Speed skating is pure adrenaline — athletes flying around the ice at incredible speeds, powered only by their own strength and precision. It looks smooth and effortless on screen, but trackside you can hear the blades bite into the ice and feel the rush as skaters thunder past. Here are five things that will help you watch like a pro.

1. Raw Speed

Speed skating is the fastest self-paced sport in the world. On TV, speed skating looks graceful. Trackside, you quickly realize just how fast it really is. In sprint races, skaters hit top speeds of over 62 km/h . Even in longer distances, they cruise at nearly 50 km/h.

Kjeld Nuis (NED) in 1500m at theISU World Cup Speed Skating 2025 Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland ©ISU

Dutch star Kjeld Nuis once pushed the limits to the extreme, becoming the first skater to break the 100 km/h barrier on a prepared straight outdoor track. While that required special conditions, it shows just how far human speed on skates can go.

2. The Sideways Push

Unlike running, skaters don’t move straight forward — they push sideways. Staying low, with deep bends at the knees and hips, helps them maximize power while cutting down air resistance.

Corners are a whole different challenge. Skaters cross their right foot over their left, pushing hard on the outside edge. Many actually accelerate better in the turns than on the straights.

Koen Verweij (NED) at the ISU European Speed Skating Championships 2020 in Heerenveen (NED) ©ISU

Technique and composure are everything — push too hard or lose balance, and speed vanishes in an instant. Dutch skater Koen Verweij explained it perfectly after a 1500m race in 2017:

“It was good until the final 200 meters. In the corner I lost my technique — that’s the fighter in me, trying too hard. But I need to control my technique better.”

3. Racing the Clock

For more than a century, the core of speed skating has been about the clock. Skaters race in pairs on a 400m oval, switching between inner and outer lanes each lap to cover the same distance. White armband means starting inside, red means outside.

Jordan Stolz  (USA) in the Men's 1000m during the ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships 2025 in Hamar (NOR) ©ISU

Distances range from all-out 500m sprints to the men’s grueling 10,000m. The 1500m is often called the “king’s race” for blending speed and endurance. On top of single distances, the sport also features combined formats like the Allround and Sprint Championships, where consistency across multiple races decides the champion.

Fun Fact: Lane changes on the backstretch can get dramatic. If two skaters meet side by side, the athlete in the outer lane has priority. Timing is everything!

4. Pack Racing and Teamwork

Not everything is against the clock. Two newer Olympic events bring direct head-to-head drama.

Team Japan: Miho Takagi, Ayano Sato, Momoka Horikawa, Yuka Onodera, compete in the Women's Team Pursuit during the  ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships 2025 in Hamar (NOR) ©ISU

• Team Pursuit: Two teams of three start on opposite sides of the track. Women skate six laps, men eight. In World Cups, it’s a time trial, but at the Olympics the knockout format means direct head-to-head battles.

Andrea Giovannini (ITA) celebrates in the Men's Mass Start finish during the ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships 2025 in Hamar (NOR) ©ISU

• Mass Start: A chaotic, thrilling pack race over 16 laps, complete with 3 intermediate sprints for points and an all-out final dash for finish line decides the medals. Expect jostling, tactics, and plenty of surprises.

5. Pushing the Limits

Speed skating has always been a sport of innovation. From frozen lakes to climate-controlled indoor ovals, from traditional leather boots to aerodynamic skin suits and clap skates, every leap forward has shattered records.

Speed Skating back in 1924, with English speed skaters training in Chamonix for the Winter Olympic Games ©GettyImages

Today, teams use wind-tunnel testing and cutting-edge strategy to chase every fraction of a second. Watching speed skating means seeing not just extraordinary athletes, but also the latest in sports science and human ingenuity.

When you watch speed skating, you’re not just seeing athletes push their physical limits. You’re watching the marriage of talent, training, and technology, all honed to chase fractions of a second. It’s a sport that keeps reinventing itself — and one that never stops pushing the limits of human imagination. Once you know what’s happening beneath the smooth rhythm on the ice, you’ll never watch it the same way again.

Modern indoor ice rink and equipment for the Men's Mass Start during the ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships 2025 in Hamar (NOR) ©ISU