Fourteen titles between men and women for the long track: races with very high top speeds and the spectacle of the Mass Start road race
There are few sports that boast a longer and more glorious tradition than long track speed skating. The first World Cup and the first European Championships speed skating they date back to 1893: they were held in Amsterdam and Berlin. The discipline, however, has made its appearance at the Games since the first winter edition, that of Chamonix 1924. Even if it was not until that of Squaw Valley 1960 to see women competing. At St. Moritz 1928 no more than three titles will be awarded (the historic minimum), since PyeongChang 2018 this has risen to 14, seven for each gender. The leading nation, as confirmed by the overall Olympic medal table, is the Netherlands, where people have always skated on the frozen canals and where the blades under the “shoes” have also been a means of transport. The Netherlands (48 gold, 44 silver, 41 bronze) leads the tally ahead of the United States and Norway. The medal table, individually, is instead headed by the multi-talented Dutchwoman Ireen Wust who from Turin 2006 to Beijing 2022, taking advantage of the increased number of competitions compared to the past, before hanging up her skates, won 6 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze for a total of 13 medals. Only the Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjorgen, with 15, has more at the Winter Games. The Soviet/Russian Lidiya Skoblikova (1960-1968) also won six golds (but no other medals), while the most decorated man is the Finnish Clas Thunberg, with 5 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze (1924-1928). More significant, however, are the names of the American Eric Heiden, five golds out of five at Lake Placid 1980, the Norwegian Johann Olav Koss, king between Albertville 1992 and above all Lillehammer 1994, the Dutch Sven Kramer, like his compatriot Wust protagonist between Turin 2006 and Beijing 2022, the German Claudia Pechstein (nine times on the podium) and the American Bonnie Blair, capable of prevail in three consecutive editions (1988-1994). For Milano Cortina there is one name above all, that of Jordan Stolz, a 21 year old American originally from Wisconsin. It is difficult to identify a possible opponent for the 500, 1,000 and 1,500: this season, in the World Cup, he has almost never lost in the three specialties. It is more difficult to indicate a single athlete for long distances. Among the women, out of 500 and 1,000, the spotlight is on the Dutch Femke Kok, even if the greatest interests will be catalysed by her compatriot Jutta Leerdam, one with 4.9 million followers on Instagram, outgoing silver medalist of the 1000, pin-up and girlfriend of youtuber Jake Paul. With the hope that the Italians will also be able to carve out important spaces for themselves: from Davide Ghiotto (5,000 and 10,000) to Andrea Giovannini (Mass Start), from the men’s team pursuit (Michele Malfatti is added to the two mentioned) to Francesca Lollobrigida (3,000, 5,000 and Mass Start), the podium cards are different.
Seven per gender in the 400 meter ring: 500, 1,000, 1,500, 5,000/3,000 (men/women), 10,000/5,000 (men/women), Mass Start and Team Pursuit (made up of trios). On the first five distances you compete in pairs, but only the chronometric reference counts: the ranking is drawn up based on the best times. The Mass Start is a road race in which everyone competes together and whoever crosses the finish line first wins, while the pursuit is a direct elimination event, starting from the quarter-finals.
Men’s team pursuit
Women’s team pursuit
No Italian has ever stood on the podium until Turin 2006. When Enrico Fabris from Vicenza even became “the man of the Games” by winning the gold in the 1500m and the team pursuit (together with Matteo Anesi and Ippolito Sanfratello), as well as the bronze in the 5000m. In his wake came the bronze medals in the 10,000m by Nicola Tumolero and Davide Ghiotto in PyeongChang 2018 and in Beijing 2022 and Francesca Lollobrigida’s double in the Chinese edition, silver in the 3000m and bronze in the Mass Start. There are therefore 7 (2-1-4) five-ring blue medals.
