# National speed skating records
A national speed skating record is the fastest officially recognized time by a skater of a given country on a particular long-track distance, maintained and ratified by that country's national federation rather than by the International Skating Union (ISU). They mark the fastest officially recognized performances in senior and junior categories [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who keeps the lists | National federations, such as the Dutch KNSB, which publishes its long-track record list as a PDF, most recently updated 26 October 2024 [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF) |
| Distinct from championship records | The fastest time skated at a national championship is a championship record, which does not represent the country's records [2](https://www.speedskatingnews.info/records/championship-records) |
| Venue classification | The ISU classifies record venues by roof (open-air vs covered), ice type (artificial vs natural), and altitude: lowland below 300 m, medium 300–1000 m, high altitude at least 1000 m [3](https://web.archive.org/web/20040524162403/http:/ww2.isu.org/historical/sswrecs.html) |
| Records set abroad count | Many Dutch records were set at Salt Lake City or Calgary and are ratified by the KNSB [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF) |
| Timing requirement | Automatic timing has been required for record recognition; older manual-time marks such as H. Börjes's 38.9 at 500 m predate that rule [3](https://web.archive.org/web/20040524162403/http:/ww2.isu.org/historical/sswrecs.html) |
| Dutch men's 1500 m | 1:40.17 by Kjeld Nuis, 10 March 2019, Salt Lake City [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF) |
| Junior tracking | Dutch records are kept separately for junior men and junior women, including Sven Kramer's 13:09.65 junior 10,000 m from 9 January 2005 [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF) |
## What a national record is
A national record is a country's fastest ratified time on a distance, regardless of where or at what competition it was set. It differs from one neighboring concept: a championship record is the fastest time skated during a national championship; SpeedSkatingNews.info states plainly that such times do not represent the country's records [2](https://www.speedskatingnews.info/records/championship-records).
**Categories within a country.** Federations maintain separate lists for senior men, senior women, junior men, and junior women. On the Dutch list, [Sven Kramer](https://www.edgepedia.org/sven-kramer)'s 13:09.65 for the junior 10,000 m, set at Heerenveen on 9 January 2005, still stands as a junior mark even though Kramer long since moved past junior eligibility [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF). Junior records persist in their own tables rather than being erased when the skater ages up.
## Ratification and who keeps the lists
National federations own their record lists. The Royal Dutch Skating Federation (KNSB) publishes the Dutch long-track records as a downloadable document; the current version carries an update date of 26 October 2024 [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF).[5](http://www.skatelog.com/regions/countries/netherlands/organizations/federations/knsb.htm) Smaller federations often rely on specialist databases: Great Britain's national records are published on SpeedskatingResults.com [4](https://speedskatingresults.com/index.php?n=14&p=46), and SpeedSkatingNews.info offers per-country, per-age-group tables (seniors, juniors, Masters) plus a championship record history page tracing how national records on each distance evolved [2](https://www.speedskatingnews.info/records/championship-records).
On technical requirements, the ISU's own historical record compilation is explicit that automatic timing became mandatory for recognition. Before that rule, H. Börjes's 500 m best of 38.9 had been recorded with manual timing and decimals of a second only [3](https://web.archive.org/web/20040524162403/http:/ww2.isu.org/historical/sswrecs.html).
## Conditions that shape records
The ISU classifies record venues on three axes: open-air versus covered rinks, artificially versus naturally frozen ice, and altitude class, with lowland venues below 300 m, medium-altitude venues between 300 and 1000 m, and high-altitude venues at least 1000 m above sea level [3](https://web.archive.org/web/20040524162403/http:/ww2.isu.org/historical/sswrecs.html).
Records set abroad count. A national record does not have to be set on home ice. The Dutch list demonstrates this: [Kjeld Nuis](https://www.edgepedia.org/kjeld-nuis)'s 1:40.17 at 1500 m came at [Salt Lake City](https://www.edgepedia.org/salt-lake-city) on 10 March 2019, and [Jutta Leerdam](https://www.edgepedia.org/jutta-leerdam)'s 1:11.84 at 1000 m on 15 February 2020, also at Salt Lake City, was ratified by the KNSB [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF).
## By the numbers: notable national records
The Dutch list illustrates what a deep national record table looks like:
- Men's 1500 m: 1:40.17, Kjeld Nuis, Salt Lake City, 10 March 2019 [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF)
- Women's 1000 m: 1:11.84, Jutta Leerdam, Salt Lake City, 15 February 2020 [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF)
- Junior men's 10,000 m: 13:09.65, Sven Kramer, Heerenveen, 9 January 2005 [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF)
Great Britain's published list includes a 100 m record of 10.87, a 500 m record of 38.06, a 1000 m of 1:14.47, and a 1500 m of 1:55.32 [4](https://speedskatingresults.com/index.php?n=14&p=46).
## How record lists compare across countries
The clearest structural difference between federations is not the record times but where the sport is practiced. Great Britain's 2019 national long-track championships were held in Den Haag, the Netherlands [4](https://speedskatingresults.com/index.php?n=14&p=46). The Netherlands, with Heerenveen at home and records ratified at Calgary and Salt Lake City, mixes home and foreign-venue records in one list [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF).
The sources cover the Dutch and British lists in detail; comparable published evidence for Norway, the United States, Canada, Japan, and China was not available for this article, so no cross-country comparison of those lists can be made here.
## Recent developments
Dutch sprint records have turned over rapidly since 2023.
List maintenance itself is current: the KNSB record document was updated on 26 October 2024 [1](https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF), so marks set at the November 2025 World Cup and the March 2026 sprint championships postdate the PDF and appear only in supplementary sources . This gap between federation PDF updates and live competition is one reason specialist databases that update continuously remain useful alongside official lists.
## References
1. Langebaan records update: 26-10-2024 (KNSB / Schaatsen.nl) — https://www.schaatsen.nl/documents/16360/Langebaan_records_20241026-1.PDF
2. Championship Records, SpeedSkatingNews — https://www.speedskatingnews.info/records/championship-records
3. International Skating Union, historical world record listing (archived) — https://web.archive.org/web/20040524162403/http:/ww2.isu.org/historical/sswrecs.html
4. SpeedskatingResults.com, Great Britain National Records — https://speedskatingresults.com/index.php?n=14&p=46
5. Knsb (skatelog.com). http://www.skatelog.com/regions/countries/netherlands/organizations/federations/knsb.htm
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Winter and ice sports › Ice skating sports › Speed skating (long track) › Speed skating championships and records › National speed skating records*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license