how fast do short track speed skaters go

Elite short track speed skaters typically reach over 30 mph (about 48 km/h), with top speeds approaching around 35 mph (about 56 km/h) in races.

How fast they actually go

• In Olympic short track, skaters commonly race at speeds exceeding 30 mph on the tight 111.12 m oval track.

• Analyses of Winter Olympic events report short track athletes reaching up to about 35 mph at peak speed.

• A men’s 500 m heat time of 40.23 seconds corresponds to an average of about 27.8 mph, with a fastest lap averaging about 30.5 mph.

Average vs top speed

• Average race speed (over the whole distance) is usually in the high 20s mph (around 45 km/h), because of starts, traffic, and passing.

• Peak speed on the straights can climb a bit higher, into the low-to-mid 30s mph range for the very best skaters.

What affects their speed

• Tight corners on a small rink force extreme lean angles and limit how fast skaters can go without losing grip.
• Drafting behind other skaters, accelerating out of corners, and timing late-race sprints all change how high the top speed gets in a given race.

So if you’re watching short track and wondering “how fast do short track speed skaters go,” think roughly 30–35 mph at the top end, depending on the race and the athlete.

TL;DR: Competitive short track speed skaters commonly race over 30 mph, with top speeds around 35 mph on the small Olympic oval.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.