# World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Men

The International Skating Union has organised the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Men since 1970. The first two years (1970–1971), they were called the ISU Sprint Championships.

## History
### Distances used

* Since 1970, four distances are skated: 500 m, 1000 m, 500 m and 1000 m (the sprint combination).
* In 2022, team sprint event has been held as well.

### Ranking systems used

* Since 1970, the samalog system has been in use. However, the rule that a skater winning at least three distances was automatically World Champion remained in effect until (and including) 1986.

### Records

* Igor Zhelezovski has won a total of six World Championships while representing the Soviet Union (four times in 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991), the Commonwealth of Independent States or CIS (once in 1992) and Belarus (once in 1994).
* Jeremy Wotherspoon from Canada has a record 9 medals, 8 of which were won in consecutive championships (1998–2005) – four golds (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003), four silvers (1998, 2004, 2005, 2008) and one bronze (2001).
* Eric Heiden from the United States has won four consecutive world championships, in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.
* The youngest World Sprint Champion is Eric Heiden from the United States who won his first of four world sprint titles in 1977 at age 18.
* The oldest World Sprint Champion is Lee Kyou-hyuk from South Korea who won his fourth and last world sprint title in 2011 at age 32.
* There are three skaters who co-hold record by number of participations in the championships (15 times) – Gerard van Velde from Netherlands (in 1991–2007), Hiroyasu Shimizu from Japan (in 1993–2007) and Lee Kyou-hyuk from South Korea (in 1998–2014).
* The biggest point margin between the winner and the second placed skater at the end of competition is 3.050 points between Eric Heiden from the United States and Frode Rønning from Norway in 1978.
* The smallest winning margin between the champion and the runner-up is 0.010 points between Gaétan Boucher from Canada and Sergey Khlebnikov from the Soviet Union in 1984.
* There are two speed skaters who become World Sprint Champions by winning all four distances at the championships – Eric Heiden from the United States (1979) and Igor Zhelezovski who represented the Commonwealth of Independent States or CIS (1992).
* Manabu Horii from Japan is the only skater who won three of four distances at the championships but failed to win world title (1997). Due to fall, he finished only 33rd at first distance (500 m) and in overall point classification.
* By contrast, there are 8 speed skaters who become World Sprint Champions without winning any of four distances – Valery Muratov from the Soviet Union (1970), Johan Granath from Sweden (1976), Akira Kuroiwa from Japan (1987), Bae Ki-tae from South Korea (1990), Mike Ireland from Canada (2001), Lee Kyou-hyuk from South Korea (2007), Michel Mulder from Netherlands (2013) and Kai Verbij from Netherlands (2017).
* Eric Heiden and Shani Davis (both from the United States) are only men's speed skaters who become champions both at the World Sprint and the World Allround Championships. Heiden won three World Allround Championships in 1977–1979 and four World Sprint Championships in 1977–1980. He remained the only men's speed skater who win both championships in one calendar year by firstly achieving this feat in 1977 and then repeating this success in 1978 and 1979. Shani Davis is the only men's speed skater who won world titles at three different championships – World Allround Championships (2005 and 2006), World Sprint Championships (2009) and World Single Distances Championships (8 gold medals in 2004–2015).

## Medal winners
### Sprint combination

| Year | Venue | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1970 | West Allis | Valery Muratov | Keiichi Suzuki | Magne Thomassen |
| 1971 | Inzell | Erhard Keller | Ove König | Ard Schenk |
| 1972 | Eskilstuna | Leo Linkovesi | Valery Muratov | Ard Schenk |
| 1973 | Oslo | Valery Muratov (2) | Jos Valentijn | Eppie Bleeker |
| 1974 | Innsbruck | Per Bjørang | Masaki Suzuki | Eppie Bleeker |
| 1975 | Gothenburg | Aleksandr Safronov | Yevgeny Kulikov | Valery Muratov |
| 1976 | West Berlin | Johan Granath | Dan Immerfall | Peter Mueller |
| 1977 | Alkmaar | Eric Heiden | Peter Mueller | Yevgeny Kulikov |
| 1978 | Lake Placid | Eric Heiden | Frode Rønning | Johan Granath |
| 1979 | Inzell | Eric Heiden | Gaétan Boucher | Frode Rønning |
| 1980 | West Allis | Eric Heiden (4) | Gaétan Boucher | Tom Plant |
| 1981 | Grenoble | Frode Rønning | Sergey Khlebnikov | Anatoly Medennikov |
| 1982 | Alkmaar | Sergey Khlebnikov | Gaétan Boucher | Frode Rønning |
| 1983 | Helsinki | Akira Kuroiwa | Pavel Pegov | Hilbert van der Duim |
| 1984 | Trondheim | Gaétan Boucher | Sergey Khlebnikov | Kai Arne Engelstad |
| 1985 | Heerenveen | Igor Zhelezovski | Gaétan Boucher | Dan Jansen |
| 1986 | Karuizawa | Igor Zhelezovski | Dan Jansen | Akira Kuroiwa |
| 1987 | Sainte Foy | Akira Kuroiwa (2) | Nick Thometz | Yukihiro Mitani |
| 1988 | West Allis | Dan Jansen | Uwe-Jens Mey | Eric Flaim |
| 1989 | Heerenveen | Igor Zhelezovski | Uwe-Jens Mey | Andrey Bakhvalov |
| 1990 | Tromsø | Bae Ki-tae | Andrey Bakhvalov | Igor Zhelezovski |
| 1991 | Inzell | Igor Zhelezovski | Uwe-Jens Mey | Toshiyuki Kuroiwa |
| 1992 | Oslo | Igor Zhelezovski | Dan Jansen | Toshiyuki Kuroiwa |
| 1993 | Ikaho | Igor Zhelezovski (6) | Yasunori Miyabe | Hiroyasu Shimizu |
| 1994 | Calgary | Dan Jansen (2) | Sergey Klevchenya | Junichi Inoue |
| 1995 | Milwaukee | Kim Yoon-man | Hiroyasu Shimizu | Yasunori Miyabe |
| 1996 | Heerenveen | Sergey Klevchenya | Hiroyasu Shimizu | Manabu Horii |
| 1997 | Hamar | Sergey Klevchenya (2) | Roger Strøm | Casey FitzRandolph |
| 1998 | Berlin | Jan Bos | Jeremy Wotherspoon | Erben Wennemars |
| 1999 | Calgary | Jeremy Wotherspoon | Jan Bos | Hiroyasu Shimizu |
| 2000 | Seoul | Jeremy Wotherspoon | Mike Ireland | Hiroyasu Shimizu |
| 2001 | Inzell | Mike Ireland | Hiroyasu Shimizu | Jeremy Wotherspoon |
| 2002 | Hamar | Jeremy Wotherspoon | Casey FitzRandolph | Mike Ireland |
| 2003 | Calgary | Jeremy Wotherspoon (4) | Gerard van Velde | Erben Wennemars |
| 2004 | Nagano | Erben Wennemars | Jeremy Wotherspoon | Mike Ireland |
| 2005 | Salt Lake City | Erben Wennemars (2) | Jeremy Wotherspoon | Joey Cheek |
| 2006 | Heerenveen | Joey Cheek | Dmitry Dorofeyev | Jan Bos |
| 2007 | Hamar | Lee Kyou-hyuk | Pekka Koskela | Shani Davis |
| 2008 | Heerenveen | Lee Kyou-hyuk | Jeremy Wotherspoon | Mun Jun |
| 2009 | Moscow | Shani Davis | Keiichiro Nagashima | Simon Kuipers |
| 2010 | Obihiro | Lee Kyou-hyuk | Lee Kang-seok | Keiichiro Nagashima |
| 2011 | Heerenveen | Lee Kyou-hyuk (4) | Mo Tae-bum | Shani Davis |
| 2012 | Calgary | Stefan Groothuis | Lee Kyou-hyuk | Mo Tae-bum |
| 2013 | Salt Lake City | Michel Mulder | Pekka Koskela | Hein Otterspeer |
| 2014 | Nagano | Michel Mulder (2) | Shani Davis | Daniel Greig |
| 2015 | Astana | Pavel Kulizhnikov | Hein Otterspeer | Aleksey Yesin |
| 2016 | Seoul | Pavel Kulizhnikov | Kjeld Nuis | Kai Verbij |
| 2017 | Calgary | Kai Verbij | Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen | Kjeld Nuis |
| 2018 | Changchun | Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen | Kjeld Nuis | Kai Verbij |
| 2019 | Heerenveen | Pavel Kulizhnikov (3) | Tatsuya Shinhama | Kjeld Nuis |
| 2020 | Hamar | Tatsuya Shinhama | Laurent Dubreuil | Cha Min-kyu |
| 2022 | Hamar | Thomas Krol | Kai Verbij | Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen |
| 2024 | Inzell | Ning Zhongyan | Jenning de Boo | Laurent Dubreuil |

#### Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Netherlands | 8 | 8 | 14 | 30 |
| 2 | United States | 8 | 7 | 8 | 23 |
| 3 | Soviet Union | 8 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
| 4 | Canada | 6 | 10 | 4 | 20 |
| 5 | South Korea | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| 6 | Russia | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 7 | Japan | 3 | 8 | 11 | 22 |
| 8 | Norway | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| 9 | Finland | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | Belarus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | CIS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | China | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | West Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | East Germany | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Germany | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Australia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (17 entries) | Totals (17 entries) | 53 | 53 | 53 | 159 |

### Team sprint

| Year | Venue | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2022 | Hamar | Norway Bjørn Magnussen Henrik Fagerli Rukke Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen | Poland Marek Kania Piotr Michalski Damian Żurek | Netherlands Merijn Scheperkamp Kai Verbij Thomas Krol |

#### Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Norway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Poland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (3 entries) | Totals (3 entries) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |

## Combined medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Netherlands | 8 | 8 | 15 | 31 |
| 2 | United States | 8 | 7 | 8 | 23 |
| 3 | Soviet Union | 8 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
| 4 | Canada | 6 | 10 | 4 | 20 |
| 5 | South Korea | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| 6 | Russia | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 7 | Norway | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| 8 | Japan | 3 | 8 | 11 | 22 |
| 9 | Finland | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | Belarus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | CIS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | China | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | West Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | East Germany | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Germany | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Poland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Australia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (18 entries) | Totals (18 entries) | 54 | 54 | 54 | 162 |

## World champions (sprint combination)

As of 2024.
| Skater | | | | Total |
| // Igor Zhelezovski | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Jeremy Wotherspoon | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| Lee Kyou-hyuk | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Eric Heiden | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Pavel Kulizhnikov | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Dan Jansen | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Valery Muratov | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Sergey Klevchenya | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Erben Wennemars | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Akira Kuroiwa | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Michel Mulder | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gaétan Boucher | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Sergey Khlebnikov | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Shani Davis | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Mike Ireland | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Frode Rønning | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Kai Verbij | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Jan Bos | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Tatsuya Shinhama | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Joey Cheek | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Johan Granath | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Bae Ki-tae | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Per Bjørang | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Stefan Groothuis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Erhard Keller | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kim Yoon-man | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Thomas Krol | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Leo Linkovesi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ning Zhongyan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Aleksandr Safronov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |