Top things to know about 2021/22 speed skating season

After a 2020/21 season that was disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions, an intense winter of competition lies in wait for the world’s best speed skaters. Four World Cup legs are scheduled to take place before Beijing 2022, and they will be used to determine who will qualify for next year’s Olympic Winter Games.

The European Championships will also take place before the Games, while the World Championships and World Cup finals are scheduled for after Beijing 2022.

Among the stars preparing to compete in those events, Dutch speed skaters Sven Kramer and Ireen Wüst are two of the favourites. Asian athletes were unable to participate in last season’s World Cup events, so expect them to make a comeback this year as they battle for the coveted spots at next year’s Games.

Read on to find out everything you need to know about the 2021/22 speed skating season

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Could the Netherlands' women's speed skaters win it all?

In the women’s competition, speed skaters from the Netherlands have been the dominant force for some time, and they will look to continue that form in the Olympic season. As an example of their strength, during the last World Championships, they won nine of the 21 medals on offer.

What’s more impressive is that five-time Olympic champion Ireen Wüst came away with no medals in the individual events at the Worlds. However, with 11 Olympic medals to her name, the 35-year-old is expected to once again make it onto the podium at her last Olympic Winter Games.

Antoinette de Jong (3000m), Irene Schouten (5000m) and Marijke Groenewoud (mass start) are the reigning world champions in their respective events and will be aiming for more of the same in Beijing.

There were only two individual events at the World Championships where the gold medal was not awarded to a Dutch athlete: the 500m and 1000m. Angelina Golikova of the Russian Skating Union won gold in the 500m and Brittany Bowe from the United States claimed the title in the 1000m. A member of the bronze-winning USA pursuit relay team at PyeongChang 2018, Bowe is the most successful 1000m speed skater competing today.

The silver medallist in the 3000m, Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic, proved she is still at the top of her game. At 34-years-old, she is the athlete with the most World Cup victories (60) on the circuit today.

Of the Canadian athletes, Ivanie Blondin is a mass-start specialist, who has already won five World Championships medals.

And after a season where she didn’t win any international medals, Japan’s Kodaira Nao will be looking to make a strong return in the 500m, while Republic of Korea’s Kim Bo-reum will be hoping to do the same in the mass start.

Athletes from the Russian Skating Union also have the chance to shine this season, with reigning world champion Angelina Golikova (500m) and 2020 world champion Natalia Voronina (5000m) among the favourites, as well as 2021 bronze world medallists Olga Fatkulina (500m), Elizaveta Golubeva (1000m) and Evgenia Lalenkova (1500m).

Can the Netherlands men's team match their female counterparts?

Three Dutchmen - Dai Dai N'Tab (500m), Kai Verbij (1000m), Thomas Krol (1500m) and Patrick Roest (5000m) - finished the 2020/21 season on top of the World Cup standings, proving the strength-in-depth the team possesses. However - even more impressively - all of this was achieved without the leader of the team.

Sven Kramer is a true legend of speed skating. The nine-time world champion is one of the most successful skaters in the history of the World Cup. This season, he will be hoping to add to the astonishing 50 individual wins he has racked up at this level.

However, Sweden’s Nils van der Poel will be hoping to rain on Kramer’s parade. The long-distance specialist enters the new season as world champion at 5000m and 10000m, having set a world record in the latter event.

Over the shorter distances, Pavel Kulizhnikov could be the man to beat. The 27-year-old Russian is the world record holder in the 500m and 1000m and has already won more than 30 World Cup titles.

Belgium’s Bart Swings, a silver medallist at PyeongChang 2018, is the skater to watch in the mass start. Last season he won the overall World Cup title and is now aiming for a fourth title.

And after a season without international races, Shinhama Tatsuya of Japan, Chung Jae-Won of Republic of Korea and Ning Zhongyan of the People's Republic of China will be hoping for a successful return. In the relay event, Norway will be a serious contender thanks to Sverre Lunde Pedersen, a specialist in the 1500m.

Young athletes hoping to shine

As far as the next generation of Dutch athletes goes, Femke Kok may be the most promising talent. At only 21, she has already won two medals at world level and won last season’s general World Cup ranking in the 500m. The 10-time world junior medallist will be hoping to peak in time for next year’s Olympic Winter Games.

However, if athletes from the Netherlands currently dominate the speed skating landscape, this may not be the case in years to come as talented skaters from other nations come to the fore.

Japan’s Kouki Kubo won the junior World Championships in 2018 and 2019, and claimed 1000m gold at the 2020 Four Continents Speed Skating Championships. Could now be his time to shine on the World Cup circuit?

At the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020, Diego Amaya became the first athlete from Colombia to win a medal at the Games after coming home second in the mass start.

Canada’s reigning team pursuit relay vice world champion, Conor Howe, will also hope to make it onto his first World Cup podium this season.

2021/22 speed skating calendar

• 12-14 November 2021 - Tomaszów Mazowiecki (Poland): World Cup (Beijing 2022 Qualifiers #1)
• 19-21 November 2021 - Stavanger (Norway): World Cup (Beijing 2022 Qualifiers #2)
• 3-5 December 2021 - Salt Lake City (USA): World Cup (Beijing 2022 Qualifiers #3)
• 10-12 December 2021 - Calgary (Canada): World Cup (Beijing 2022 Qualifiers #4)
• 7-9 January 2022 - Heerenveen (Netherlands): European Championships
• 3-6 March 2022 - Hamar (Norway): World Championships
• 12-13 March 2022 - Heerenveen (Netherlands): World Cup Final