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 YearVenue Gold Silver Bronze1970 West Allis Valery Muratov Keiichi Suzuki Magne Thomassen1971 Inzell Erhard Keller Ove König Ard Schenk1972 Eskilstuna Leo Linkovesi Valery Muratov Ard Schenk1973 Oslo Valery Muratov (2) Jos Valentijn Eppie Bleeker1974 Innsbruck Per Bjørang Masaki Suzuki Eppie Bleeker1975 Gothenburg Aleksandr Safronov Yevgeny Kulikov Valery Muratov1976 West Berlin Johan Granath Dan Immerfall Peter Mueller1977 Alkmaar Eric Heiden Peter Mueller Yevgeny Kulikov1978 Lake Placid Eric Heiden Frode Rønning Johan Granath1979 Inzell Eric Heiden Gaétan Boucher Frode Rønning1980 West Allis Eric Heiden (4) Gaétan Boucher Tom Plant1981 Grenoble Frode Rønning Sergey Khlebnikov Anatoly Medennikov1982 Alkmaar Sergey Khlebnikov Gaétan Boucher Frode Rønning1983 Helsinki Akira Kuroiwa Pavel Pegov Hilbert van der Duim1984 Trondheim Gaétan Boucher Sergey Khlebnikov Kai Arne Engelstad1985 Heerenveen Igor Zhelezovski Gaétan Boucher Dan Jansen1986 Karuizawa Igor Zhelezovski Dan Jansen Akira Kuroiwa1987 Sainte Foy Akira Kuroiwa (2) Nick Thometz Yukihiro Mitani1988 West Allis Dan Jansen Uwe-Jens Mey Eric Flaim1989 Heerenveen Igor Zhelezovski Uwe-Jens Mey Andrey Bakhvalov1990 Tromsø Bae Ki-tae Andrey Bakhvalov Igor Zhelezovski1991 Inzell Igor Zhelezovski Uwe-Jens Mey Toshiyuki Kuroiwa1992 Oslo Igor Zhelezovski Dan Jansen Toshiyuki Kuroiwa1993 Ikaho Igor Zhelezovski (6) Yasunori Miyabe Hiroyasu Shimizu1994 Calgary Dan Jansen (2) Sergey Klevchenya Junichi Inoue1995 Milwaukee Kim Yoon-man Hiroyasu Shimizu Yasunori Miyabe1996 Heerenveen Sergey Klevchenya Hiroyasu Shimizu Manabu Horii1997 Hamar Sergey Klevchenya (2) Roger Strøm Casey FitzRandolph1998 Berlin Jan Bos Jeremy Wotherspoon Erben Wennemars1999 Calgary Jeremy Wotherspoon Jan Bos Hiroyasu Shimizu2000 Seoul Jeremy Wotherspoon Mike Ireland Hiroyasu Shimizu2001 Inzell Mike Ireland Hiroyasu Shimizu Jeremy Wotherspoon2002 Hamar Jeremy Wotherspoon Casey FitzRandolph Mike Ireland2003 Calgary Jeremy Wotherspoon (4) Gerard van Velde Erben Wennemars2004 Nagano Erben Wennemars Jeremy Wotherspoon Mike Ireland2005 Salt Lake City Erben Wennemars (2) Jeremy Wotherspoon Joey Cheek2006 Heerenveen Joey Cheek Dmitry Dorofeyev Jan Bos2007 Hamar Lee Kyou-hyuk Pekka Koskela Shani Davis2008 Heerenveen Lee Kyou-hyuk Jeremy Wotherspoon Mun Jun2009 Moscow Shani Davis Keiichiro Nagashima Simon Kuipers2010 Obihiro Lee Kyou-hyuk Lee Kang-seok Keiichiro Nagashima2011 Heerenveen Lee Kyou-hyuk (4) Mo Tae-bum Shani Davis2012 Calgary Stefan Groothuis Lee Kyou-hyuk Mo Tae-bum2013 Salt Lake City Michel Mulder Pekka Koskela Hein Otterspeer2014 Nagano Michel Mulder (2) Shani Davis Daniel Greig2015 Astana Pavel Kulizhnikov Hein Otterspeer Aleksey Yesin 2016 Seoul Pavel Kulizhnikov Kjeld Nuis Kai Verbij2017 Calgary Kai Verbij Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen Kjeld Nuis2018 Changchun Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen Kjeld Nuis Kai Verbij2019 Heerenveen Pavel Kulizhnikov (3) Tatsuya Shinhama Kjeld Nuis2020 Hamar Tatsuya Shinhama Laurent Dubreuil Cha Min-kyu2022 Hamar Thomas Krol Kai Verbij Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen2024 Inzell Ning Zhongyan Jenning de Boo Laurent Dubreuil2026 Heerenveen Jenning de Boo Jordan Stolz Ning Zhongyan

Medal table

Team sprint YearVenue Gold Silver Bronze2022 Hamar Bjørn MagnussenHenrik Fagerli RukkeHåvard Holmefjord Lorentzen Marek KaniaPiotr MichalskiDamian Żurek Merijn ScheperkampKai VerbijThomas Krol

Medal table

Combined medal table

World champions (sprint combination) As of 2026.

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 Jenning de Boo 1 1 0 2 Tatsuya Shinhama 1 1 0 2 Joey Cheek 1 0 1 2 Johan Granath 1 0 1 2 Ning Zhongyan 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 Aleksandr Safronov 1 0 0 1

See also World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Women World Allround Speed Skating Championships World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships World record progression sprint combination speed skating men

References