Rule 203

At international competitions, the track must be 400 metres long, with a warm-up lane at least 4 metres wide inside the competition lanes.^[1] For Olympic competitions, the track must also be enclosed within a building.^[2]

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.^[3] 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 (ot a set of painted marks) and movable blocks of rubber. On outdoor tracks, snow may also be used for demarcation of the competition lanes.^[4]

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.^[5]

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 Vikingskipet, Ice Palace Krylatskoye, and Medeu.

Indoor speed skating tracks

Main article: List of indoor speed skating rinks

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.^[6]

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	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	Eisstadion Inzell	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	SpaarSelect Kunstijsbaan	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
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.^[6]

Country	City	Track name	Altitude	Finished	Other
Austria	Innsbruck	Olympia Eisstadion	586	1963
Canada	Québec City	Anneau Gaétan-Boucher	103	1972	Artificial ice in 1985, transform to an indoor oval for 2019-2020
Canada	Halifax, NS	Emera Oval	30m	2011	www.halifax.ca/skatehrm
Finland	Helsinki	Oulunkylän Liikuntapuisto	39	1977
Finland	Seinäjoki	Jääurheilukeskus	44	1952
Hungary	Budapest	Városligeti Műjégpálya	115	1968
Italy	Baselga di Pinè	Ice Rink Pinè	998	1985
Italy	Collalbo	Arena Ritten	1173	1989
Kazakhstan	Almaty	Medeu	1691	1972	Reopened
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	Reopened with artificial ice in 2010
Norway	Oslo	Valle Hovin	92	1966
Poland	Warsaw	Tor Stegny	82	1979
Poland	Zakopane	Tor Cos	932	1956
Switzerland	Davos	Eisstadion Davos	1560	1894	Natural ice
USA	Lake Placid	James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink	568	1977
USA	Roseville	John Rose Minnesota Oval	276	1993