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A speed skating rink (or speed skating oval) is an ice rink (but also a sport venue) in which a speed skating competition is held.

The rink

A standard speed skating track is, according to the regulations of the International Skating Union (ISU), a double-laned track with two curved ends each of 180°, in which the radius of the inner curve is not less than 25 metres and not more than 26 metres. The width of the competition lanes is 4 metres. At the opposite straight of the finishing line, there is a crossing area, where the skaters must change lane. ^[1]

At international competitions, the track must be 400 metres long, with a warm-up lane at least 4 metres wide inside the competition lanes.^[2] For Olympic competitions, the track must also be enclosed within a building.^[3]

The design and dimensions of a speed skating track have remained more or less unchanged since the foundation of ISU in 1892.

Measurement and demarcation

The measurement of the track is made half a meter into the lane.^[4] The total length of the track is the distance a competitor skates each lap, i.e. the length of two straights, one inner curve and one outer curve, in addition to the extra distance skated when changing lanes in the cross-over area, which on a standard track equals 7 centimeters.

A 400 m track with inner radius 25.0 m has 113.57 m long straights
A 400 m track with inner radius 25.5 m has 112.00 m long straights
A 400 m track with inner radius 26.0 m has 110.43 m long straights

The demarcation of the competition lanes are made by painted lines in the ice (ot a set of painted marks) and movable blocks of rubber. On outdoor tracks, snow may also be used for demarcation of the competition lanes.^[5]

Alternative speed skating tracks

Although ISU regulations state that minimum measures for a standard speed skating track, alternative track lengths may be used for competition. The minimum requirements are track length on 200 meters, radius of inner curve of 15 meters and width of the competition lanes 2 meters.^[6]

Indoor speed skating tracks

Below is a complete list of the indoor 400 m speed skating tracks around the world. The data presented are retrieved from the online database Speed Skating News.^[7]

Country	City	Track name	Altitude	Finished
Belarus	Minsk	Minsk Arena	209	2010
Canada	Calgary	Olympic Oval	1105	1987
Canada	Fort St. John	Enerplex Arena	671	2009
Canada	Richmond	Richmond Olympic Oval	4	2008*
China	Changchun	Jilin Provincial Speed Skating Rink	210	2005
China	Harbin	Heilongjiang Indoor Rink	141	1995
China	Qiqihar	Indoor Icerink	146	2007
China	Shenyang	Bayi Speed Skating Oval	48	1999
Germany	Berlin	Sportforum Hohenschönhausen	34	1985
Germany	Erfurt	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Halle	214	2001
Germany	Inzell	Eisstadion Inzell	690	2011
Italy	Torino	Oval Lingotto	233	2005
Japan	Nagano	M-Wave	346	1996
Japan	Obihiro	Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi Oval	79	2009
Kazakhstan	Astana	Indoor skating stadium	348	2011
Netherlands	Breda	SpaarSelect Kunstijsbaan	5	2001
Netherlands	Enschede	IJsbaan Twente	27	2008
Netherlands	Groningen	Kardinge	0	1993
Netherlands	Heerenveen	Thialf	0	1986
Netherlands	Tilburg	Ireen Wüst IJsbaan	13	2009
Norway	Bjugn	Fosenhallen	8	2007
Norway	Hamar	Vikingskipet	125	1992
Norway	Stavanger	Sørmarka Arena	48	2010
Russia	Chelyabinsk	Uralskaya Molniya	222	2005
Russia	Kolomna	Speed Skating Centre	120	2006
Russia	Moscow	Krylatskoye Skating Hall	127	2004
South Korea	Seoul	Taereung Indoor Ice Rink	63	2000
USA	West Allis	Pettit National Ice Center	216	1993
USA	Kearns	Utah Olympic Oval	1423	2000

Note: The Richmond Olympic Oval was dismantled upon completion of the 2010 Winter Olympics and is no longer in existence.

Other major speed skating tracks

In the table below, some of the world's major outdoor speed skating tracks still in use are listed. This is not a complete list of speed skating venues, but lists most of the outdoor tracks used for world cup competitions and championships the past years. The data in the table are retrieved from the Speed Skating News database.^[7]

Country	City	Track name	Altitude	Finished	Other
Austria	Innsbruck	Olympia Eisstadion	586	1963
Canada	Québec City	Centre National Gaétan Boucher	103	1978
Finland	Helsingfors	Oulunkylän Liikuntapuisto	39	1977
Finland	Seinäjoki	Jääurheilukeskus	44	1952
Germany	Inzell	Ludwig-Schwabl-Stadion	691	1965	Reopens as an indoor arena in 2011
Hungary	Budapest	Városligeti Müjégpálya	115	1968
Italy	Baselga di Pinè	Ice Rink Pinè	998	1985
Italy	Collalbo	Arena Ritten	1173	1989
Kazakhstan	Almaty	Medeo	1691	1972	Reopened
Netherlands	The Hague	De Uithof	0	1989	Semi-covered
Norway	Oslo	Frogner stadion	42	1914	Reopens with artificial ice in 2010
Norway	Oslo	Valle-Hovin	92	1966
Poland	Warsaw	Tor Stegny	82	1979
Poland	Zakopane	Tor Cos	932	1956
Gothenburg	Gothenburg	Ruddalens skrinnarhall	40	2002	Semi-covered
Switzerland	Davos	Eisstadion Davos	1560	1894	Natural ice
USA	Lake Placid	James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink	568	1977
USA	Roseville	John Rose Minnesota Oval	276	1993

References

^ ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules - Rule 203
^ ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules - Rule 205
^ ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules - Rule 206
^ ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules - Rule 228
^ ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules - Rule 226
^ ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules - Rule 204
^ ^a ^b Speed Skating News

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ==The rink==
-A standard speed skating track is, according to the regulations of the [[International Skating Union]] (ISU), a double-laned track with two curved ends each of 180°, in which the radius of the inner curve is not less than 25 meters and not more than 26 meters. The width of the competition lanes are 4 meters. At the opposite straight of the finishing line, there is a crossing area, where the skaters must change lane.
+A standard speed skating track is, according to the regulations of the [[International Skating Union]] (ISU), a double-laned track with two curved ends each of 180°, in which the radius of the inner curve is not less than 25 metres and not more than 26 metres. The width of the competition lanes is 4 metres. At the opposite straight of the finishing line, there is a crossing area, where the skaters must change lane.
 <ref>[http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-191971-209194-141143-0-file,00.pdf ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules] - Rule 203</ref>
-At international competitions, the track must be 400 meters long, with a warm-up lane at least 4 meters wide inside the competition lanes.<ref>ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules - Rule 205</ref> For Olympic competitions, the track must also be enclosed within a building.<ref>ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules - Rule 206</ref>
+At international competitions, the track must be 400 metres long, with a warm-up lane at least 4 metres wide inside the competition lanes.<ref>ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules - Rule 205</ref> For Olympic competitions, the track must also be enclosed within a building.<ref>ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules - Rule 206</ref>
 The design and dimensions of a speed skating track have remained more or less unchanged since the foundation of ISU in 1892.