List of Olympic medalists in speed skating
Rank Nation Silver Total
1 Germany ( GER ) 2
2 Netherlands ( NED ) 1 2
2 Japan ( JPN ) 1 2
4 Poland ( POL ) 1 1
5 Canada ( CAN ) 1 1
6 Russia ( RUS ) 2
7 United States ( USA ) 1
Women -- Team pursuit
Games Gold Silver Bronze 2006 Turindetails Germany ( GER ) Daniela Anschütz-ThomsAnni FriesingerLucille OpitzClaudia PechsteinSabine Völker Canada ( CAN ) Kristina GrovesClara HughesCindy KlassenChristine NesbittShannon Rempel Russia ( RUS ) Yekaterina AbramovaVarvara BaryshevaGalina LikhachovaYekaterina LobyshevaSvetlana Vysokova 2010 Vancouverdetails Germany ( GER ) Daniela Anschütz-ThomsStephanie BeckertAnni Friesinger-PostmaKatrin Mattscherodt Japan ( JPN ) Masako HozumiNao KodairaMaki Tabata Poland ( POL ) Katarzyna Bachleda-CuruśKatarzyna WoźniakLuiza Złotkowska 2014 Sochidetails Netherlands ( NED ) Lotte van BeekMarrit LeenstraJorien ter MorsIreen Wüst Poland ( POL ) Katarzyna Bachleda-CuruśNatalia CzerwonkaKatarzyna WoźniakLuiza Złotkowska Russia ( RUS ) Olga GrafYekaterina LobyshevaYekaterina ShikhovaYuliya Skokova 2018 PyeongChangdetails Japan ( JPN ) Miho TakagiAyano SatoNana TakagiAyaka Kikuchi Netherlands ( NED ) Marrit LeenstraIreen WüstAntoinette de JongLotte van Beek United States ( USA ) Heather BergsmaBrittany BoweMia ManganelloCarlijn Schoutens Medals :
Speed skating is a sport that has been contested at the Winter Olympic Games since the inaugural Games in 1924. Events held at the first Winter Olympics included the men's 500-metre, 1500-metre, 5000-metre, and 10,000-metre races. Points from the four races were combined and counted towards the all-round event, which was dropped following the 1924 Olympics. Speed skating events for women were first held at the 1932 Winter Olympics, as part of the demonstration program. The organizing committee of those Games advocated for the full inclusion of the womens events, but the IOC rejected that. The first official women's events were held in 1960 in the 500-metre, 1000-metre, 1500-metre, and 3000-metre distances. The men's 1000-metre event was added in 1976 and the women's 5000-metre event was added in 1988. All 10 events have been held at every Olympic Games since, and a team pursuit event for both genders was added in 2006, for a total of 12 medal events. Dutch skater Ireen Wüst has won eleven medals - five gold, five silver, and one bronze - more than any other speed skater at the Olympics. Lidiya Skoblikova, who represented the Soviet Union, is one of two female Winter Olympians to win six gold medals (cross-country skier Lyubov Yegorova is the other). At the 1924 Winter Olympics, Finn Clas Thunberg became the first athlete to win two or more gold medals; in 1928, he became the first speed skater to successfully defend an Olympic title. At the 1964 Games, Skoblikova won four gold medals and became the first athlete to win a gold in every available event.