World Short Track Speed Skating Championships

The World Short Track Speed Skating Championships are a senior international short track speed skating competition held once a year to determine the World Champion in individual distances, relays and Overall Classification. It is sanctioned by the International Skating Union and is usually held in March or April.

In 1967, the International Skating Union adopted short track speed skating, although it did not organise international competitions until 1976. World Championships have been held since 1981, though earlier events later received that status.

Skaters perform individual races in the 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, 3000 meters (super-final involving eight competitors with highest points after completion of other distances) and a four-person race, in the 3000 meters relay for women, and the 5000 meters relay for men. Points are given for each placings in the finals of individual distances (currently 34 points for 1st, 21 for 2nd, 13 for 3rd, 8 for 4th, 5 for 5th, 3 for 6th, 2 for 7th, 1 for 8th). From 2009, the leader after first 1000m in the 3000m super-final is given extra 5 points. The athlete with the highest points after the points for all individual distances are added up (maximum 141 points, 136 points before 2009) is declared the Men's or Ladies' Overall World Short-track Speed Skating Champion. In case of a tie in points, precedence is given to the athlete with higher placing in the 3000m super-final.

The 2020 edition was supposed to be held in Seoul, South Korea, from 13 to 15 March 2020 but had been postponed after authorities ordered the closure of the Mokdong Ice Rink due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.^[1]^[2] The International Skating Union initially announced they were trying to reschedule the tournament to the beginning of the 2020–21 season^[3] but cancelled the event on 16 April 2020.^[4]

Overall classification medalists[]

Men[]

Season	Location	Winner	Runner-up	Third
1976	Champaign		Gaetan Boucher
1977	Grenoble	Gaetan Boucher	Craig Kressler
	Solihull
	Québec			Nick Thometz
	Milan	Gaetan Boucher(2)		Marc Bella
	Meudon		Gaetan Boucher	Michael Richmond
	Moncton	Guy Daignault	Gaetan Boucher
	Tokyo			Guy Daignault
	Peterborough	Guy Daignault(2)	Tatsuyoshi Ishihara	Michel Daignault
	Amsterdam	Toshinobu Kawai	Tatsuyoshi Ishihara
	Chamonix	Tatsuyoshi Ishihara	Guy Daignault	Robert Dubreuil
	Montréal	Michel Daignault Toshinobu Kawai(2)	none awarded
	St. Louis			Tatsuyoshi Ishihara
	Solihull	Michel Daignault(2)	Kim Ki-Hoon	Mark Lackie
	Amsterdam	Lee Joon-Ho	Yuichi Akasaka Wilf O'Reilly	none awarded
	Sydney	Wilf O'Reilly	Kim Ki-Hoon	Lee Joon-Ho
	Denver	Kim Ki-Hoon	Mo Ji-Soo	Lee Joon-Ho
	Beijing	Marc Gagnon	Sylvain Gagnon	Chae Ji-Hoon Kim Ki-Hoon
	Guildford	Marc Gagnon	Chae Ji-Hoon Frederic Blackburn	none awarded
1995	Gjøvik	Chae Ji-Hoon	Marc Gagnon	Song Jae-Kun
1996	The Hague	Marc Gagnon	Chae Ji-Hoon	Orazio Fagone
	Nagano	Kim Dong-Sung	Marc Gagnon	Satoru Terao
	Vienna	Marc Gagnon(4)	Fabio Carta	Kim Dong-Sung
1999	Sofia	Li Jiajun	Satoru Terao	Fabio Carta
2000	Sheffield	Min Ryoung	Éric Bédard	Li Jiajun
2001	Jeonju	Li Jiajun(2)	Apolo Anton Ohno	Marc Gagnon
2002	Montreal	Kim Dong-Sung(2)	Ahn Hyun-Soo	Fabio Carta
2003	Warsaw	Ahn Hyun-Soo	Li Jiajun	Song Suk-Woo
2004	Gothenburg	Ahn Hyun-Soo	Song Suk-Woo	Li Jiajun
2005	Beijing	Ahn Hyun-Soo	Apolo Anton Ohno	François-Louis Tremblay
2006	Minneapolis	Ahn Hyun-Soo	Lee Ho-Suk	François-Louis Tremblay
2007	Milan	Ahn Hyun-Soo	Charles Hamelin	Apolo Anton Ohno
2008	Gangneung	Apolo Anton Ohno	Lee Ho-Suk	Song Kyung-Taek
2009	Vienna	Lee Ho-Suk	J.R. Celski	Charles Hamelin
2010	Sofia	Lee Ho-Suk(2)	Kwak Yoon-Gy	Liang Wenhao
2011	Sheffield	Noh Jin-Kyu	Charles Hamelin	Liang Wenhao
2012	Shanghai	Kwak Yoon-Gy	Noh Jin-Kyu	Olivier Jean
2013	Debrecen	Sin Da-Woon	Kim Yun-Jae	Charles Hamelin
2014	Montréal	Viktor Ahn(6)	J.R. Celski	Charles Hamelin
2015	Moscow	Sjinkie Knegt	Park Se-yeong	Wu Dajing
2016	Seoul	Han Tianyu	Charles Hamelin	Shaolin Sándor Liu
2017	Rotterdam	Seo Yi-ra	Sjinkie Knegt	Samuel Girard
2018	Montréal	Charles Hamelin	Shaolin Sándor Liu	Hwang Dae-Heon
2019	Sofia	Lim Hyo-jun	Hwang Dae-heon	Semion Elistratov
2020	Seoul	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[5]
2021	Dordrecht	Shaoang Liu	Shaolin Sándor Liu	Semion Elistratov
2022	Montréal

Ladies[]

Season	Location	Winner	Runner-up	Third
1976	Champaign	Celeste Chlapaty	Kathy Vogt
1977	Grenoble	Brenda Webster	Kathy Vogt
	Solihull	Sarah Docter	Miyoshi Kato
	Québec	Sylvie Daigle		Miyoshi Kato
	Milan	Miyoshi Kato
	Meudon	Miyoshi Kato(2)
	Moncton	Maryse Perreault		Sylvie Daigle
	Tokyo	Sylvie Daigle		Miyoshi Kato Maryse Perreault
	Peterborough		Sylvie Daigle	Bonnie Blair Nathalie Lambert
	Amsterdam		Bonnie Blair	Nathalie Lambert
	Chamonix	Bonnie Blair	Nathalie Lambert Maryse Perreault	none awarded
	Montréal	(2)	Nathalie Lambert
	St. Louis	Sylvie Daigle
	Solihull	Sylvie Daigle	Maryse Perreault
	Amsterdam	Sylvie Daigle(5)		Eden Donatelli
	Sydney	Nathalie Lambert	Sylvie Daigle	Zhang Yanmei
	Denver	Kim So-hee	Yan Li
	Beijing	Nathalie Lambert	Chun Lee-kyung	Zhang Yanmei
	Guildford	Nathalie Lambert(3)	Kim So-hee
1995	Gjøvik	Chun Lee-kyung	Wang Chunlu	Kim Yoon-mi
1996	The Hague	Chun Lee-kyung	Won Hye-kyung	Isabelle Charest
	Nagano	Chun Lee-kyung(3) Yang Yang (A)	none awarded	Won Hye-kyung
	Vienna	Yang Yang (A)	Chun Lee-kyung Wang Chunlu	none awarded
1999	Sofia	Yang Yang (A)	Yang Yang (S)
2000	Sheffield	Yang Yang (A)	An Sang-mi	Yang Yang (S)
2001	Jeonju	Yang Yang (A)	Wang Chunlu	Evgenia Radanova
2002	Montréal	Yang Yang (A)(6)	Ko Gi-hyun	Evgenia Radanova
2003	Warsaw	Choi Eun-kyung	Yang Yang (A)	Kim Min-jee
2004	Gothenburg	Choi Eun-kyung(2)	Wang Meng	Byun Chun-sa
2005	Beijing	Jin Sun-yu	Choi Eun-kyung	Kang Yun-mi
2006	Minneapolis	Jin Sun-yu	Wang Meng	Kalyna Roberge
2007	Milan	Jin Sun-yu(3)	Jung Eun-ju	Kalyna Roberge
2008	Gangneung	Wang Meng	Zhou Yang	Yang Shin-young
2009	Vienna	Wang Meng	Kim Min-jung	Zhou Yang
2010	Sofia	Park Seung-hi	Wang Meng	Cho Ha-ri
2011	Sheffield	Cho Ha-ri	Katherine Reutter	Arianna Fontana
2012	Shanghai	Li Jianrou	Valérie Maltais	Arianna Fontana
2013	Debrecen	Wang Meng(3)	Park Seung-hi	Shim Suk-hee
2014	Montréal	Shim Suk-hee	Park Seung-hi	Valérie Maltais
2015	Moscow	Choi Min-jeong	Arianna Fontana	Shim Suk-hee
2016	Seoul	Choi Min-jeong (2)	Marianne St-Gelais	Elise Christie
2017	Rotterdam	Elise Christie	Marianne St-Gelais	Shim Suk-hee
2018	Montréal	Choi Min-jeong (3)	Shim Suk-hee	Li Jinyu
2019	Sofia	Suzanne Schulting	Choi Min-jeong	Kim Boutin
2020	Seoul	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[5]
2021	Dordrecht	Suzanne Schulting (2)	Courtney Sarault	Arianna Fontana
2022	Montréal

All-time medal count[]

After the 2021 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	South Korea (KOR)	108	79	67	254
2	Canada (CAN)	64	77	66	207
3	China (CHN)	64	48	44	156
4	United States (USA)	16	16	30	62
5	Netherlands (NED)	15	14	12	41
6	Japan (JPN)	13	19	22	54
7	Great Britain (GBR)	7	10	20	37
8	Italy (ITA)	5	13	21	39
9	Russia (RUS)	3	5	9	17
10	Hungary (HUN)	3	4	2	9
11	Australia (AUS)	2	5	3	10
12	Belgium (BEL)	0	1	0	1
12	Poland (POL)	0	1	0	1
Totals (13 nations)		300	292	296	888

Hosting tally[]

Times hosted	Host country
7	Canada
6	United Kingdom
5	Netherlands
4	United States, South Korea
3	China, France, Bulgaria
2	Austria, Italy, Japan
1	Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Poland, Australia, Russia

Includes scheduled world championships

Records[]

Largest number of titles[]

Men: / Viktor Ahn: 6 (2003–2007, 2014)
Ladies: Yang Yang (A) : 6 (1997–2002)

Most consecutive titles[]

Men: Ahn Hyun-Soo: 5 (2003–2007)
Ladies: Yang Yang (A): 6 (1997–2002)

Gold medal sweeps[]

Men: 2002 ( Kim Dong-Sung)
Men: 1992 ( Kim Ki-Hoon)
Ladies: 1983 ( Sylvie Daigle) - relay title not awarded despite the win in the race^{[citation needed]}
Ladies: 2021 ( Suzanne Schulting)

Medal sweeps[]

Men: 1982–1983 ( Canada), 1992 ( South Korea)
Ladies: 1982 ( Canada), 2005 ( South Korea)

References[]

^ "Seoul and Montreal awarded 2020 World Championships by ISU". insidethegames.biz. 6 June 2017.
^ "ISU Statement – Coronavirus – ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2020, Seoul". isu.org. 26 February 2020.
^ "ISU wil afgelast WK shorttrack later dit jaar alsnog op kalender zetten". nos.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "ISU Statement — Definite cancellation of pending 2020 ISU Championships". isu.org. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "ISU Statement — Definite cancellation of pending 2020 ISU Championships". isu.org. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

External links[]

[1] "Seoul and Montreal awarded 2020 World Championships by ISU". insidethegames.biz. 6 June 2017.

[2] "ISU Statement – Coronavirus – ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2020, Seoul". isu.org. 26 February 2020.

[3] "ISU wil afgelast WK shorttrack later dit jaar alsnog op kalender zetten". nos.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[4] "ISU Statement — Definite cancellation of pending 2020 ISU Championships". isu.org. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

[Cancelled-5] Jump up to: ^a ^b "ISU Statement — Definite cancellation of pending 2020 ISU Championships". isu.org. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

show v t World championships in speed skating
Allround	Men Women Juniors
Sprint	Men Women
Single distances	Men Women
Short track	World Teams Juniors