History

The sport of short track speed skating originates in the speed skating events held with mass starts, and events were held at the New York 1932 Olympic Winter Games held at Lake Placid. This massed form of speed skating was mainly practised in the United States and Canada, as opposed to the international form, where skaters skated in pairs.

In 1967, the International Skating Union (ISU) adopted short track speed skating, although it would take some time before it started to organise international events, in 1976.

Short Track Speed Skating World Championships have been held since 1981, and they were shown as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, held in Calgary, Canada. The status was upgraded to a full Olympic sport four years later, and short track speed skating has been an Olympic sport since.

Canada has long been a dominant force in the sport, but currently the sport is highly popular in many Asian countries, notably The People's Republic of China, South Korea and Japan. Through the smaller ice tracks and shorter, often spectacular, competitions, short track speed skating has grown bigger than its older brother, (long track) speed skating in many countries.