World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women

World Allround Speed Skating Championships
World Allround Speed Skating Championships
Status	active
Genre	sports event
Date(s)	January–March
Frequency	biennial
Location(s)	various
Inaugurated	1933
Organised by	ISU

The International Skating Union has organised the World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women since 1936. Unofficial championships were held in the years 1933–1935.^[1]

History

Distances used

In the years 1933–1935, three distances were skated: 500 m, 1000 m and 1500 m.
In the years 1936–1955, four distances were skated: 500 m, 1000 m, 3000 m and 5000 m (the old combination).
In the years 1956–1982, four distances were skated: 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and 3000 m (the mini combination).
Since 1983, four distances are skated: 500 m, 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m (the small combination).

Ranking systems used

Since 1933, the samalog system has been in use. However, the rule that a skater winning at least three distances (at least two distances in 1933–1935) was automatically World Champion remained in effect until (and including) 1986. This rule was applied in 1949 when Maria Isakova from the Soviet Union won three distances and thus become World Champion despite after end of fourth distance (5000 m) she had a worse samalog score than her compatriots Zoya Kholshevnikova and Rimma Zhukova who won silver and bronze medals respectively.

Records

Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (née Kleemann) from East Germany won a total of 8 world championship titles, three consecutive in 1991, 1992, 1993, and another five consecutive titles in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999.
Ireen Wüst from Netherlands has a record 13 medals, 12 of which were won in consecutive championships (2007–2018) – seven golds (2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2020), four silvers (2008, 2015, 2016, 2018) and two bronzes (2009, 2010). Previously, this record belonged to Claudia Pechstein from Germany – 11 medals in consecutive championships (1996–2006) with one gold (2000), eight silvers (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006) and two bronzes (2002, 2005).
The youngest World Allround Champion is Laila Schou Nilsen from Norway who won her first of three world allround titles in 1935 at age 15 (although it was unofficial world championships). Two years later she won official world championships at age 17 (which is also a record).
The oldest World Allround Champion is Atje Keulen-Deelstra from Netherlands who won her fourth and last world allround title in 1974 at age 35.
Claudia Pechstein from Germany hold record by number of participations in the championships (25 times in 1992–2022).
The biggest point margin between the winner and the second placed skater at the end of competition is 20.923 points between Verné Lesche from Finland and Else Marie Christiansen from Norway in 1947.
At the 1949 championships, Maria Isakova from the Soviet Union won three distances and thus become World Allround Champion in accordance with then-existing rule. Being de-facto champion, she finished in 6th place at final distance (5000 m) and in third place in points classification by losing 1.510 points to her compatriot Zoya Kholshevnikova who eventually become silver medalist. Without taking into account this case, the smallest winning margin between the champion and the runner-up is 0.073 points between Soviet skaters Khalida Shchegoleyeva and Rimma Zhukova in 1953.
There are eight speed skaters who become World Allround Champions by winning all four distances at the championships – Laila Schou Nilsen from Norway (1937), Verné Lesche from Finland (1947), Lidiya Skoblikova from the Soviet Union (1963 and 1964), Beth Heiden from the United States (1979), Andrea Schöne from East Germany (1985), Gunda Niemann from Germany (1995), Anni Friesinger from Germany (2005) and Cindy Klassen from Canada (2006). Lidiya Skoblikova is the only speed skater who achieved this feat twice.
By contrast, there are five speed skaters who become World Allround Champions without winning any of four distances – Lidia Selikhova from the Soviet Union (1954), Valentina Stenina from the Soviet Union (1966), Atje Keulen-Deelstra from Netherlands (1970), Cindy Klassen from Canada (2003) and Ireen Wüst from Netherlands (2012).
There are five female speed skaters who become champions both at the World Allround and the World Sprint Championships – Sylvia Burka from Canada (Allround: 1976; Sprint: 1977), Natalya Petrusyova from the Soviet Union (Allround: 1980, 1981; Sprint: 1982), Karin Kania (Enke, Busch) from East Germany (Allround: 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988; Sprint: 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987), Anni Friesinger from Germany (Allround: 2001, 2002, 2005; Sprint: 2007) and Miho Takagi from Japan (Allround: 2018; Sprint: 2020, 2024). Karin Kania (Enke, Busch) remained the only female speed skater who win both championships in one calendar year by firstly achieving this feat in 1984 and then repeating this success in 1986 and 1987. Anni Friesinger and Miho Takagi are the only female speed skaters who won world titles at three different championships – World Allround Championships, World Sprint Championships and World Single Distances Championships (at the latter competition Friesinger won 12 gold medals in 1998–2009 and Takagi won five gold medals in 2015–2024).

Medal winners

Unofficial championships

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1933	Oslo	Liselotte Landbeck	Synnøve Lie	Helen Bina
1934	Oslo	Undis Blikken	Verné Lesche	Synnøve Lie
1935	Oslo	Laila Schou Nilsen	Synnøve Lie	Kit Klein

Official championships

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1936	Stockholm	Kit Klein	Verné Lesche	Synnøve Lie
1937	Davos	Laila Schou Nilsen	Synnøve Lie	Verné Lesche
1938	Oslo	Laila Schou Nilsen (3 ^[a])	Verné Lesche	Synnøve Lie
1939	Tampere	Verné Lesche	Liisa Salmi	Laura Tamminen
1940	Not held due to World War II
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947	Drammen	Verné Lesche (2)	Else Marie Christiansen	Maggi Kvestad
1948	Turku	Maria Isakova	Lidia Selikhova	Zoya Kholshevnikova
1949	Kongsberg	Maria Isakova	Zoya Kholshevnikova	Rimma Zhukova
1950	Moscow	Maria Isakova (3)	Zinaida Krotova	Rimma Zhukova
1951	Eskilstuna	Eevi Huttunen	Randi Thorvaldsen	Ragnhild Mikkelsen
1952	Kokkola	Lidia Selikhova	Maria Anikanova	Randi Thorvaldsen
1953	Lillehammer	Khalida Shchegoleyeva	Rimma Zhukova	Lidia Selikhova
1954	Östersund	Lidia Selikhova (2)	Rimma Zhukova	Sofya Kondakova
1955	Kuopio	Rimma Zhukova	Tamara Rylova	Sofya Kondakova
1956	Kvarnsveden	Sofya Kondakova	Rimma Zhukova	Tamara Rylova
1957	Imatra	Inga Artamonova	Tamara Rylova	Lidia Selikhova
1958	Kristinehamn	Inga Artamonova	Tamara Rylova	Sofya Kondakova
1959	Sverdlovsk	Tamara Rylova	Valentina Stenina	Lidiya Skoblikova
1960	Östersund	Valentina Stenina	Tamara Rylova	Lidiya Skoblikova
1961	Tønsberg	Valentina Stenina	Albina Tuzova	Lidiya Skoblikova
1962	Imatra	Inga Voronina	Lidiya Skoblikova	Albina Tuzova
1963	Karuizawa	Lidiya Skoblikova	Inga Voronina	Valentina Stenina
1964	Kristinehamn	Lidiya Skoblikova (2)	Inga Voronina	Tamara Rylova
1965	Oulu	Inga Voronina (4)	Valentina Stenina	Stien Kaiser
1966	Trondheim	Valentina Stenina (3)	Kim Song-soon	Stien Kaiser
1967	Deventer	Stien Kaiser	Lāsma Kauniste	Dianne Holum
1968	Helsinki	Stien Kaiser (2)	Ans Schut	Carry Geijssen
1969	Grenoble	Lāsma Kauniste	Stien Kaiser	Ans Schut
1970	West Allis	Atje Keulen-Deelstra	Stien Kaiser	Sigrid Sundby
1971	Helsinki	Nina Statkevich	Stien Kaiser	Lyudmila Titova
1972	Heerenveen	Atje Keulen-Deelstra	Stien Baas-Kaiser	Dianne Holum
1973	Strömsund	Atje Keulen-Deelstra	Tatyana Shelekhova	Trijnie Rep
1974	Heerenveen	Atje Keulen-Deelstra (4)	Tatyana Averina	Nina Statkevich
1975	Assen	Karin Kessow	Tatyana Averina	Sheila Young
1976	Gjøvik	Sylvia Burka	Tatyana Averina	Sheila Young
1977	Keystone	Vera Bryndzei	Galina Stepanskaya	Galina Nikitina
1978	Helsinki	Tatyana Averina	Galina Stepanskaya	Marion Dittmann
1979	The Hague	Beth Heiden	Natalya Petrusyova	Sylvia Burka
1980	Hamar	Natalya Petrusyova	Beth Heiden	Bjørg Eva Jensen
1981	Sainte-Foy	Natalya Petrusyova (2)	Karin Enke	Sarah Docter
1982	Inzell	Karin Busch	Andrea Schöne	Natalya Petrusyova
1983	Karl-Marx-Stadt	Andrea Schöne	Karin Enke	Valentina Lalenkova-Golovenkina
1984	Deventer	Karin Enke	Andrea Schöne	Gabi Schönbrunn
1985	Sarajevo	Andrea Schöne (2)	Gabi Schönbrunn	Sabine Brehm
1986	The Hague	Karin Kania	Andrea Ehrig	Sabine Brehm
1987	West Allis	Karin Kania	Andrea Ehrig	Yvonne van Gennip
1988	Skien	Karin Kania (5)	Yvonne van Gennip	Erwina Ryś-Ferens
1989	Lake Placid	Constanze Moser-Scandolo	Gunda Kleemann	Yvonne van Gennip
1990	Calgary	Jacqueline Börner	Seiko Hashimoto	Constanze Moser-Scandolo
1991	Hamar	Gunda Kleemann	Heike Warnicke-Schalling	Lia van Schie
1992	Heerenveen	Gunda Niemann	Emese Hunyady	Seiko Hashimoto
1993	Berlin	Gunda Niemann	Emese Hunyady	Heike Warnicke-Schalling
1994	Butte	Emese Hunyady	Ulrike Adeberg	Mihaela Dascălu
1995	Savalen	Gunda Niemann	Lyudmila Prokasheva	Annamarie Thomas
1996	Inzell	Gunda Niemann	Claudia Pechstein	Mie Uehara
1997	Nagano	Gunda Niemann	Claudia Pechstein	Tonny de Jong
1998	Heerenveen	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann	Claudia Pechstein	Anni Friesinger
1999	Hamar	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (8)	Claudia Pechstein	Tonny de Jong
2000	Milwaukee	Claudia Pechstein	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann	Maki Tabata
2001	Budapest	Anni Friesinger	Claudia Pechstein	Renate Groenewold
2002	Heerenveen	Anni Friesinger	Cindy Klassen	Claudia Pechstein
2003	Gothenburg	Cindy Klassen	Claudia Pechstein	Daniela Anschütz
2004	Hamar	Renate Groenewold	Claudia Pechstein	Wieteke Cramer
2005	Moscow	Anni Friesinger (3)	Cindy Klassen	Claudia Pechstein
2006	Calgary	Cindy Klassen (2)	Claudia Pechstein	Kristina Groves
2007	Heerenveen	Ireen Wüst	Anni Friesinger	Cindy Klassen
2008	Berlin	Paulien van Deutekom	Ireen Wüst	Kristina Groves
2009	Hamar	Martina Sáblíková	Kristina Groves	Ireen Wüst
2010	Heerenveen	Martina Sáblíková	Kristina Groves	Ireen Wüst
2011	Calgary	Ireen Wüst	Christine Nesbitt	Martina Sáblíková
2012	Moscow	Ireen Wüst	Martina Sáblíková	Christine Nesbitt
2013	Hamar	Ireen Wüst	Diane Valkenburg	Yekaterina Shikhova
2014	Heerenveen	Ireen Wüst	Olga Graf	Yvonne Nauta
2015	Calgary	Martina Sáblíková	Ireen Wüst	Ida Njåtun
2016	Berlin	Martina Sáblíková	Ireen Wüst	Antoinette de Jong
2017	Hamar	Ireen Wüst	Martina Sáblíková	Miho Takagi
2018	Amsterdam	Miho Takagi	Ireen Wüst	Annouk van der Weijden
2019	Calgary	Martina Sáblíková (5)	Miho Takagi	Antoinette de Jong
2020	Hamar	Ireen Wüst (7)	Ivanie Blondin	Antoinette de Jong
2022	Hamar	Irene Schouten	Miho Takagi	Antoinette de Jong
2024	Inzell	Joy Beune	Marijke Groenewoud	Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong

All-time medal count


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	24	25	20	69
2	Netherlands	17	12	22	51
3	Germany	12	12	5	29
4	East Germany	10	8	5	23
5	Czech Republic	5	2	1	8
6	Norway	4	5	9	18
7	Canada	3	6	5	14
8	Finland	3	4	2	9
9	Austria	2	2	0	4
10	United States	2	1	7	10
11	Japan	1	3	4	8
12	Russia	0	1	1	2
13	Kazakhstan	0	1	0	1
13	North Korea	0	1	0	1
15	Poland	0	0	1	1
15	Romania	0	0	1	1
Totals (16 entries)		83	83	83	249

Unofficial World Championships of 1933–1935 (not recognized by the ISU) included

Multiple medalists

Boldface denotes active skaters and highest medal count among all skaters (including those not included in these tables) per type.

Rank	Skater	Country	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (Kleemann)	East Germany Germany	1989	2000	8	2	–	10
2	Ireen Wüst	Netherlands	2007	2020	7	4	2	13
3	Martina Sáblíková	Czech Republic	2009	2019	5	2	1	8
4	Karin Kania (Enke, Busch)	East Germany	1981	1988	5	2	–	7
5	Inga Voronina (Artamonova)	Soviet Union	1957	1965	4	2	–	6
6	Atje Keulen-Deelstra	Netherlands	1970	1974	4	–	–	4
7	Valentina Stenina	Soviet Union	1959	1966	3	2	1	6
8	Anni Friesinger	Germany	1998	2007	3	1	1	5
9	Maria Isakova	Soviet Union	1948	1950	3	–	–	3
9	Laila Schou Nilsen	Norway	1935	1938	* 3 *	–	–	* 3 *