The use of pack-style racing – with up to six competitors skating at once – became so popular in North America that for the 1932 Lake Placid Games, speed skating organizers chose to use that format instead of the more traditional pairs format used at the 1924 and 1928 Games. However, European athletes felt the format gave Americans an unfair advantage. As a result, it was cut from the Olympic program for the next Games.

The 1932 Lake Placid Games represented the only time that Olympic speed skating events resembled short track until the 1988 Calgary Games. In the intervening half-century, short track’s popularity spread throughout Europe and even to Australia and Japan. 

The sport received sanctioning from the International Skating Union (ISU) in 1967, though the ISU did not hold official competitions until 1976. The first World Short Track Speed Skating Championships took place in 1981 in Meudon-la-Foret, France.

The sport finally reappeared on the Olympic landscape as a demonstration sport in 1988, where it garnered a much more positive response, giving the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a reason to add it to the official catalog in 1992.

The history of skating goes back over 1,000 years to when people in Scandinavia and the Netherlands used bone skates, made from the polished shank or rib bones of animals, to cross frozen rivers and lakes. Wood replaced bone until 1592, when iron blades took hold.

The use of iron blades lasted for more than two centuries, until 1850, when Philadelphia’s E.W. Bushnell made the first all-steel skates. His innovation brought about the emergence of skating as a sport. The first official speed skating events took place in 1863, in Oslo, Norway, with the first world championships following in the Netherlands in 1889. 

Short track emerged in Europe at the end of the nineteenth century and firmly took hold in North America in the early twentieth century. The first annual international short track championship took place in 1921. Forty-six years later, in 1967, the International Skating Union (ISU) officially recognized it as its own discipline separate from speed skating.

When short track made its official Olympic debut in 1992, the competition consisted of four events: the men’s 1000m, men’s 5000m relay, women’s 500m and women’s 3000m relay. Those four events still are contested at the Olympic level today.

After a successful debut in Albertville, the short track program was expanded in 1994 with the addition of the men’s 500m and women’s 1000m. At the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, the women’s 1500m was added to the catalog.

The most recent addition is that of the 2000m mixed relay, which made its first appearance in 2022. The event is set to be contested again in 2026.

Below are the men's and women's world records for short track:

Records marked with * are not yet ratified, according to the ISU.

Below are the men's and women's Olympic records for short track:

Historically, East Asian and North American countries have commanded the sport. South Korea long has been recognized as a short track juggernaut, collecting 53 medals (26 gold) in 65 contested Olympic events through the 2022 Winter Games. The country is followed by China and Canada, which both have 37 medals (though China has 12 golds to Canada’s 10), and the United States (20 medals, 4 gold).

The most decorated short track Olympian, male or female, is Italy’s Arianna Fontana, who holds 11 medals and stands as the back-to-back reigning Olympic champion in the 500m. Russia’s Viktor Ahn (who began his career as South Korea’s An Hyeon-Su) and the United States’ Apolo Ohno each earned eight medals in their careers, though Ahn leads all Olympic short track skaters with six golds. 

Currently, one of the most prominent rivalries is between Arianna Fontana and the Netherlands’ Suzanne Schulting. Both strong competitors in all of the individual events and the relays, the two have battled each other for podium spots since Schulting made her Olympic debut in PyeongChang. There, Schulting won the Netherlands’ first short track gold medal in the 1000m. Fontana took home bronze in the same event but nabbed silver in the women’s 3000m relay, in which Schulting earned bronze. 

Schulting’s performance in Beijing was one for the history books. Not only did she claim gold in the 1000m and 3000m relay, but she also broke Olympic records in four events — the 500m, 1000m, 3000m relay and mixed relay — and became the first woman to win four short track medals at a single Olympics. Her relay marks also stood as world records. In the same Games, however, Fontana beat Schulting to gold in the 500m (Schulting took home silver) and silver in the 1500m (Schulting earned bronze). 

Both skaters are eyeing a chance to compete in both short track and speed skating at the 2026 Winter Games. 

At the 1994 Lillehammer Games, Kim Yoon-Mi, then 13 years and 83 days old, became both the youngest Olympic short track medalist and the youngest Winter Olympics gold medalist when South Korea took home the women’s 3000m relay title. After Lillehammer, the ISU set the minimum competition age to 15, meaning Kim potentially will keep her title for years to come.

Canada’s Charles Hamelin became the oldest short track gold medalist during the 2022 Winter Olympics. The then-37-year-old helped Canada to its fourth men’s 5000m relay win in seven Olympics, earning his sixth career Olympic medal and becoming the most decorated male Winter Olympian in Canada’s history.

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were packed with drama and record-breaking performances. Though South Korea continued its dominant streak in Beijing, taking home the most medals with five, the nation only narrowly led the medal count. Canada, China, Italy and the Netherlands followed closely with four each —  and all of the Netherlands’ prizes were earned with the help of Suzanne Schulting.

After becoming the Netherlands’ first Olympic short track gold medalist during her debut in PyeongChang four years earlier, Schulting one-upped herself in Beijing with two gold medals: one in the women’s 1000m and one in the women’s 3000m relay. Her silver in the women’s 500m and bronze in the women’s 1500m brought her Beijing total to four, making her the only woman to earn four short track speed skating medals at a single Olympics and the second short track skater, next to the United States’ Apolo Ohno, to do so. She also set Olympic records in all four events, earning world records in the mixed and 3000m relays as well.

Also on the women’s side, Italy's Arianna Fontana became the most decorated short track skater, male or female, of all time. Entering Beijing, she needed just one prize to become the first short track skater to earn nine Olympic medals. Instead, she collected three — gold in the 500m and silvers in the 1500m and mixed relay — bringing her career total to 11.

In the men’s competition, Charles Hamelin helped lift a dominant Canadian team to its fourth men’s 5000m relay win in seven Olympics, earning his sixth career Olympic medal and becoming the oldest Olympic medalist in the sport at age 37.

PyeongChang 2018

The PyeongChang Games started brilliantly for the host nation as South Korea's Lim Hyo-jun took gold in the men's 1500m. He eventually was joined by Choi Min-Jeong in the women's 1500m and the South Korean women's 3000m relay team in earning gold medals for the host nation in its historically strongest Winter Olympics event.

John-Henry Krueger delivered the United States its only short track medal of the 2018 Games with a silver in the men's 1000m. Both he and gold medalist Samuel Girard of Canada avoided a last-lap clash which took out the other competitors in the heat.

An Olympic rarity occurred in the women's 3000m relay where a world record was broken…by the bronze medalists. The Netherlands, who contested the B Final for teams which failed to advance to the medal race, finished in record time of 4:03.47. Because two of the four teams in the A Final (Japan and Olympic Athletes from Russia) received disqualification penalties in the A Final, the Netherlands were given the bronze.

Sochi 2014

In the years after South Korea’s Ahn Hyun-Soo won four medals in Torino, Ahn suffered a career-threatening injury, was left off the 2010 Olympic team and felt his country’s short track federation no longer was willing to support him. So Ahn became a Russian citizen, and represented his adopted country in Sochi under a new name, Viktor Ahn.

Ahn’s tumultuous journey found a happy ending when he won three golds (500m, 1000m and 1500m relay) and a bronze medal (1500m). With eight total medals, he tied the United States’ Apolo Ohno's record for most Olympic medals won by a short track skater.

Ohno was the face of the U.S. short track team for three Olympics, but retired before the Sochi Games. Without him, the U.S. team not only couldn't match Vancouver's six-medal haul, but they also came close to leaving the 2014 Games empty-handed. In the final short track race of the 2014 Olympics, the U.S. men overcame their struggles to win a silver medal in the 5000m relay event.

South Korean women claimed five medals in Sochi, including the coveted gold in the 3000m relay and an individual gold for Park Seung-hi in the 1000m. 

Chinese athletes claimed first place in the other two women's events. Li Jianrou won China's fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 500m, finishing first by nearly six seconds — because during the first lap of the final, her three other competitors crashed. 

Vancouver 2010

Apolo Ohno capped off his career in Vancouver by becoming the first short track athlete to win eight Olympic medals. Ohno claimed silver in the 1500m and bronzes in the 1000m and men’s relay.

Charles Hamelin became a Canadian icon when he crossed the finish line first in the 500m, then jumped onto the rinkside pads to share a passionate kiss with his girlfriend and fellow Olympic medalist Marianne St-Gelais. Their embrace was considered by many Canadians to be one of the most memorable images of the Vancouver Games. Hamelin also won gold in the men’s relay, sharing the podium with his younger brother Francois.

Chinese skaters swept the gold medals on the women’s side, with Wang Meng winning the 500m and 1000m, Zhou Yang winning the 1500m and Team China finishing first in the relay. Wang became a six-time Olympic medalist in Vancouver, making her the most decorated female short track skater at that time and most decorated Chinese Winter Olympian.

Torino 2006

Always a short track leader, South Korea nearly swept the gold medals in Torino by claiming six out of eight titles and 10 total medals. On the men’s side, Ahn Hyun-Soo won gold in the 1000m, 1500m and relay along with a bronze in the 500m. The women’s team was led by Jin Sun-yu, who claimed the 1000m and 1500m individual titles and the relay gold with the South Korean women.

Apolo Ohno, the leading man of North American short track, added to his 1000m gold from Salt Lake when he won three more medals in Torino: 500m gold, 1000m bronze and relay bronze with the U.S. men.

Salt Lake City 2002

The short track program expanded again in Salt Lake as the men’s and women’s 1500m was added.

The most surprising Olympic champion came in the men’s 1000m race. As the frontrunners, which included U.S. star Apolo Ohno, approached the final curve, China’s Li Jiajun attempted an aggressive outside pass before catching his skate on Ohno’s. The resulting pile-up sent all four frontrunners into the boards, clearing the way for Australia’s Steven Bradbury to cross the finish line first. The four-time Olympian had a previous best finish of eighth, but developed a strategy of staying behind the pack to avoid crashes.  

Ohno recovered to finish second in the 1000m, but won an Olympic gold of his own in the 1500m. He crossed the finish line after South Korea’s Kim Dong-sung, but the judges disqualified Kim for impeding Ohno’s path in the last turn.

China’s Yang Yang (A) was a double Olympic champion, winning golds in the 500m and 1000m plus a silver in the relay. The relay gold medalists from South Korea won with a world-record time almost a second better than China’s previous record.

Nagano 1998

Dramatic spills affected the short track podium in Nagano. In the final of the women’s 500m, the world record holder, Canada’s Isabelle Charest, slipped and took down China’s Wang Chunlu, the other top contender. Charest was disqualified, but Chunlu was so furious that she refused to finish the race — even though crossing the finish line would have earned her a bronze medal. The winner was Annie Perrault of Canada, and the silver medalist was China’s Yang Yang (S), who also finished second in the 1000m and 3000m relay events.

In the men’s relay, Team Canada took an early lead to avoid the typical relay melee and resulting falls. It worked, as they were the only team who didn’t suffer a crash. The defending gold medalists from Italy slipped about halfway through the race, and then a few laps later the Chinese team collided with South Korea. 

Nagano was the first Olympic Games to record short track finishes to the thousandth of a second.

Lillehammer 1994

After a successful debut in Albertville, the short track program was expanded in Lillehammer with the addition of the men’s 500m and women’s 1000m events.

The two returning individual events saw two returning champions, as South Korea’s Kim Ki-Hoon repeated as the Olympic champion in the men’s 1000m while Cathy Turner of the U.S. successfully defended her 500m title.

Other significant medalists included the United States’ Eric Flaim, who became the first athlete to win Olympic medals in both speed skating and short track. He won a silver medal in the speed skating 1500m race in 1988, and another silver in the short track relay in Lillehammer.

The Australian men that claimed bronze in the relay became their country’s first medalists at a Winter Olympics.

In the women’s 3000m relay, South Korea won a surprise gold medal and Kim Yoon-Mi, just 13 years old, became the youngest Winter Olympics gold medalist ever.

Albertville 1992

Short track finally became an official Olympic medal discipline in Albertville. Four events were competed at the inaugural Olympic short track competition: men’s 1000m, men’s 5000m relay, women’s 500m and women’s 3000m relay. 

South Korea's Kim Ki-Hoon claimed the first individual gold medal awarded in Olympic short track when he won the men’s 1000m in Albertville in a world-record time of 1:30.76. Earlier that year, he had spent four months in the hospital after he had an artery spiked during a race.

Kim took home another gold as a member of the South Korean men's relay team. The final saw South Korea and Canada exchange the lead five times during the first 30 laps, but Kim slipped past the Canadian skater in the final stride to win by 0.04 seconds.

Cathy Turner became the first U.S. short track athlete to win an Olympic medal when she took gold in the 500m race. She also led the U.S. to a silver medal behind Team Canada in the women's relay event.

Calgary Games 1988

Short track made it back onto the Olympic landscape 56 years after its Lake Placid cameo when it was held as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Calgary Games. Afterward, Time called short track “eye-opening.” Then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and International Skating Union president Olaf Poulsen agreed, and decided to formally add it to the Olympic program starting with the 1992 Winter Games.

Lake Placid Games 1932

Unofficially, short track made its Olympic debut at the 1932 Lake Placid Games. While still held on a traditional long-track oval of 400 meters, the speed skaters competed in pack-style races that resembled modern short track’s format.

The fast-paced, roller-derby style seemed to benefit American Jack Shea. In front of a hometown crowd, the 21-year-old Lake Placid native won the 500m and 1500m gold medals and helped the U.S. to a gold-medal sweep in speed skating.

Despite Shea’s success, the short track experiment was short-lived as the so-called “North American Rules” outraged athletes from several European nations, especially quadrennial powers Finland and Norway. As a result, the pack-style races were eliminated from the Olympic program for the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Games, and speed skating returned to its present day against-the-clock format.