Speed skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics – Qualification

The qualification process for the 14 speed skating events at the 2026 Winter Olympics is based on performance of skaters at designated 2025-26 ISU Speed Skating World Cup events. Results at these events determine the Special Olympic Qualification Classifications that determine quota allocation to National Olympic Committees (NOC).

Qualification rules

Quota places per event

There will be fourteen speed skating events at the 2026 Winter Olympics: six individual events and one team event for each gender. Quota places for the entry list and for a reserve list are established per event. For each event, a maximum number of participants per NOC is established. ^[1]

Quota places per gender
	Entry list	Reserve list	Maximum per NOC
500 meter	28	8	3
1,000 meter	28	8	3
1,500 meter	28	8	3
3,000 meter	20	8	3
5,000 meter women	12	8	2
5,000 meter men	20	8	3
10,000 meter	12	8	2
Mass start	24	8	2
Team pursuit	8	4	1

The quota places will be assigned to National Olympic Committees and Authorized Neutral Athletes following the rankings of the Special Olympic Qualification Classifications. A limited number of neutral athletes will be allowed to participate in the qualification events.^[2]

The total number of participants in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meter events is in principle 28 but may increase to 30 in the course of the Winter Olympics. These additional spots can be assigned to athletes on the reserve list, that are on the entry list for another event, and that represent an NOC that has no other athletes in the race. Likewise, the total number of participants in the mass start races may increase from 24 to 30.

The host country, Italy, participates in the qualification process. If the host country does not obtain a quota place for an event, it will be assigned one quota place for the entry list. If Italy has a place on the reserve list, it obtains one additional quota place, in replacement of the last qualified quota place on the entry list.

Special Olympic Qualification Classifications

The Special Olympic Qualification Classifications are obtained by the performance of athletes in the first four stages of the 2025-26 ISU Speed Skating World Cup, namely:

• Stage 1: Salt Lake City, 14-16 November 2025
• Stage 2: Calgary, 21-23 November 2025
• Stage 3: Heerenveen, 5-7 December 2025
• Stage 4: Hamar, 12-14 December 2025

Two classification systems will be used: by points and by time. The number of quota places that will be assigned based on points and based on time is as follows:^[3]

Quota places assignation
	SOQCP (points-based)		SOQCT (time-based)
	Entry list	Reserve list	Entry list	Reserve list
500, 1,000 and 1,500 meter	21		7	8
3,000 meter	15		5	8
5,000 meter women	9		3	8
5,000 meter men	15		5	8
10,000 meter	9		3	8
Mass start	24	8
Team pursuit	6		2	4

The SOQCP (based on points) is obtained from the overall ranking of competitors after the four World Cup stages. For the long distances (3,000 and 5,000 for women; 5,000 and 10.000 for men), the point classification is combined.

The SOQCT (based on time) is obtained from the list of competitors ranked by their fastest time recorded in the four World Cup stages. The fastest athletes that have not already secured a quota place through the points classification, obtain a quota place for their NOC based on their best time. The reserve list is obtained from the time-based classification, except for the mass start races.

Maximum number of participants per NOC

The maximum number of participants per NOC is in principle seven.

NOC´s that qualify for the team event are entitled to register one additional participant.

NOC´s that have obtained the maximum number of quota places in each event per gender also are entitled to register one additional athlete.

Thus, nine athletes per gender is the maximum number of participants for NOC´s that participate in the team pursuit and have obtained the maximum number of athletes in all individual events per gender.

Minimum qualification times

An athlete is eligible to participate in a certain event by meetng the minimum qualification time for that event between 1 July 2025 and 18 January 2026. The minimum qualification times were published by ISU on 19 june 2025, as follows:

Event	Men	Women
500 metres	35.70	39.50
1000 metres	1:10.50	1:18.00
1500 metres	1:48.00	1:59.50
3000 metres	—	4:12.00
5000 metres	6:30.00	7:20.00 or 4:08.00 (3000 m)
10,000 metres	13:30.00 or 6:25.00 (5000 m)	—
Mass start	Any qualifying time above	Any qualifying time above

External links

• Qualification system published by ISU
• ISU Communication 2722 of 19 june 2025