Section 5: Rules of Play
5.1 Individual Distances
- 500 m (4.5 laps): The pure sprint. Explosive starts and early positioning are critical, since overtaking on the compact track is difficult once positions are established.
- 1000 m (9 laps): Combines sprint speed with pack-racing tactics.
- 1500 m (13.5 laps): The most tactical individual event, run in Semi-Finals and Finals fields of 7 Skaters per Rule 291, paragraph 8.e.
5.2 Start Procedure
Rule 294 sets out the start procedure. For ISU Events, the Olympic Winter Games, Winter Youth Olympic Games, and other International Competitions using the "0 False Start" procedure, there is no tolerance built in: once the Starter blows the whistle, any Skater who is late to the line, moves before the gun, slides on or over the line, or otherwise commits a False Start is immediately given a Penalty and excluded from that race — there is no warning-then-restart cycle for the offending Skater (Rule 294, paragraphs 4–11). It is a False Start when a Skater places one or both skates on or over the start line, places one or both hands on the ice, does not have both skates in full contact with the ice, takes the starting position before the command "Ready", or takes it too slowly after "Ready" (Rule 294, paragraph 8.c).
Rule 294, paragraphs 14–22 permit International Competitions (not ISU Events) to instead adopt an optional procedure in which one False Start per race is allowed without penalty, provided this is specified in the Announcement of the Competition. Under that optional procedure, a Skater's first False Start for "delaying the start" draws only a warning; if the same Skater is warned a second time, that Skater receives a Penalty and is excluded from the race (Rule 294, paragraph 19). Once any Skater has caused the race's one permitted False Start, the Starter announces "This race has one False Start," and any further False Start by any Skater in the next start results in a Penalty and exclusion (Rule 294, paragraph 20).
5.3 Overtaking and Passing
Rule 295, paragraph 1.b) permits overtaking at all times, but until Skaters or Relay Teams are beside each other, responsibility for any obstruction or collision falls on the Skater or Relay Team doing the overtaking, provided the Skater or Relay Team being overtaken does not act improperly. Any Skater or Relay Team about to be lapped must move to the outside and may not interfere with the Skater(s) or Relay Team(s) overtaking; interference results in a Yellow or Red Card (Rule 295, paragraph 1.c).
Under Rule 295, paragraph 2, the general racing rule is that Skaters must, by their way of skating, contribute to the honest, sporting and safe progress of the race. Actions considered breaches of the Racing Rules, sanctionable when the facts are clear and obvious with no shared responsibility to establish, are: Off-Track, Impeding, Assistance, Kicking-Out, and Embellishment. Full descriptions of each are set out in the ISU Communication "Guidance to the Racing Rules" and any subsequent update to it (Rule 295, paragraph 2.b).
5.4 Relay Events
Rule 295, paragraph 3.a) caps Relay Team size at 5 Competitors for the World Championships, Junior World Championships and European Championships (World Tour and Junior World Cup limits are set in the relevant Communication). A Relay entry needs a minimum of 4 Skaters to compete; entries with fewer than four are not accepted (Rule 295, paragraph 3.c). Relaying is by touch — a Skater is not in the race until touched by, or having touched, the teammate being relieved (Rule 295, paragraph 3.f). A Skater may be relayed at any time except during the last two laps, which must be skated by one Skater; that final exchange must be completed on the straight before the first block of the corner, and a warning shot signals the start of the last three laps (Rule 295, paragraph 3.g).
Mixed Team Relay (Rule 295, paragraphs 3.m–q) consists of a minimum of two and maximum of four named Women and a minimum of two and maximum of four named Men, of whom any two Women and any two Men race in a given race. The distance is 2000 m (18 laps), relayed on a fixed schedule: four segments of 2.5 laps, then four segments of 2 laps, always in the order Woman–Woman–Man–Man, with the racing order within each gender left to the Team.
5.5 Finishing
Rule 295, paragraph 1.d) provides that a Skater or Relay Team has completed the distance when the Skater has reached the finish line with the leading tip of the skate blade.