Short track speed skating: How to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 

The short track speed skating competition at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will see 112 world-class skaters compete for glory at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan.

Short track speed skating made its Olympic debut at Albertville 1992 with two individual events and two relays. It had previously been included as a demonstration sport at Calgary 1988.

The competition increased to eight events at Salt Lake City 2002, while the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 introduced the mixed team relay.

Milano Cortina 2026 will once again include nine short track speed skating events: men’s and women’s 500m, men’s and women’s 1000m, men’s and women’s 1500m, men’s 5000m relay, women’s 3000m relay, and the mixed team relay.

The list of Olympic short track legends includes Italy’s Arianna Fontana, the most decorated skater in Olympic short track history, with 11 medals including two golds. Fontana is eyeing her second home Olympic Games after Torino 2006.

Three-time Olympic gold medalists Choi Minjeong of the Republic of Korea and Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands, along with rookies such as Republic of Korea's 2023-24 World Cup overall winner Kim Gilli and Dutch ace Xandra Velzeboer, are also ones to watch in the lead-up to Milano Cortina 2026.

In the men’s events, Republic of Korea’s Park Jiwon has been dominating the scene, winning the Crystal Globe Trophy in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, while Canada’s William Dandjinou is aiming to follow in the footsteps of fellow Canadian legend Charles Hamelin, who won six medals across five editions of the Games (2006–2022).

Find out everything you need to know about the Olympic qualification system in short track speed skating, including the number of athletes in each event and the qualification timeline.

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How to qualify for the short track speed skating competition at Milano Cortina 2026

Qualification for short track speed skating at Milano Cortina 2026 is based on the ISU Short Track World Tour Competitions, which determine the Special Olympic Qualifying Classifications (SOQC) in 2025.

Each SOQC takes into account the three best results out of four results over the respective distance a the four ISU Short Track World Tour competitions: World Tour #1 in Montreal from 16 to 19 October, World Tour #2 in Salt Lake City from 23 to 26 October, World Tour #3 in Gdansk from 20 to 23 November, World Tour #4 in Tilburg from 27 to 30 November.

The four SOQC for men will be the 500m, 1000m, 1500m and 5000m relay while the four for women will be the 500m, 1000m, 1500m and 3000m relay.

The eight highest-ranked NOCs in the SOQC for relays in each gender qualify for the relay event. If the host country is not ranked in the top eight of the relay SOQC for that gender, the host country’s relay team will replace the NOC ranked 8th.

In the individual events, NOCs with skaters ranked first in each distance obtain one starting place in the respective distance. Following that, the NOCs with skaters ranked second get one starting place and so on. The maximum number of starting places per NOC is three skaters per distance.

There will be one SOQC for the mixed team relay. A maximum of 12 teams will participate in the mixed team relay event. NOCs allocated at least two quota places per gender will qualify for the mixed team relay event, based on the SOQC.

For more details about the quotas and how to qualify for Milano Cortina 2026, please check the official documents here.

What are the key dates for short track speed skating qualification for Milano Cortina 2026?

• 1 August 2025: The ISU’s announcement of qualifying competitions (ISU Short Track World Tour) determining the Special Olympic Qualifying Classifications (SOQC)
• 15 September 2025 – 5 December 2025: ISU Short Track World Tour competitions determining the SOQCs
  • ISU Short Track World Tour #1, 16-19 October 2025 in Montreal (CAN)
  • ISU Short Track World Tour #2, 23-26 October 2025 in Salt Lake City (USA)
  • ISU Short Track World Tour #3, 20-23 November 2025 in Gdansk (POL)
  • ISU Short Track World Tour #4, 27-30 November 2025 in Tilburg (NED)
• 12 December 2025: Publication of SOQC & ISU to inform NOCs of their allocated quota places
• 16 January 2026: NOCs to inform ISU about confirmation and/or rejection of quota places, both for event/distance and in total.
• 26 January 2026: Milano Cortina 2026 Sport Entries deadline

How many athletes will compete in short track speed skating at Milano Cortina 2026?

A total of 112 athletes (56 men and 56 women) will take part in the short track speed skating competitions at Milano Cortina 2026 spread over the different events of the Olympic sports programme as follows.

Men's 500m: 32 (maximum quota)

Men's 1000m: 32 (maximum quota)

Men's 1500m: 36 (maximum quota)

Men's 5000m relay: 8 teams (maximum quota)

Women's 500m: 32 (maximum quota)

Women's 1000m: 32 (maximum quota)

Women's 1500m: 36 (maximum quota)

Women's 3000m relay: 8 teams (maximum quota)

Mixed team relay 2000m: 12 teams

Milano Cortina 2026 short track speed skating competition format and schedule

The short track speed skating competition at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games will feature nine events including the mixed event first introduced at Beijing 2022:

• Men’s 500m
• Men’s 1000m
• Men’s 1500m
• Men’s 5000m relay
• Women’s 500m
• Women’s 1000m
• Women’s 1500m
• Women’s 3000m relay
• Mixed team relay 2000m

The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will take place from 6 to 22 February 2026.

Olympic champions in short track speed skating from the last Olympic Winter Games

Men’s 500m

• 🥇 Gold: Shaoang Liu (HUN)
• 🥈 Silver: Konstantin Ivliev (ROC)
• 🥉 Bronze: Steven Dubois (CAN)

Women’s 500m

• 🥇 Gold: Arianna Fontana (ITA)
• 🥈 Silver: Suzanne Schulting (NED)
• 🥉 Bronze: Kim Boutin (CAN)

Men’s 1000m

• 🥇 Gold: Ren Ziwei (CHN)
• 🥈 Silver: Li Wenlong (CHN)
• 🥉 Bronze: Shaoang Liu (HUN)

Women’s 1000m

• 🥇 Gold: Suzanne Schulting (NED)
• 🥈 Silver: Choi Minjeong (KOR)
• 🥉 Bronze: Hanne Desmet (BEL)

Men’s 1500m

• 🥇 Gold: Hwang Daeheon (KOR)
• 🥈 Silver: Steven Dubois (CAN)
• 🥉 Bronze: Semen Elistratov (ROC)

Women’s 1500m

• 🥇 Gold: Choi Minjeong (KOR)
• 🥈 Silver: Arianna Fontana (ITA)
• 🥉 Bronze: Suzanne Schulting (NED)

Men’s 5000m relay

• 🥇 Gold: Canada
• 🥈 Silver: Republic of Korea
• 🥉 Bronze: Italy

Women’s 3000m relay

• 🥇 Gold: Netherlands
• 🥈 Silver: Republic of Korea
• 🥉 Bronze: People’s Republic of China

Mixed team relay

• 🥇 Gold: People’s Republic of China
• 🥈 Silver: Italy
• 🥉 Bronze: Hungary

As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Milano Cortina Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Milano Cortina 2026