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.

+Quota places per genderEntry listReserve listMaximum per NOC500 meter28831,000 meter28831,500 meter28833,000 meter 20835,000 meter women12825,000 meter men208310,000 meter 1282Mass start2482Team pursuit841

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.

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: +Quota places assignationSOQCP (points-based)SOQCT (time-based)Entry listReserve listEntry listReserve list500, 1,000 and 1,500 meter21783,000 meter 15585,000 meter women9385,000 meter men155810,000 meter938Mass start248Team pursuit624 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 meeting 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: EventMenWomen500 metres35.7039.501000 metres1:10.501:18.001500 metres1:48.001:59.503000 metres4:12.005000 metres6:30.007:20.00 or 4:08.00 (3000 m)10,000 metres13:30.00 or 6:25.00 (5000 m) Mass startAny qualifying time aboveAny qualifying time above

Quota allocation The International Skating Union confirmed the maximum, and event specific, quotas earned by each NOC on 19 December 2025. On 26 January 2026, the ISU confirmed the final NOC totals which required some adjustments to individual event entry quotas.

NOC Men Women Athletes500m 1,000m 1,500m 5,000m 10,000m TP total 500m 1,000m 1,500m 3,000m 5,000m total 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 6 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 2 X 3 6 3 1 2 1 1 2 7 3 3 3 3 2 2 X 8 15 3 2 2 1 2 X 7 3 3 3 1 1 2 X 8 15 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 X 5 1 1 6 3 3 3 2 X 7 1 1 1 1 1 2 X 6 13 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 3 2 1 X 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 10 3 3 3 1 1 X 7 3 3 3 1 2 X 7 14 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 X 4 5 3 3 3 3 2 2 X 9 3 3 3 3 2 2 X 9 18 2 1 3 3 2 1 X 7 1 1 1 1 1 3 10 3 3 1 1 4 3 2 1 5 9 3 2 2 4 2 2 1 2 4 8 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 1 1 1 3 3 3 1 1 2 X 7 2 2 2 2 X 6 13Total: 23 NOCs272727201223885262727201223879164

Points Ranking Men's 500m The top 21 athletes, with a maximum of 3 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.

Pos.Racer SLC 1 SLC 2 CGY 1 CGY 2 HEE HAM 1 HAM 2PointsNote1 60 43 48 60 60 60 60 391 2 54 38 43 54 30 48 54 321 3 31 60 54 40 54 54 293 4 43 36 38 43 48 43 28 279 5 40 32 22 26 34 38 34 226 6 23 24 40 27 32 36 43 225 7 25 54 24 21 31 31 38 224 8 30 22 29 22 28 40 48 219 9 24 48 60 48 36 216 10 36 31 32 29 25 32 30 215 11 48 27 30 31 28 22 24 210 12 32 24 28 36 24 34 32 210 13 34 30 31 30 38 25 21 209 14 28 40 36 23 29 23 23 202 15 27 26 21 28 27 29 40 198 16 21 28 28 34 26 28 26 191 17 4 5 24 38 40 30 36 177 18 26 34 34 32 43 169 19 28 29 25 24 15 24 22 167 20 29 25 26 28 22 21 151 21 38 0 8 24 23 17 29 139 22 24 23 10 10 4 28 27 126 23 21 13 15 21 0 24 31 125 24 12 10 21 25 16 12 24 120 25 15 21 27 9 11 13 9 105 26 16 28 23 14 3 6 14 104 27 17 15 14 5 6 21 25 103 28 8 6 9 1 24 26 28 102 29 9 14 16 11 17 16 11 94 30 14 16 17 17 12 9 8 93 31 13 12 3 13 21 27 89 32 11 9 13 15 13 15 13 89 33 22 17 7 6 9 7 7 75 34 7 7 6 7 7 14 21 69 35 6 11 2 4 2 10 12 47 36 0 2 0 12 5 11 15 45 37 0 3 12 0 1 8 16 40 38 1 4 0 8 8 0 17 38 39 11 16 27 40 5 8 0 1 10 0 3 27 41 3 0 4 0 14 1 2 24 42 10 0 10 43 10 10 44 2 1 5 0 8 45 0 0 0 2 0 5 0 7 46 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 7 47 0 0 1 3 0 2 1 7 48 6 6 49 5 5 50 4 0 4 51 0 0 0 0 0 52 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 53 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 54 0 0 0 0 0 54 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 56 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 57 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 58 0 0 59 0 0 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 61 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 62 0 0 63 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 64 0 0 0 65 0 0 66 0 0 67 0 0 68 0 0 69 0 0 0 0 0

Men's 1000m The top 21 athletes, with a maximum of 3 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.

Pos.Racer SLC CGY HEE HAMPointsNote1 60 60 60 60 240 2 48 54 43 43 188 3 54 38 34 54 180 4 38 36 48 36 158 5 40 27 54 28 149 6 36 34 32 40 142 7 32 43 29 31 135 8 43 26 40 22 131 9 30 29 30 38 127 10 34 32 31 30 127 11 28 40 26 27 121 12 32 48 38 118 13 0 28 36 48 112 14 28 31 27 26 112 15 25 24 24 29 102 16 24 28 25 24 101 17 16 24 23 34 97 18 26 25 21 21 93 19 29 30 28 87 20 15 16 24 25 80 21 13 4 28 23 68 22 0 8 21 32 61 23 12 17 11 16 56 24 14 12 16 14 56 25 24 23 7 54 26 10 14 15 12 51 27 27 21 48 28 4 15 14 13 46 29 21 22 2 0 45 30 0 21 22 43 31 17 9 17 0 43 32 7 11 10 1 29 33 28 28 34 8 3 0 15 26 35 24 24 36 23 23 37 5 7 8 3 23 38 21 21 39 17 17 40 1 0 9 7 17 41 0 5 11 16 42 6 5 4 15 43 0 0 6 8 14 44 13 13 45 0 0 13 0 13 46 12 12 47 3 9 12 48 11 0 11 49 9 2 0 0 11 50 0 10 10 51 10 10 52 0 6 6 53 0 0 0 6 6 54 5 5 55 0 0 0 4 4 56 3 0 3 57 2 0 0 0 2 58 0 0 2 2 59 0 1 1 60 1 1 61 0 0 0 0 0 62 0 0 63 0 0 0 0 64 0 0 0 0 0 65 0 0 0 0 0 66 0 0 67 0 0 0 0 0 68 0 0 0 0 0 69 0 0 70 0 0 71 0 0 0 0 72 0 0 0 73 0 0 0 0 74 0 0 75 0 0 76 0 0 0 0 77 0 0 78 0 0 79 0 0 0

Men's 1500m The top 21 athletes, with a maximum of 3 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.

Pos.Racer SLC CGY HEE HAMPointsNote1 60 60 60 60 240 2 40 48 54 54 196 3 54 38 48 48 188 4 48 54 43 43 188 5 34 40 40 31 145 6 43 26 32 32 133 7 25 28 36 40 129 8 21 36 31 36 124 9 31 30 29 34 124 10 36 43 38 117 11 38 26 26 27 117 12 26 34 34 22 116 13 27 32 27 24 110 14 29 29 21 30 109 15 30 24 28 26 108 16 32 21 23 21 97 17 7 28 30 29 94 18 13 13 24 38 88 19 17 24 24 23 88 20 28 31 22 81 21 9 16 28 28 81 22 10 21 25 21 77 23 29 23 7 14 73 24 24 22 8 5 59 25 16 17 10 16 59 26 24 27 6 57 27 22 0 17 17 56 28 14 12 16 9 51 29 15 15 12 8 50 30 5 14 5 24 48 31 21 25 46 32 23 5 15 0 43 33 14 28 42 34 9 10 11 12 42 35 1 6 13 7 27 36 21 21 37 12 8 0 0 20 38 0 7 0 11 18 39 0 2 15 17 40 6 11 17 41 13 13 42 0 0 9 4 13 43 2 0 10 12 44 11 11 45 0 9 1 0 10 46 0 0 6 3 9 47 4 4 0 8 48 3 1 3 0 7 49 0 0 4 2 6 50 0 3 3 51 2 2 52 0 0 1 1 53 0 0 0 54 0 0 0 55 0 0 0 56 0 0 0 0 0 57 0 0 0 58 0 0 0 0 59 0 0 0 60 0 0 0 61 0 0 0 0 0 62 0 0 0 63 0 0 0 0 64 0 0 65 0 0 0 0 0 66 0 0 0 0 0 67 0 0 0 68 0 0 0 69 0 0 0 70 0 0 71 0 0 0 0 0 72 0 0 0 73 0 0 74 0 0 0 75 0 0 76 0 0

Men's 5000m and 10000m The qualification points ranking for the men's 5000m and 10000m are combined. The top 15 athletes, with a maximum of 3 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country in the 5000m. The top 9 athletes, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country in the 10000m.

Pos.Racer SLC CGY HEE HAMPointsNote1 54 36 60 60 210 2 60 43 48 54 205 3 48 54 43 48 193 4 43 60 38 34 175 5 38 38 54 36 166 6 36 48 36 40 160 7 40 40 34 31 145 8 34 29 40 38 141 9 32 34 32 26 124 10 32 30 29 28 119 11 30 32 30 25 117 12 28 27 32 29 116 13 31 31 22 30 114 14 20 32 31 27 110 15 29 26 25 28 108 16 17 28 29 32 106 17 6 20 36 43 105 18 25 28 17 21 91 19 8 25 24 25 82 20 9 16 23 32 80 21 27 17 11 20 75 22 16 19 18 18 71 23 15 4 20 19 58 24 26 0 21 10 57 25 28 25 53 26 13 12 16 12 53 27 10 18 5 14 47 28 4 8 19 13 44 29 0 13 15 16 44 30 14 15 3 11 43 31 19 10 12 0 41 32 21 2 0 17 40 33 11 14 13 2 40 34 25 7 0 7 39 35 18 21 0 39 36 5 9 9 3 26 37 0 1 6 15 22 38 0 3 14 4 21 39 12 0 8 20 40 7 5 8 20 41 0 0 10 9 19 42 3 6 6 15 43 0 11 1 12 44 7 7 45 0 0 1 5 6 46 0 0 4 4 47 0 0 2 2 47 2 0 0 0 2 49 1 0 1 50 0 0 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 0 0

Men's Mass Start The top 24 athletes, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country in the mass start. The next 8 athletes will be on the reserve list. Up to six additional starting positions for the mass start will be made available during the games, given in reserve order, with priority given to countries that do not yet have an entry. However, only skaters that already took part in another event will be eligible. After allocations were finalized only 23 quotas were given making seven starting positions available during the games.

Pos.Racer SLC CGY HEE HAMPointsNote1 60 34 60 43 197 2 27 60 40 48 175 3 31 43 43 54 171 4 30 54 54 20 158 5 26 48 18 60 152 6 40 31 36 40 147 7 25 38 38 38 139 8 28 36 48 26 138 9 54 24 29 28 135 10 48 26 23 31 128 11 43 23 20 36 122 12 34 40 19 27 120 13 23 29 32 34 118 14 38 20 26 32 116 15 36 22 30 22 110 16 17 32 24 30 103 17 21 30 27 23 101 18 8 27 31 25 91 19 24 28 21 12 85 20 20 0 34 24 78 21 29 21 17 11 78 22 22 25 13 15 75 23 17 19 25 9 70 24 18 11 8 29 66 25 13 13 18 21 65 26 32 0 28 3 63 27 15 18 10 17 60 28 7 15 14 20 56 29 1 8 22 19 50 30 11 7 15 16 49 31 5 17 9 10 41 32 10 14 7 8 39 33 12 0 11 13 36 34 19 12 0 4 35 35 0 3 4 14 21 36 2 10 3 6 21 37 14 0 5 0 19 38 9 9 0 18 39 3 6 2 7 18 40 4 4 0 5 13 41 12 0 12 42 0 1 6 2 9 43 6 0 1 0 7 44 0 5 1 6 45 0 2 2 46 0 0 0 46 0 0 46 0 0 0 46 0 0

Men's Team pursuit The top six nations will earn a quota for the Team pursuit.