Speed skating words · Intermediate

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I · Intermediate · 47 words · Step 2 of 2

Long track speed skating

Allround combination

An event over several distances with one award: women 500, 3000, 1500 and 5000 m; men 500, 5000, 1500 and 10000 m. The winner has the lowest total of points, found by dividing the seconds by 1 for 500 m, 2 for 1000 m, 3 for 1500 m, 6 for 3000 m, 10 for 5000 m and 20 for 10000 m.

Sprint combination

An event in which the 500 m and 1000 m are skated twice on two consecutive days. The winner has the lowest total points, calculated from the times.

Team sprint

Teams skate a number of laps equal to the number of skaters. The leading skater leaves the track at each changeover and the last assigned skater skates alone; the result is the time when the third assigned skater finishes.

Quartet start

A format in which up to four skaters race at the same time in two pairs, staggered by about half a lap from the same start. Positions in the quartet are inner and outer lane in the first pair, then the second pair, with armbands white, red, yellow and blue.

Long track relay

Relay races with two to four skaters, each leg recommended as 400 or 800 m. Three formats are described, with exchange zones of 40, 75 or 50 to 100 m, and a team relaying outside the zone is disqualified.

Marathon

A competition over more than 10 000 m, or other formats such as a 1-hour race, under the rules announced for the event.

Long track racing rules

Starting procedure

At 'Go to the start' the skaters stand between the pre-start line and the starting line, 2 m apart. On 'Ready' they take their starting position and keep it absolutely until the shot. Touching the starting line or the ice beyond it is not allowed.

Crossing straight

The whole length of the straight from the end of the curve, in which skaters change lanes. It is marked by movable blocks at the end of the curve and a cone at the beginning of the next.

The ruleWhat are the lane rules in speed skating?

Keeping to the lane

Skaters must keep in their lane. A skater who is interfered with while wholly in their lane is protected; the offender is disqualified. Completely crossing the line to another lane with the whole skate may disqualify a skater, and cutting the inner line in the curve disqualifies. Immediate return after a fall or an accident is allowed.

Overtaking in long track

When overtaking in the same lane the skater in front must keep their line and the overtaking skater is responsible for avoiding collision. After being overtaken, a skater must stay at least 10 m behind for the rest of the race, and must not act as a pacemaker.

Pace-making

Preceding or accompanying another skater, which is not allowed and is a disqualification, except between teammates in team competitions unless a skater has been lapped by teammates.

Fresh start

A skater interfered with through no fault of their own, or stopped by an obstacle on the track (not a broken skate or dirty ice), gets a fresh start after at least 30 minutes' rest. If the first race was finished, the better time counts.

Also called: re-skate
See also: Oval, Skate

Official time

Times are official when the Referee has signed the timekeeping protocol, and official times cannot be protested. They are recorded to a hundredth of a second, or a thousandth with photo finish for tie-breaks. Manual times have 0.20 seconds added.

Armband

Worn on the right arm: white for the inner lane and red for the outer, yellow for the middle lane in 100 m heats of three. In team pursuit skaters 1 to 4 wear white, red, yellow and blue. Wearing the wrong armband is a disqualification.

Equipment (long track)

Racing suits must follow the natural shape of the body, with no devices to create a different shape. Shin guards, padded knee protection, helmets, neck protection and gloves are allowed, and ISU Events require ISU-approved helmets. No communication or music equipment may be worn, and transponders go on both ankles.

Long track terms

Inner lane and outer lane

On a standard long track the inner lane is 4 m wide and the outer lane at least 4 m. The skater in the inner lane wears a white armband and the skater in the outer lane a red one, and they swap lanes on the crossing straight.

Also called: outer lane
See also: Oval, Long track, Crossing straight, Armband

Points race format

In a mass start with intermediate sprints the result is the total of sprint points, and ties are broken by the order of finish at the final sprint. A skater who does not finish loses the sprint points gained.

Ice conditions

The temperature and quality of the ice surface. At ISU Events an ISU Ice Commission (the Referees and an ISU representative) sets the ice preparation, with information from the rink's Ice Technical Expert on ice and climate.

Short track speed skating

Heat box

The area where skaters report when called and stay before their race, checked by the Heat Box Steward for numbers and equipment. A skater who does not report is Did Not Start, and skaters enter the ice only through it.

Track markers

Marking blocks of an ISU-approved design, seven in each curve. Skating with a skate on the left side of the curve, past the blocks, is off-track.

Padding

Protective mats around the ice. At the Olympic Winter Games a moveable padding system with no boarding is mandatory; ISU Events need at least a hybrid or moveable system.

Skater safety equipment

Required at ISU Events: an approved helmet, cut-resistant gloves (predominantly white), shin protection, long-sleeved and long-legged clothing, knee protection, cut-resistant neck protection and approved eye protection.

Short track racing rules

Off-track

Skating with one or both skates on the left side of the curve, past the track marking blocks. One of the five named breaches.

Assistance

Each skater competes as an individual, and any assistance from other skaters is sanctioned for all involved. The push a relay skater gets from a teammate is the exception.

See also: Relay

Kicking out

Kicking out any skate during any part of a race so as to cause danger, including at the finish line, or throwing the body across the finish line.

Embellishment

Exaggerating or feigning the effects of a contact or infraction to draw a penalty or manipulate the referee. The referee may give no penalty to the other skater, shared responsibility or a penalty for embellishment.

Clear and obvious

The test for a sanction: the action and its effect on the race must be easy to see, understand and attribute without doubt. If not, no violation or shared responsibility is decided.

Shared responsibility

A contact created by the simultaneous actions of two or more skaters with minor effect and no impact on the result. The referee may give no penalty to anyone.

Lane change (short track)

Lateral moves to protect position or attempt a pass. Allowed in the straight zone only if the skater's hips are ahead of the other skater's shoulders. A move causing contact is not allowed once the other skater's shoulders have reached the first skater's hips, and no lane change is allowed during relay exchanges.

Level position

When a passing skater is side by side with the skater being passed in the straight zone, skates and hips equal on a virtual perpendicular line. After that, whoever gains speed becomes the passing skater.

Lead and priority

Every skater is in the lead of those behind. The skater in the lead has priority except where the code says otherwise, such as when another skater has reached a level position in the straight.

Lapped skater

A skater who is about to be lapped must move to the outside and not interfere with those overtaking. A violation with interference is a yellow or red card.

Relay exchange

Relaying is by touch, and a skater is in the race until relayed. The last two laps must be skated by one skater, with the last exchange completed on the straight before the first block of the corner, and a warning shot is fired for the last three laps. A fall in the last two laps allows a relay.

See also: Relay

Mixed team relay

A 2000 m (18 lap) relay with two women and two men, in a fixed order of exchanges woman, woman, man, man: four segments of 2 1/2 laps, then four of 2 laps.

See also: Relay

Team racing

A team has at least two skaters and the result is the finish position and time of the last skater of the team. Skaters may assist each other and push a teammate if this does not impede another team.

Re-run and restart

If a skater is interfered with before the last block of the first curve the skaters are called back. If an irregularity during a race could affect the result the Referee may stop it and order a restart or re-run, with at least 15 minutes' rest between races.

Short track terms

Outside pass

Overtaking another skater on the outside. A skater is overtaking when trying to move ahead by the inside or the outside, and the overtaking skater is responsible for not interfering with the other's race.

Inside pass

Overtaking another skater on the inside. Overtaking is allowed at all times, but until the skaters are side by side the overtaking skater is responsible for any obstruction or collision.

Impeding

A breach of the racing rules: impeding, blocking, charging or pushing another skater with any part of the body, or interfering with another skater by crossing their course and causing contact. It is sanctioned only if clear and obvious, with no shared responsibility.

Also called: blocking
See also: Oval, Short track

Advancement rule

Race winners and the finishing places in the qualification table advance to the next round. A skater impeded by another who received a penalty or card, while in a direct qualifying position, is advanced. Remaining places may be filled by the fastest next finishers.

Results and sanctions

Race classification

At the end of a race, skaters are ranked in order: finishers by order of finish, then Did Not Finish (DNF), then penalty (PEN), then Did Not Start (DNS).

Final points

For competitions with an overall prize, points descending from the distance classification, such as 34, 21, 13, 8, 5, 3, 2 and 1. Tied skaters each receive the points for that position.

World Tour cumulative penalty

In the ISU Short Track World Tour, three sanctions (impeding or kicking-out penalties, yellow or red cards) mean the skater cannot enter their highest-ranked distance at the next event; five bar two distances and seven bar all individual distances. Relay infringements do not count.

See also: Oval, Short track, Relay, Sanctions, Impeding

Protests

In long track the official times cannot be protested. In short track the Referee's decision that there was or was not an infringement is final and no protest is allowed; protests and appeals are otherwise under the ISU Competition and Event Regulations.

Technique terms

Corner technique

The lean and crossover technique used on curves. The rules do not describe it.

Double push

A technique with two phases of push per stroke. The rules do not describe it.

Air resistance position

The low tucked posture skaters hold to reduce drag. The rules do not describe it.

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