The short track distances

500, 1000, 1500 and the relays — every one of them the same 111.12 m lap, repeated.

Short track has one track and four race lengths, and the difference between them is not stamina. It is how early the race is decided — and that is something we can measure rather than assert.

distance	laps	time	what decides it
500 m	4.5 laps	about 40 seconds	the start is most of the race
1000 m	9 laps	about 1:25	a sprint with one real tactical phase
1500 m	13.5 laps	about 2:15	slow, then decided in three laps
2000 m mixed relay	18 laps	about 2:35	two women and two men, changing every lap or two
3000 m relay	27 laps	about 4:05	women, four skaters
5000 m relay	45 laps	about 6:30	men, four skaters

How often does the leader actually win?

For every race with a complete set of lap-by-lap positions, we took whoever was in front at each lap marker and asked whether that skater went on to win. The dotted lines are the control: what a skater picked at random out of the same field would score.

individual 500, 1000 and 1500 m races since 2021/2022 where every starter has a complete lap sequence and the race has one clear winner. The 1500 m curve begins at twelve laps to go rather than thirteen, because the very first marker is only recorded in some races and mixing them would misstate it.

In the 500 m, leading from the first lap is worth 69.2%. In the 1500 m, leading with 12 laps to go is worth 14.8% — and a skater drawn at random from the same field scores 16.8%. Early in a 1500 m, being in front is worth nothing.

What that means for each race

500 m. Four and a half laps, roughly forty seconds, and about half of it is the first corner. The start is not a phase of the race, it is most of the race — lead out of it and you win 69.2% of the time. Which is why 500 m specialists are a different kind of skater, and why the archive's sub 40 club is such a short list.

1000 m. Nine laps. Leading only becomes better than a coin toss with about 4 laps to go. Before that the front is exposed and the field is waiting.

1500 m. Thirteen and a half laps, and for the first two thirds the leader is doing everyone else a favour. The race turns with three laps left and is usually settled on the last one. See who spends the most laps at the front — and note that leading a lot of laps and winning a lot of races are not the same skill.

The relays. Four skaters, changing every lap or two, with the incoming skater pushed into the race by the outgoing one. The mixed relay pairs two women and two men. Relays are excluded from every individual statistic on this site, because a relay result belongs to the nation rather than to whoever happened to be skating that leg — see the relay records.

The short track distances

How often does the leader actually win?

What that means for each race

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