# World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Men

The International Skating Union has organised the World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Men since 1893. Unofficial Championships were held in the years 1889–1892.

## History
### Distances used

* In 1889, three distances had to be skated: 1/2 mile (805 m) — 1 mile (1,609 m) — 2 miles (3,219 m).
* In the years 1890–1892, four distances had to be skated: 1/2 mile (805 m) — 1 mile (1,609 m) — 2 miles (3,219 m) — 5 miles (8,047 m).
* Since 1893, four distances have to be skated: 500 m (0.31 mi) — 1,500 m (0.93 mi) — 5,000 m (3.1 mi) — 10,000 m (6.2 mi) (the big combination).

### Ranking systems used

* In 1889, one could only win the World Championships by winning all three distances. If no one won all three distances, no winner would be declared. Silver and bronze medals were not awarded.
* In the years 1890–1907, one could only win the World Championships by winning at least three of the four distances, so there would be no World Champion if no skater won at least three distances. Silver and bronze medals were never awarded.
* In the years 1908–1925, ranking points were awarded (1 point for 1st place, 2 points for 2nd place, and so on); the final ranking was then decided by ordering the skaters by lowest point totals. The rule that a skater winning at least three distances was automatically World Champion was still in effect, though, so the ranking could be affected by that. Silver and bronze medals were awarded now as well.
* In the years 1926–1927, the ranking points on each distance were percentage points, calculated from a skater's time and the current world record time. Apart from that, the system used was the same as in the immediately preceding years.
* Since 1928, 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. This rule was applied in 1983 when Rolf Falk-Larssen from Norway won three distances and thus become World Champion despite after end of fourth distance (10,000 m) he had a worse samalog score than silver medalist Tomas Gustafson from Sweden.

### Records

* Sven Kramer from Netherlands has won a total of nine world championships, in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017. He also hold records for total number of medals (12) by winning bronze medals in 2005, 2006 and 2019. Before Kramer, Clas Thunberg from Finland and Oscar Mathisen from Norway held the record with five world championships.
* Sven Kramer has won four consecutive world championships, in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
* The youngest World Allround Champion is Eric Heiden from the United States who won his first of three world allround titles in 1977 at age 18.
* The oldest World Allround Champion is Clas Thunberg from Finland who won his fifth and last world allround title in 1931 at age 37.
* Roberto Sighel from Italy hold record by number of participations in the championships (16 times in 1987–2002).
* The biggest point margin between the winner and the second placed skater at the end of competition is 4.832 points between Eric Heiden from the United States and Jan Egil Storholt from Norway in 1979.
* At the 1983 championships, Rolf Falk-Larssen from Norway won three distances and thus become World Allround Champion in accordance with then-existing rule. Being de-facto champion, he finished in 13th place at final distance (10,000 m) and in second place in points classification by losing 0.424 points to Tomas Gustafson from Sweden who eventually become silver medalist. Without taking into account this case, the smallest winning margin between the champion and the runner-up is 0.042 points between Soviet skaters Oleg Goncharenko and Robert Merkulov in 1956.
* There are six speed skaters who become World Allround Champions by winning all four distances at the championships – Joe Donoghue from the United States (1891; unofficial championships), Jaap Eden from Netherlands (1896), Nikolay Strunnikov from Russia (1911), Oscar Mathisen from Norway (1912), Ard Schenk from Netherlands (1972) and Eric Heiden from the United States (1979).
* By contrast, there are 13 speed skaters who become World Allround Champions without winning any of four distances – Michael Staksrud from Norway (1937), Alfons Bērziņš from Latvia (1940; unofficial championships), Odd Lundberg from Norway (1948), Juhani Järvinen from Finland (1959), Viktor Kosichkin from the Soviet Union (1962), Dag Fornæss from Norway (1969), Harm Kuipers from Netherlands (1975), Eric Flaim from the United States (1988), Johann Olav Koss from Norway (1990), Roberto Sighel from Italy (1992), Rintje Ritsma from Netherlands (1999 and 2001), Chad Hedrick from the United States (2004) and Koen Verweij from Netherlands (2014).
* Eric Heiden and Shani Davis (both from the United States) are only men's speed skaters who become champions both at the World Allround and the World Sprint 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
### Unofficial championships

| Year | Location | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1889 | Amsterdam | None declared | None declared | None declared |
| 1890 | Amsterdam | None declared | None declared | None declared |
| 1891 | Amsterdam | Joe Donoghue | None declared | None declared |
| 1892 | Amsterdam | Cancelled due to ice conditions | Cancelled due to ice conditions | Cancelled due to ice conditions |
| 1940 | Oslo | Alfons Bērziņš | Harry Haraldsen | Charles Mathiesen |
| 1946 | Oslo | Odd Lundberg | Göthe Hedlund | Charles Mathiesen |

### Official championships

| Year | Location | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1893 | Amsterdam | Jaap Eden | None declared | None declared |
| 1894 | Stockholm | None declared | None declared | None declared |
| 1895 | Hamar | Jaap Eden | None declared | None declared |
| 1896 | St. Petersburg | Jaap Eden (3) | None declared | None declared |
| 1897 | Montreal | Jack McCulloch | None declared | None declared |
| 1898 | Davos | Peder Østlund | None declared | None declared |
| 1899 | Berlin | Peder Østlund (2) | None declared | None declared |
| 1900 | Kristiania (Oslo) | Edvard Engelsaas | None declared | None declared |
| 1901 | Stockholm | Franz Frederik Wathén | None declared | None declared |
| 1902 | Helsingfors (Helsinki) | None declared | None declared | None declared |
| 1903 | St. Petersburg | None declared | None declared | None declared |
| 1904 | Kristiania (Oslo) | Sigurd Mathisen | None declared | None declared |
| 1905 | Groningen | Coen de Koning | None declared | None declared |
| 1906 | Helsingfors (Helsinki) | None declared | None declared | None declared |
| 1907 | Trondhjem (Trondheim) | None declared | None declared | None declared |
| 1908 | Davos | Oscar Mathisen | Martin Sæterhaug | Moje Öholm |
| 1909 | Kristiania (Oslo) | Oscar Mathisen | Oluf Steen | Otto Andersson |
| 1910 | Helsingfors (Helsinki) | Nikolay Strunnikov | Oscar Mathisen | Martin Sæterhaug |
| 1911 | Trondhjem (Trondheim) | Nikolay Strunnikov (2) | Martin Sæterhaug | Henning Olsen |
| 1912 | Kristiania (Oslo) | Oscar Mathisen | Gunnar Strömsten | Trygve Lundgreen |
| 1913 | Helsingfors (Helsinki) | Oscar Mathisen | Vasily Ippolitov | Nikita Naidenov |
| 1914 | Kristiania (Oslo) | Oscar Mathisen (5) | Vasily Ippolitov | Väinö Wickström |
| 1915 | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I |
| 1916 | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I |
| 1917 | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I |
| 1918 | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I |
| 1919 | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I |
| 1920 | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I |
| 1921 | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I | Not held due to World War I |
| 1922 | Kristiania (Oslo) | Harald Strøm | Roald Larsen | Clas Thunberg |
| 1923 | Stockholm | Clas Thunberg | Harald Strøm | Yakov Melnikov |
| 1924 | Helsinki | Roald Larsen | Uuno Pietilä | Julius Skutnabb |
| 1925 | Oslo | Clas Thunberg | Uuno Pietilä | Roald Larsen |
| 1926 | Trondhjem (Trondheim) | Ivar Ballangrud | Roald Larsen | Bernt Evensen |
| 1927 | Tampere | Bernt Evensen | Clas Thunberg | Armand Carlsen |
| 1928 | Davos | Clas Thunberg | Ivar Ballangrud | Bernt Evensen |
| 1929 | Oslo | Clas Thunberg | Ivar Ballangrud | Michael Staksrud |
| 1930 | Oslo | Michael Staksrud | Ivar Ballangrud | Dolf van der Scheer |
| 1931 | Helsinki | Clas Thunberg (5) | Bernt Evensen | Ivar Ballangrud |
| 1932 | Lake Placid | Ivar Ballangrud | Michael Staksrud | Bernt Evensen |
| 1933 | Trondheim | Hans Engnestangen | Michael Staksrud | Ivar Ballangrud |
| 1934 | Helsinki | Bernt Evensen (2) | Birger Wasenius | Ivar Ballangrud |
| 1935 | Oslo | Michael Staksrud | Ivar Ballangrud | Hans Engnestangen |
| 1936 | Davos | Ivar Ballangrud | Birger Wasenius | Eddie Schroeder |
| 1937 | Oslo | Michael Staksrud (3) | Birger Wasenius | Max Stiepl |
| 1938 | Davos | Ivar Ballangrud (4) | Karl Wazulek | Charles Mathiesen |
| 1939 | Helsinki | Birger Wasenius | Alfons Bērziņš | Charles Mathiesen |
| 1940 | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II |
| 1941 | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II |
| 1942 | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II |
| 1943 | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II |
| 1944 | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II |
| 1945 | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II |
| 1946 | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II | Not held due to World War II |
| 1947 | Oslo | Lassi Parkkinen | Sverre Farstad | Åke Seyffarth |
| 1948 | Helsinki | Odd Lundberg (2) | Johnny Werket | Henry Wahl |
| 1949 | Oslo | Kornél Pajor | Kees Broekman | Odd Lundberg |
| 1950 | Eskilstuna | Hjalmar Andersen | Odd Lundberg | Johnny Werket |
| 1951 | Davos | Hjalmar Andersen | Johnny Cronshey | Kornél Pajor |
| 1952 | Hamar | Hjalmar Andersen (3) | Lassi Parkkinen | Ivar Martinsen |
| 1953 | Helsinki | Oleg Goncharenko | Boris Shilkov | Wim van der Voort |
| 1954 | Sapporo | Boris Shilkov | Oleg Goncharenko | Yevgeny Grishin |
| 1955 | Moscow | Sigvard Ericsson | Oleg Goncharenko | Boris Shilkov |
| 1956 | Oslo | Oleg Goncharenko | Robert Merkulov | Yevgeny Grishin |
| 1957 | Östersund | Knut Johannesen | Boris Shilkov | Boris Tsybin |
| 1958 | Helsinki | Oleg Goncharenko (3) | Vladimir Shilykovsky | Roald Aas |
| 1959 | Oslo | Juhani Järvinen | Toivo Salonen | Robert Merkulov |
| 1960 | Davos | Boris Stenin | André Kouprianoff | Helmut Kuhnert |
| 1961 | Gothenburg | Henk van der Grift | Viktor Kosichkin | Rudie Liebrechts |
| 1962 | Moscow | Viktor Kosichkin | Henk van der Grift | Ivar Nilsson |
| 1963 | Karuizawa | Jonny Nilsson | Knut Johannesen | Nils Aaness |
| 1964 | Helsinki | Knut Johannesen (2) | Viktor Kosichkin | Rudie Liebrechts |
| 1965 | Oslo | Per Ivar Moe | Jouko Launonen | Ard Schenk |
| 1966 | Gothenburg | Kees Verkerk | Ard Schenk | Jonny Nilsson |
| 1967 | Oslo | Kees Verkerk (2) | Ard Schenk | Fred Anton Maier |
| 1968 | Gothenburg | Fred Anton Maier | Magne Thomassen | Ard Schenk |
| 1969 | Deventer | Dag Fornæss | Göran Claeson | Kees Verkerk |
| 1970 | Oslo | Ard Schenk | Magne Thomassen | Kees Verkerk |
| 1971 | Gothenburg | Ard Schenk | Göran Claeson | Kees Verkerk |
| 1972 | Oslo | Ard Schenk (3) | Roar Grønvold | Jan Bols |
| 1973 | Deventer | Göran Claeson | Sten Stensen | Piet Kleine |
| 1974 | Inzell | Sten Stensen | Harm Kuipers | Göran Claeson |
| 1975 | Oslo | Harm Kuipers | Vladimir Ivanov | Yury Kondakov |
| 1976 | Heerenveen | Piet Kleine | Sten Stensen | Hans van Helden |
| 1977 | Heerenveen | Eric Heiden | Jan Egil Storholt | Sten Stensen |
| 1978 | Gothenburg | Eric Heiden | Jan Egil Storholt | Sergey Marchuk |
| 1979 | Oslo | Eric Heiden (3) | Jan Egil Storholt | Kay Arne Stenshjemmet |
| 1980 | Heerenveen | Hilbert van der Duim | Eric Heiden | Tom Erik Oxholm |
| 1981 | Oslo | Amund Sjøbrend | Kay Arne Stenshjemmet | Jan Egil Storholt |
| 1982 | Assen | Hilbert van der Duim (2) | Dmitry Bochkaryov | Rolf Falk-Larssen |
| 1983 | Oslo | Rolf Falk-Larssen | Tomas Gustafson | Aleksandr Baranov |
| 1984 | Gothenburg | Oleg Bozhev | Andreas Ehrig | Hilbert van der Duim |
| 1985 | Hamar | Hein Vergeer | Oleg Bozhev | Hilbert van der Duim |
| 1986 | Inzell | Hein Vergeer (2) | Oleg Bozhev | Viktor Shasherin |
| 1987 | Heerenveen | Nikolay Gulyayev | Oleg Bozhev | Michael Hadschieff |
| 1988 | Alma-Ata | Eric Flaim | Leo Visser | Dave Silk |
| 1989 | Oslo | Leo Visser | Gerard Kemkers | Geir Karlstad |
| 1990 | Innsbruck | Johann Olav Koss | Ben van der Burg | Bart Veldkamp |
| 1991 | Heerenveen | Johann Olav Koss | Roberto Sighel | Bart Veldkamp |
| 1992 | Calgary | Roberto Sighel | Falko Zandstra | Johann Olav Koss |
| 1993 | Hamar | Falko Zandstra | Johann Olav Koss | Rintje Ritsma |
| 1994 | Gothenburg | Johann Olav Koss (3) | Ids Postma | Rintje Ritsma |
| 1995 | Baselga di Pinè | Rintje Ritsma | Keiji Shirahata | Roberto Sighel |
| 1996 | Inzell | Rintje Ritsma | Ids Postma | Keiji Shirahata |
| 1997 | Nagano | Ids Postma | Keiji Shirahata | Frank Dittrich |
| 1998 | Heerenveen | Ids Postma (2) | Rintje Ritsma | Roberto Sighel |
| 1999 | Hamar | Rintje Ritsma | Vadim Sayutin | Eskil Ervik |
| 2000 | Milwaukee | Gianni Romme | Ids Postma | Rintje Ritsma |
| 2001 | Budapest | Rintje Ritsma (4) | Ids Postma | Bart Veldkamp |
| 2002 | Heerenveen | Jochem Uytdehaage | Dmitry Shepel | Derek Parra |
| 2003 | Gothenburg | Gianni Romme (2) | Rintje Ritsma | Ids Postma |
| 2004 | Hamar | Chad Hedrick | Shani Davis | Carl Verheijen |
| 2005 | Moscow | Shani Davis | Chad Hedrick | Sven Kramer |
| 2006 | Calgary | Shani Davis (2) | Enrico Fabris | Sven Kramer |
| 2007 | Heerenveen | Sven Kramer | Enrico Fabris | Carl Verheijen |
| 2008 | Berlin | Sven Kramer | Håvard Bøkko | Shani Davis |
| 2009 | Hamar | Sven Kramer | Håvard Bøkko | Enrico Fabris |
| 2010 | Heerenveen | Sven Kramer | Jonathan Kuck | Håvard Bøkko |
| 2011 | Calgary | Ivan Skobrev | Håvard Bøkko | Jan Blokhuijsen |
| 2012 | Moscow | Sven Kramer | Jan Blokhuijsen | Koen Verweij |
| 2013 | Hamar | Sven Kramer | Håvard Bøkko | Bart Swings |
| 2014 | Heerenveen | Koen Verweij | Jan Blokhuijsen | Denis Yuskov |
| 2015 | Calgary | Sven Kramer | Denis Yuskov | Sverre Lunde Pedersen |
| 2016 | Berlin | Sven Kramer | Sverre Lunde Pedersen | Jan Blokhuijsen |
| 2017 | Hamar | Sven Kramer (9) | Patrick Roest | Jan Blokhuijsen |
| 2018 | Amsterdam | Patrick Roest | Sverre Lunde Pedersen | Marcel Bosker |
| 2019 | Calgary | Patrick Roest | Sverre Lunde Pedersen | Sven Kramer |
| 2020 | Hamar | Patrick Roest (3) | Sverre Lunde Pedersen | Seitaro Ichinohe |
| 2022 | Hamar | Nils van der Poel | Patrick Roest | Bart Swings |
| 2024 | Inzell | Jordan Stolz | Patrick Roest | Hallgeir Engebråten |

### All-time medal count

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Netherlands | 40 | 20 | 30 | 90 |
| 2 | Norway | 37 | 36 | 34 | 107 |
| 3 | Finland | 9 | 10 | 3 | 22 |
| 4 | United States | 9 | 5 | 5 | 19 |
| 5 | Soviet Union | 8 | 13 | 10 | 31 |
| 6 | Sweden | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 |
| 7 | Russia | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 8 | Italy | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 9 | Latvia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Canada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Hungary | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Japan | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 13 | Austria | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 14 | East Germany | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 | France | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Great Britain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 18 | Germany | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| – | Independent | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (18 entries) | Totals (18 entries) | 114 | 103 | 103 | 320 |
Unofficial World Championships of 1889–1892, 1940 and 1946 (not recognized by the ISU) included

## Multiple medalists

Boldface denotes active skaters and highest medal count among all skaters (including those who are not included in these tables) per type.
| Rank | Skater | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Sven Kramer | Netherlands | 2005 | 2019 | 9 | – | 3 | 12 |
| 2 | Clas Thunberg | Finland | 1922 | 1931 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | Oscar Mathisen | Norway | 1908 | 1914 | 5 | 1 | – | 6 |
| 4 | Ivar Ballangrud | Norway | 1926 | 1938 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| 5 | Rintje Ritsma | Netherlands | 1993 | 2003 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 6 | Patrick Roest | Netherlands | 2017 | 2024 | 3 | 3 | – | 6 |
| 7 | Ard Schenk | Netherlands | 1965 | 1972 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 8 | Michael Staksrud | Norway | 1929 | 1937 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 9 | Oleg Goncharenko | Soviet Union | 1953 | 1958 | 3 | 2 | – | 5 |
| 10 | Johann Olav Koss | Norway | 1990 | 1994 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |