Speed Skating has been part of the olympic programme since the first winter olympics were held in Chamonix in 1924. In the period from 1924-1956 there were only competitions for men but the games in Squaw Valley in 1960 introduced events for women as well.

In 1924 men competed in five events and among these were a combined competition which was discontinued after the games in Chamonix. Later the programme developed into having 10 events in the period from 1976 - 2002: 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m for women and 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and 10.000 m for men. In the 2006 winter games in Torino the programme was enlarged through team pursuits for both men and women. Hence, since 2006 there are 12 speed skating events on the olympic programme.

Speed skating is an old sport. There are results recorded as far back as the 18th century and the first world championships took place in Amsterdam in 1889. All olympic races have been held as time trials on a 400 m long oval course with two competitors on the course at the time. The only time when this form of competition was not used were at the games in 1932 when the Lake Placid hosts experimented with mass start heats and finals, each heat having 5-6 participants. This involved strong protests and drama so the next games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen four years later returned to the original format.

The olympic speed skating competitions have traditionally taken place on outdoor courses and this caused weather problems, especially between the world wars. At the games in Calgary in 1988 the Canadians presented the worlds first completely roofed 400 m course. In 1992 in Albertville competitions were held outdoor but since Lillehammer 1994 competitions have been carried out on indoor courses.

The first olympic gold winner in speed skating was the American Charles Jewtraw who won the 500 m event in Chamonix 1924. It was additionally the first gold medal ever handed out at an olympic winter game.

The olympic speed skater who has won the most medals is Lydia Skoblikova. In 1960 in Squaw Valley and 1964 in Innsbruck she won a total of six gold medals. But many other atheletes have succeded in great accomplishments: The American Eric Heiden won the gold medal in all five events in 1980 in Lake Placid. Finland's Claes Thunberg won five gold medals in the early winter games of 1924 and 1928. Germany's Karin Enke (1980-88) and Gunda Niemann (1992-98) both won eight olympic medals. An almost infinite row of Norwegian competitors have dominated the olympic speed skating competitions - from Ivar Ballangrud's seven medals (1928-36) between the world wars, through the big name of the fifties Hjalmar "Hjallis" Andersen, with his three gold medals on home soil in Oslo, to Johann-Olav Koss, the big star in the 1990's and especially of the Lillehammer games of 1994. An almost just as impressive row of strong Soviet-Russian and Dutch athletes can be listed. Among the Dutch the triple gold winner from Sapporo 1972 Ard Schenk is the most winning. In addition to these athletes on could mention USA's Bonnie Blair who won the 500 m distance in three consecutive olympic games from 1988-94. And finally Germany's Claudia Pechstein, who from 1992-2006 won a total of 8 medals (among these were five of gold) and who won three times in a row on the 5000 m.

From the first winter games of Chamonix until the 2006 games of Torino, 152 sets of medals have been competed for. Even though 14 nations have won gold medals during this period, four countries have dominated the sport. USA has won 28 gold medals, Norway and the Soviet Union/Russia each 25 and the Netherlands 24 gold medals.