Winter Olympics trivia: What are the differences between speed skating and short track speed skating?

The biggest difference between speed skating and short track speed skating is the length of the tracks—a speed skating track has a perimeter of 400 meters while short track speed skating takes place on a 111.12-meter oval track.

The speed skating track has an inner lane and an outer lane, and the swapping of lanes occurs several times during a competition. The oval track for short track speed skating does not have an inner lane or an outer lane, but has black rubber marker blocks placed at the corners, as a reminder to the skaters that they must not cross the line. There are no marker lines along the straightaway and the skaters can move forward freely.

During a speed skating competition, skaters wear ice skate blades, with the blades and the boots being separated from each other, while during a short track speed skating event, the ice skate blades worn by the skaters have blades that are not placed in the middle of the boots but placed off-center to the left and are bent in an arc so that the boots do not touch the ice when the skaters lean into the turn.

Also, skaters usually wear wind resistant hooded suits during a speed skating race, while during a short track speed skating event, skaters wear cut resistant gloves, protective sporting glasses, and hard-shell helmets, among other equipment.

The number of skaters racing at a time is also different. In individual speed skating races, two skaters race at a time, while in team pursuit speed skating races, six skaters of two teams race simultaneously against the clock. In short track speed skating, the number of skaters that compete in the 500m and 1000m races are usually four skaters, while the number of skaters competing in the 1500m or longer races range between six and eight skaters.