2022/23 Speed Skating and Short Track Speed Skating seasons: Preview, schedule and stars to watch

The world'​​s best skaters have returned to the ice.

The short track speed skating season opened in Montreal, Canada, with the ISU World Cup on 28 October and moved to Salt Lake City, USA, on 4 November.

The skaters will have their eye on the new Crystal Globe Trophy which will be awarded to the male and female athlete with the highest points at the end of the season. 

The speed skating World Cup season kicked off with the first of six events in Stavenger, Norway, without Olympic gold medallist Gao Tingyu, who opted to skip the 2022-2023 campaign as he hopes to recover from injuries, and regain top form for Milano-Cortina 2026.

Who will be the main stars to watch? When and where will the events take place? Here is everything you need to know.

Speed Skating: Stars to watch

In the absence of Tingyu, the People Republic of China's first male Olympic speed skating champion who won the 500m at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Zhongyan Ning leads the national speed skating team for the season.

Besides Zhongyan, winner of two golds and two silvers during last World season, the women's mass start gold medallist from the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games Yang Binyu, is the other big name in the Chinese team.

Even without the retired Sven Kramer and Ireen Wust, the favoured Dutch team led by new coach Rintje Ritsma still has great depth.

The three-time Olympic champion on the long track Irene Schouten, got off to the perfect start winning the first Marathon Cup race of this season for the sixth time.

World champion Jutta Leerdam is also ready to shine in the new track season. A lot has changed for the 23-year-old star since taking silver in Beijing. She moved to Jumbo-Visma after leaving Worldstream which she founded with ex-boyfriend and skater Koen Verweij.

She is the only female member in her new team and also has a new coach. Leerdam is positive that she can maintain her top position on ice as she now has “the freedom to develop as a brand, a person and as a skater."

"I'm not just a skater, I can also bring something else with me. I don't see that as extra pressure or something negative,” she told Netherland’s broadcaster NOS.

“They see added value in me, in different areas. And I can also skate very hard, that stands for me central."

It's also worth keeping an eye on her teammate Thomas Krol, the winner of the 1000m Olympic gold.

Brittany Bowe, the bronze medal winner from the 2022 Games, and Jordan Stolz lead Team USA.

Bowe began her 2022/23 season in dominating style with wins in the women’s 500m and 1,000m competitions at the Long Track Desert Classic last September.

18-year-old Stolz is tipped to continue grabbing headlines after winning three of the seven races at the U.S. season opener.

Newly crowned Canadian 1,500m champions Ivanie Blondin and Connor Howe were named in the 16-skater team for the first two World Cup events in Norway and the Netherlands.

Following the retirement of Nao Kodaira, who wrapped up her career by winning her eighth straight women’s 500m at the national single distance championships in Nagano this October, all eyes in Japan are on reigning 1,000m Olympic gold medallist Takagi Miho.

The Japanese 'workhorse' is still the star of the her team for the 2022/23 season.

In an interview earlier in the year with Olympics.com, Miho was upbeat about her prospects on ice.

“I felt like I wanted to keep skating and as long as I feel that way, I will”, she said in April.

“I want to do what I can, when I can, so I don’t regret anything down the line."

Konami Sagi, the reliable Japanese women’s sprint member, is also expected to feature in the opening events alongside Uma Murakami.

READ MORE: 7-time Olympic medallist Takagi Miho not hanging up her skates just yet

Short Track: Ren Ziwei headlines the field

Double Olympic gold medallist Ren Ziwei is the headline of the Chinese team of 17, selected during an invitational trial event held in September in Beijing.

The former head coach of Hungary, Zhang Jing will guide them for the new season.

The squad has further been boosted by the availability of former South Korean star Lim Hyo-jun, the PyeongChang 2018 men's 1,500m short track Olympic champion.

The newly naturalised Lim has his eyes on Milano-Cortina 2026 after missing qualification for China at the last Winter Olympics.

Another two-time winner from Beijing is Suzanne Schulting.

Despite missing the Dutch Open in Thialf due to illness, she's expected to compete early in the season as long as she is fit.

2022 Olympian Kristen Santos-Griswold, the star of the U.S short track, is also in top shape having made the podium in each of her races at the Fall World Cup qualifier held at the Utah Olympic Oval.

Santos-Griswold won the women’s 1500m, 1000m and 500m, and is tipped to extend her fine form in the World Cup events, alongside fellow Beijing Olympian Julie Letai and Marcus Howard, who each managed five and four podium finishes, respectively, at the qualifier.

READ MORE: Meet Ren Ziwei, China's new short track hero

The queen of Korean short track Choi Min-Jeong, the winner of a gold medal and two silvers in Beijing, is geared up for the new season. The 24-year-old, who was recently named South Korean athlete of the year following her Olympic achievements and for winning the overall 2021/22 World Championship title, has new plans for the season.

“In the new season, I will focus on 1,500m, but at the same time, I will also make thorough preparations for short-distance events well,” she told Yonhap News.

Her compatriot Lee June Seo, the Olympic silver medallist in the men’s 5,000m team who also won a gold medal in team relay at the 2019 World Championships, has also been listed for the first World Series event.

Olympic short track champion Hwang Dae-heon,who in October 2022 was named top male athlete of Beijing 2022 by the Associations of National Olympic Committees, ANOC, was not able to secure his spot in the team.

Beijing 2022 mass start champion Bart Swings could be the only Belgian featuring in the World Cup for the local Federation's lack of financial resources.

Italian legend Arianna Fontana, who's the most decorated short tracker in Olympic history, decided to sit out this season.

Speed Skating: 2022-23 schedule

11 - 13 November 2022 ISU World Cup Speed Skating #1 Stavanger (NOR)

18 - 20 November 2022 ISU World Cup Speed Skating #2 Heerenveen (NED)

26 - 27 November 2022 ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating #1 Seinäjoki (FIN)

2 - 4 December 2022 ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships Quebec (CAN)

3 - 4 December 2022 ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating #2 Seinäjoki (FIN)

9 - 11 December 2022 ISU World Cup Speed Skating #3 Calgary (CAN)

16 - 18 December 2022 ISU World Cup Speed Skating #4 Calgary (CAN)

6 - 8 January 2023 ISU European Speed Skating Championships Hamar (NOR)

4 - 5 February 2023 ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating #3 Inzell (GER)

10 - 12 February 2023 ISU World Cup Speed Skating #5 Tomaszów Mazowiecki (POL)

10 - 12 February 2023 ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships Inzell (GER)

17 - 19 February 2023 ISU World Cup Speed Skating #6 Tomaszów Mazowiecki (POL)

2 - 5 March 2023 ISU World Speed Skating Championships Heerenveen (NED)

Short Track: 2022/23 schedule

28 October 2022 ISU World Cup 2022/23 - Montreal (CAN)

4 November 2022 ISU World Cup 2022/23 - Salt Lake City (USA)

11 November 2022 ISU Four Continents Short Track Championships 2023 - Salt Lake City (USA)

9 December 2022 ISU World Cup 2022/23 - Almaty (KAZ)

16 December 2022 ISU World Cup 2022/23 - Almaty (KAZ)

13 January 2023 ISU European Short Track Championships 2023 - Gdansk (POL)

27 January 2023 ISU World Junior Short Track Championships 2023 - Dresden (GER)

3 February 2023 ISU World Cup 2022/23 - Dresden (GER)

10 February 2023 ISU World Cup 2022/23 - Dordrecht (GER)

10 March 2023 ISU World Short Track Championships 2023 - Seoul (KOR)

How to watch the ISU events:

You can catch all the speed skating and short track World Cup sessions via their national broadcasters. 

For countries where there are no broadcasters and for the qualification and repechage races, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel.

The full list on the where to watch is available  here.