Frequently Asked Questions
What is the history of SpeedskatingResults.com?
The SpeedskatingResults.com database was started to keep track of various records for the announcer's (speaker's) use during competitions held at the Utah Olympic Oval. The database contents were first made available to the public during the 2004-2005 season. During the 2006-2007 season, the web site started tracking the complete results for a select set of competitions. That expanded during the 2007-2008 season to all tracking long track results worldwide.
What are those two and three character codes following a skater's name?
The first letter indicates if the skater is male or female (M for men, L for ladies). The remaining portion is the skater's age category. The categories are based on the skater's age at the start of the season (1 July) and are based on those used by KNSB, the Dutch federation.
| Age (as of 1 July) | Code |
|---|---|
| 7 and under | YF (Youth) |
| 8 | YE |
| 9 | YD |
| 10 | YC |
| 11 | YB |
| 12 | YA |
| 13 | C1 (Juniors) |
| 14 | C2 |
| 15 | B1 |
| 16 | B2 |
| 17 | A1 |
| 18 | A2 |
| 19 | N1 (Neo-Seniors) |
| 20 | N2 |
| 21 | N3 |
| 22 | N4 |
| 23 - 29 | SA (Seniors) |
| 30 - 38 | SB |
| 39 - 43 | 40 (Masters, previously MA) |
| 44 - 48 | 45 (previously MB) |
| 49 - 53 | 50 (previously MC) |
| 54 - 58 | 55 (previously MD) |
| 59 - 63 | 60 (previously ME) |
| 64 - 68 | 65 (previously MF) |
| 69 and up | 70 (previously MG) |
Since the age categories are calculated from a skater's date of birth, it is not possible to compute them if that item is not in the database. In those cases the category will be a question mark (M? or L?).
Why are my (or skater X's) personal records not correct?
The database has grown quickly (perhaps too much so) over the past couple of seasons. I'm still working to cross-check information with other sources (e.g. the SARA database). Corrections can always be submitted to ovalstats@q.com.
Also note that due limitations on my time, I do not regularly track results outside of North America for skaters younger than 13 years old (those in the Youth category). While some younger skaters will be present in the database and sporadically on the results pages, please do not submit corrections.
Why are there no results for competitions at certain ovals?
I attempt to track results for all long track metric competitions for which I am aware. Results are obtained a number of ways: competitions at which I am present (basically anything at the Utah Olympic Oval), results submitted via email (ovalstats@q.com), results obtained from an oval's web site, and finally results from other sites (e.g. desg.de)
Particularly lacking currently are results from Russia and China. I don't have any good sources for such results and am also faced with significant language (more specifically, alphabet) limitations.
Why no results for the 100m (or team pursuit, etc.)
Currently, the database only tracks results and records for the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m races. 100m results from select competitions (e.g. World Cups) may also be present. The software I have written also has no support for team pursuit results. I'm not certain when (or if) I'll be adding support for those races. Some of the other metric distances (300m, 700m) are not skated at the Utah oval. Omitting them is once again a matter of time limitations.
Do you have the split times for a specific race?
I do not track split times for the races that appear in the database, not even those here at the Utah oval.
Can I get a plain-text copy of results?
There are two ways to obtain plain-text versions of the results. You can click on the Text-Only links in the navigation bar on the left side of results pages to get the results in plain-text form. You can also subscribe to the Full Results RSS feed to have the same information delivered to your RSS reader. Either way the results are provided without any fancy styling. The columns are tab-separated, making it easy to cut and paste the results into a spreadsheet or text file.
When copying from the RSS feed to a spreadsheet or word processor, you can just use your application's Paste function and everything will be nicely placed into columns. When copying directly from the web site itself, you'll need to use the "Paste Special" command and select "Paste as Unicode Text" or "Paste as Unformatted Text" when inserting the results (the actual option may vary depending upon what application you are using).
So what other results sites are there?
Probably the single largest collection of results is that on the German desg.de web site. The collection there goes back much further than my own site.
What about other sites to find skater information?
An excellent site is Jakub Majerski's Speedskating Database. For Dutch skaters check out the KNSB's SARA database. Frans van Bakel has helped correct the entries for many Dutch skaters and maintains an alltime list of Dutch skaters. Some national federations have good information on their skaters, others have little or none. Check the ISU web page for links to member federations.