A total quota of 166 athletes were allowed to compete at the Games. Countries were assigned quotas based on their performance during the 2021–22 ISU Speed Skating World Cup in the autumn of 2021. Each nation was permitted to enter a maximum of three athletes per gender for all events apart from the women's 5000m, men's 10000m and mass start events, for which they could enter a maximum of two athletes per event. Additionally, each nation is permitted to send at most 7 speed skating athletes per gender in total, or 8 when the nation is qualified for all events for the gender, or 9 when the nation is qualified with the maximum quota in every event for the gender.[1]
Qualification times
The following qualification times were released on July 1, 2021, and were unchanged from 2018.[2] Skaters had the time period of July 1, 2021 – January 16, 2022 to achieve qualification times at valid International Skating Union (ISU) events.[2]
On 22 December 2021, the ISU published their list of provisional allocations for each race and the total maximum allocation for each NOC.[3] NOCs will inform the ISU how many quotas they will use by 16 January 2022, at which point either withdrawal or reallocation will be done to get to 166 total athletes. The final entries were revealed on January 24, 2022.[4]
The qualification points ranking for the men's 5000m and 10000m are combined.
The top 14 athletes, with a maximum of 3 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country in the 5000m. The top 8 athletes, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country in the 10000m.
The top 24 athletes, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country in the mass start. The next 8 athletes will be on the reserve list.
Up to six additional starting positions for the mass start will be made available during the games, given in reserve order, with priority given to countries that do not yet have an entry. However, only skaters that already took part in another event will be eligible.
The qualification points ranking for the women's 3000m and 5000m are combined.
The top 14 athletes, with a maximum of 3 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country in the 3000m. The top 8 athletes, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country in the 5000m.
The top 24 athletes, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country in the mass start. The next 8 athletes will be on the reserve list.
Up to six additional starting positions for the mass start will be made available during the games, given in reserve order, with priority given to countries that do not yet have an entry. However, only skaters that already took part if another event will be eligible.
The top 10 athletes not qualified through the point ranking, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.
The top 8 unqualified athletes, including athletes who could not qualify through the time ranking because their NOC already has 2 quotas, will form the reserve list. Three quotas from the reserve list were available, green shading indicates acceptance.
The top 10 athletes not qualified through the point ranking, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.
The top 8 unqualified athletes, including athletes who could not qualify through the time ranking because their NOC already has 2 quotas, will form the reserve list. Three quotas from the reserve list were available, green shading indicates acceptance.
The top 10 athletes not qualified through the point ranking, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.
The top 8 unqualified athletes, including athletes who could not qualify through the time ranking because their NOC already has 2 quotas, will form the reserve list. Seven quotas from the reserve list were available, green shading indicates acceptance, quotas achieved from points by Germany and Japan were refused.
The top 6 athletes not qualified through the point ranking, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.
The top 8 unqualified athletes, including athletes who could not qualify through the time ranking because their NOC already has 2 quotas, will form the reserve list. One quota from the reserve list was available, green shading indicates acceptance
The top 4 athletes not qualified through the point ranking, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.
The top 8 unqualified athletes will form the reserve list.
The top 10 athletes not qualified through the point ranking, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.
The top 8 unqualified athletes, including athletes who could not qualify through the time ranking because their NOC already has 2 quotas, will form the reserve list. Four quotas from the reserve list were available, green shading indicates acceptance
The top 10 athletes not qualified through the point ranking, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.
The top 8 unqualified athletes, including athletes who could not qualify through the time ranking because their NOC already has 2 quotas, will form the reserve list. Three quotas from the reserve list were available, green shading indicates acceptance
The top 10 athletes not qualified through the point ranking, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.
The top 8 unqualified athletes, including athletes who could not qualify through the time ranking because their NOC already has 2 quotas, will form the reserve list. Three quotas from the reserve list were available, green shading indicates acceptance
The top 6 athletes not qualified through the point ranking, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.
The top 8 unqualified athletes, including athletes who could not qualify through the time ranking because their NOC already has 2 quotas, will form the reserve list. Two quotas from the reserve list were available, green shading indicates acceptance
The top 4 athletes not qualified through the point ranking, with a maximum of 2 per NOC, will earn a quota for their country.
The top 8 unqualified athletes will form the reserve list.