Team pursuit
At the beginning of the 21th century the ISU was exploring possibilities to make speed skating more attractive for the public and to involve more countries in the skating championships. So far, the Noth European countries the USA and Canada were involved in the championships. The success in the championships was even more restricted to a limited number of countries, especially The Netherland, Norway and the USSR. The introduction of the mass start was in this respect a big success because it turned out that this was an attractive skating race for inline skaters and short track skaters. In this way the participation of countries was considerably increased. Whether this also happened by introduction of the Team Pursuit will become clear in this brief history of this new discipline.
In team pursuit, teams of three skaters compete on speed skating long tracks over a distance of 8 rounds for men and 6 round for women. There are each time two teams in the track but normally they are not so much competing against each other but they try to realize the fastest time of all teams that participate. The time of the team is measured at the moment when the third skater of the team crosses the finish line. In the Olympic games the procedure is different. In that case there is a competition where the winner of the race goes to the next round competing with the other winners. A team that has lost a race can at most reach the third place being the best of all teams that lost a race.
After some tests of the procedure in junior competitions and national championships, the team pursuit was introduced in world championships long track speed skating in 2011 and the Olympic games in 2014. In the period from 2011 till 2014 the countries that dominated in the individual speed skating races dominated also in the team pursuit. In 2011 the USA won the men championship and the Canadian team won the women championship but in 2012, 2013 and during the Olympic games of 2014 the Dutch teams won all the team pursuit races. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see that teams of South Corea and Poland also were able the obtain medals in this discipline. At least as important was that the skaters and the public liked these races.Therefore these races are continued till now.
After the Olympic games of 2014, it was clear to the representatives of all countries that they should spend more time on the way to perform the races. It is obvious that the skaters have to skate as similar as possible and as close together as possible in order to reduce the air resistance. Another issue is the ordering of the skaters. The best skater can go in the front so that it is a bit easier for the others to follow. However if the first skater get too tired it is better to switch positions so that the leading skater goes at the back and the second skater takes over the leading position. However this switch of possitions also increases the air resistance during this switch. An alternative was not to switch possitions but push each other so that the task for the first skater is lighter and the switch of possitions is not necessary anymore. This approach was also tested in windtunnels by the Canadian team and they found out that it reduces the time of the team considerably. The study of the different approaches also led to succes for countries that were not the favorites on the different individual long track speed skating races. The new countries obtained medals as well
After some tests of the procedure in junior competitions and national championships, the team pursuit was introduced in world championships long track speed skating in 2011 and the Olympic games in 2014. In the period from 2011 till 2014 the countries that dominated in the individual speed skating races dominated also in the team pursuit. In 2011 the USA won the men championship and the Canadian team won the women championship but in 2012, 2013 and during the Olympic games of 2014 the Dutch teams won all the team pursuit races. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see that teams of South Corea and Poland also were able the obtain medals in this discipline. At least as important was that the skaters and the public liked these races.Therefore these races are continued till now.
After the Olympic games of 2014, it was clear to the representatives of all countries that they should spend more time on the way to perform the races. It is obvious that the skaters have to skate as similar as possible and as close together as possible in order to reduce the air resistance. Another issue is the ordering of the skaters. The best skater can go in the front so that it is a bit easier for the others to follow. However if the first skater get too tired it is better to switch positions so that the leading skater goes at the back and the second skater takes over the leading position. However this switch of possitions also increases the air resistance during this switch. An alternative was not to switch possitions but push each other so that the task for the first skater is lighter and the switch of possitions is not necessary anymore. This approach was also tested in windtunnels by the Canadian team and they found out that it reduces the time of the team considerably. The study of the different approaches also led to succes for countries that were not the favorites on the different individual long track speed skating races. The new countries obtained medals as well
The championships between 2015 and 2023
Below is a tabel presenting the results of the world championships and the Olympic games with respect to team pursuit races which are held between 2015 and 2023.
Looking at the results of the men it is very clear that the teams of the Netherlands were still the best in the whole periode which means that they always realized the best time in each year. This is not so surprising because the Dutch speed skaters were most of the years the best in the alround championships with as the best representatives Sven Krames and Petrick Roest. It seems that the teams formed around these top skaters also realized the best times at the team pusuit championships at the world championships..
More surprising is that they were not the best at the Olympic games. In these championships they lost one of their races. In both cases the Dutch teams were beaten by the Norwegian teams. Therefore the Dutch team could only become third even though their team had a better time than the team who became second in the Olympic championships.
The skaters of Norway had spend more training on the team pursuit than the Dutch who thought that they would win anyway. but at least in 2022 they should have known better. A problem was that the Dutch skaters were members of different professional teams and therefore they could not train frequently with each other. The Norwegen skaters had spend a lot of time together in order to develop the best approach for the team pursuit.
In the world championships for women the hegemony of the Dutch skaters was immediately disturbed by the speed skaters of Japan. They won 4 times and became 3 times second. The Dutch female skaters won 3 times and were 4 times second behind the Japanese team. The Japanese team consisted till 2023 (except one year) of the same skaters , the two sisters Nana y Miho Takagi and Ayano Sato. They had developed the approach for the team pursuit in perfection. This also shows in the table below. In the table we present the progress in the world record over a pèriod of nearly 20 years. For the men as well as the women the progress is not more than 15 seconds. It is clear that in the races of men the Dutch teams improved the results the most while this was the case in the races for women by the Japonese teams and not by the Dutch teams.
More surprising is that they were not the best at the Olympic games. In these championships they lost one of their races. In both cases the Dutch teams were beaten by the Norwegian teams. Therefore the Dutch team could only become third even though their team had a better time than the team who became second in the Olympic championships.
The skaters of Norway had spend more training on the team pursuit than the Dutch who thought that they would win anyway. but at least in 2022 they should have known better. A problem was that the Dutch skaters were members of different professional teams and therefore they could not train frequently with each other. The Norwegen skaters had spend a lot of time together in order to develop the best approach for the team pursuit.
In the world championships for women the hegemony of the Dutch skaters was immediately disturbed by the speed skaters of Japan. They won 4 times and became 3 times second. The Dutch female skaters won 3 times and were 4 times second behind the Japanese team. The Japanese team consisted till 2023 (except one year) of the same skaters , the two sisters Nana y Miho Takagi and Ayano Sato. They had developed the approach for the team pursuit in perfection. This also shows in the table below. In the table we present the progress in the world record over a pèriod of nearly 20 years. For the men as well as the women the progress is not more than 15 seconds. It is clear that in the races of men the Dutch teams improved the results the most while this was the case in the races for women by the Japonese teams and not by the Dutch teams.
New in this disciplne was the succes of two countries which were normally not so succesful in long track speed skating, especially men´s teams of South Corea and New Sealand. In the first case, In the South Corean team two skaters came from short track speed skating, Lee Seung Boo and Joo Hyung Joon. The team of New Sealand consisted of three former inline speed skaters, Shane Dobbin , Rayon Kay and Peter Michael. By concentrating on this diciplne together they were able to compete in this discipline. In that sense this new diciplne gave possibilities to other skaters than the top skaters on the individual distances. It is not always the case that the best skaters on the iindividual distances also win the team porsuit races. Therefore this new discipline is an enrichment of the speed skatu¡ing championships. The two teams which showed this very clearly were the Norwegians in the men´s competition and the Japaneses in the women´s competitions. Therefore we will pay extra attention to these two teams.