Section 3: Playing Area
3.1 Track Dimensions
Rule 203, paragraph 1 defines a Standard Speed Skating Track as a two-lane competition track of maximum 400 m, minimum 333⅓ m, with two 180° curved ends whose inner-curve radius "should not measure less than 25 m and not more than 26 m." Rule 203, paragraph 3 sets the inner competition lane at exactly 4 m wide and requires the outer lane to be at least 4 m wide. Rule 203, paragraph 2 defines the crossing area as the full length of the straight measured from the end of the curve — this is the lane-change zone used on every lap (see Section 5.1).
Rule 226 (Demarcation of the competition track) requires fully painted lines 5 cm wide in both straights and curves. Indoor tracks must additionally use movable rubber or synthetic blocks (maximum height 5 cm) along the curves — spaced 50 cm apart for the first 15 m of the curve and 2 m apart thereafter — with closed-top cones (recommended 10 cm, maximum 20 cm) marking the entrance to each curve.
3.2 Ice Conditions
Ice preparation at ISU Events, the Olympic Winter Games, and the Winter Youth Olympic Games is governed by an ISU Ice Commission consisting of the Referee(s) and the ISU Speed Skating Technical Committee Representative or Technical Delegate (Rule 229, paragraph 1). The Commission sets the ice preparation schedule in consultation with the venue's ice technical expert, who must supply historical data on ice preparation under varying climatic conditions, water quality used in resurfacing, and (on indoor tracks) airflow/ventilation data, "with the aim to give the participants equal conditions" (Rule 229, paragraph 2).
Indoor venues are effectively required for World Cup and Olympic competition: Rule 205 and Rule 206 both mandate that the track "must be enclosed within a heated building to be protected from wind and weather," with the infield accessible without crossing the ice surface.
3.3 Start and Finish
Rule 227, paragraph 2 places the pre-start line 2 m before the starting line, with starting and finishing lines denoted by colored lines no more than 5 cm wide at right angles to the straight. On a standard 400 m track, the 1000 m finish line sits at the middle of the finishing straight, and Team Pursuit/Team Sprint start and finish there as well; other distances finish toward the end of the straight (Rule 227, paragraph 2).
A photo-finish system is mandatory at ISU Championships, ISU World Cup Competitions, and the Speed Skating events of the OWG and YOWG (Rule 251, paragraph 2.d). Where a photo-finish system is in use, its recorded times and order of finish govern the official result even if a separate optical or transponder system displays different "live" times (Rule 251, paragraph 2.c). Times are recorded to the hundredth of a second, or the thousandth where a photo-finish system with that resolution is used to break ties (Rule 251, paragraph 3).