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
Among the Canadian male athletes who have been world championship medalists are the following names:
- Gaétan Boucher (1 gold and 4 silver);
- Jeremy Wotherspoon (4 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze);
- Mike Ireland (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze);
- Laurent Dubreuil (1 silver).
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
As for women, the Canadian skating runners have shown very good results. Among the all-time medalists are:
- Cathy Priestner (1 bronze);
- Sylvia Burka (1 gold, 1 bronze);
- Catriona Le May Doan (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze);
- Cindy Klassen (1 silver, 1 bronze);
- Christine Nesbitt (1 gold, 1 silver).
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.
| Event | Results | Awards |
| WSSSC in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1975 | Cathy Priestner | Bronze medal |
| WSSSC in West Berlin, West Germany, 1976 | Sylvia Burka | Bronze medal |
| WSSSC in Alkmaar, Netherlands, 1977 | Sylvia Burka | Gold medal |
| WSSSC in Berlin, Germany, 1998 | Catriona Le May Doan | Gold medal |
| WSSSC in Calgary, Canada, 1999 | Catriona Le May Doan | Silver medal |
| WSSSC in Inzell, Germany, 2001 | Catriona Le May Doan | Bronze medal |
| WSSSC in Hamar, Norway, 2002 | Catriona Le May Doan | Gold medal |
| WSSSC in Calgary, Canada, 2003 | Cindy Klassen | Silver medal |
| WSSSC in Hamar, Norway, 2007 | Cindy Klassen | Bronze medal |
| WSSSC in Heerenveen, Netherlands, 2011 | Christine Nesbitt | Gold medal |
| WSSSC in Calgary, Canada 2012 | Christine Nesbitt | Silver medal |
*WSSSC is the abbreviation for the full name of the World Skating Championship in a sprint.
World Speed Skating Records
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.