World Speed Skating Sprint Championships: All-Time Canadian Medalists

The World Sprint Speed ​​Skating Championship takes place every year. It lasts two days. Every day runners on skates overcome two types of distances: 500 and 1000 meters. Each of the participants runs both types of distances: on the inside and outside tracks. The time spent on these distances is converted into points according to the samalog system.

The first World Championships among speed skaters took place in 1970 and 1971 under the name the ISU Sprint Championships. The organizer of this sporting event is the International Skating Union. Competitions for women and men have been held since 1970, on the same day and in the same place. From 2020, it was decided to hold competitions not every but even year.

Canada as a Championship Host

In the history of holding speed skating competitions in a sprint at the world level, Canada has hosted World Championships six times. The first World Speed Skating Sprint Championship took place in 1987 in Sainte-Foy, Quebec. The next venue for skating competitions was the city of Calgary, in the province of Alberta. The competitions were held here five times: in 1994, 1999, 2003, 2012 and 2017.

World Speed Skating Sprint Championships Medalists

Between 1970 and 2022, Canadian athletes managed to collect 30 medals, including 10 gold, 13 silver and 7 bronze ones. As a result, in the history of the sprint championships for men and women (which are held separately), the country takes fourth place.

Men Sprint Championships

ice sportman

Among the Canadian male athletes who have been world championship medalists are the following names:

Below you can find details of competitions in which Canadian athletes received medals. These include year, venue and names of that year’s Canadian medalists. Find out the names of the best sprint speed skaters.

Event Results Awards
WSSSC in Inzell, West Germany, 1979 Gaétan Boucher Silver medal
West Allis, United States Gaétan Boucher Silver medal
WSSSC in Alkmaar, Netherlands, 1982 Gaétan Boucher Silver medal
WSSSC in Trondheim, Norway, 1984 Gaétan Boucher Gold medal
WSSSC in Heerenveen, Netherlands, 1985 Gaétan Boucher Silver medal
WSSSC in Berlin, Germany, 1998 Jeremy Wotherspoon Silver medal
WSSSC in Calgary, Canada, 1999 Jeremy Wotherspoon Gold medal
WSSSC in Seoul, South Korea, 2000 Jeremy Wotherspoon Gold medal Mike Ireland, Silver medal
WSSSC in Inzell, Germany, 2001 Mike Ireland Mike Ireland, gold medal Jeremy Wotherspoon, bronze medal
WSSSC in Hamar, Norway, 2002 Jeremy Wotherspoon Gold medal Mike Ireland, Bronze medal
WSSSC in Calgary, Canada, 2003 Jeremy Wotherspoon Gold medal
WSSSC in Nagano, Japan, 2004 Jeremy Wotherspoon Silver medal Mike Ireland, Bronze medal
WSSSC in Salt Lake City, United States, 2005 Jeremy Wotherspoon Silver medal
WSSSC in Heerenveen, Netherlands, 2008 Jeremy Wotherspoon Silver medal
WSSSC in Hamar, Norway, 2020 Laurent Dubreuil Silver medal

Women Sprint Championships

woman speed skating

As for women, the Canadian skating runners have shown very good results. Among the all-time medalists are:

Below we have summarized in a table the key points regarding the speed skating competitions in which Canadian athletes won prizes. These dates include the year and location of the championship, as well as what place did the ice skating runner from Canada take.

EventResultsAwards
WSSSC in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1975Cathy PriestnerBronze medal
WSSSC in West Berlin, West Germany, 1976Sylvia BurkaBronze medal
WSSSC in Alkmaar, Netherlands, 1977Sylvia BurkaGold medal
WSSSC in Berlin, Germany, 1998Catriona Le May DoanGold medal
WSSSC in Calgary, Canada, 1999Catriona Le May DoanSilver medal
WSSSC in Inzell, Germany, 2001Catriona Le May DoanBronze medal
WSSSC in Hamar, Norway, 2002Catriona Le May DoanGold medal
WSSSC in Calgary, Canada, 2003Cindy KlassenSilver medal
WSSSC in Hamar, Norway, 2007Cindy KlassenBronze medal
WSSSC in Heerenveen, Netherlands, 2011Christine NesbittGold medal
WSSSC in Calgary, Canada 2012Christine NesbittSilver medal

*WSSSC is the abbreviation for the full name of the World Skating Championship in a sprint.

World Speed Skating Records

The record result of 136.065 pts at the World Sprint Championships belongs to Kai Verbij from the Netherlands. He covered the distance in the shortest period of time at the competition, which took place on 25–26 February 2017 in Calgary, Canada. Among the women’s athletes participating in the World Sprint Championships, Nao Kodaira from Japan is considered the fastest. At the competitions in Calgary of the same year, she skated a distance of 146.390 pts, setting a new speed skating record in this category of competitions.

Other World Records

Taking into account all the results in all types of competitions, the fastest skater at a distance of 500 meters is Pavel Kulizhnikov, Russia. With a score of 33.61 seconds on March 9, 2019, he completed the course at the World Cup final in Salt Lake City, USA.

At this distance, the men’s world record was set twice that day. The first record time was shown by Tatsuya Shinama from Japan (33.83 seconds). Then Kulizhnikov covered this distance faster.

Among women, Lee Sang-hwa from South Korea demonstrated the best performance in speed skating. At the 2012 World Cup Final in Calgary, Canada, she covered the 500m in 36.36 seconds. This athlete became the first Korean skater to break a world record.