There is a B final in speed skating (especially short track) to sort out the full rankings, award points, and handle disqualifications fairly.

What A and B finals are

  • The A final is the main medal race where the top qualifiers from the semifinals fight for gold, silver, and bronze.
  • The B final is an extra race with the next‑best skaters to decide the lower places (often 5–8 or 7–12, depending on the event and format).

So even though only the A final feels like “the real final,” the B final is still an official part of the competition structure.

Why have a B final at all?

Think of it as the sport’s way of cleaning up the leaderboard and the season rankings:

  1. Clear overall placements
    • The B final lets officials rank everyone properly instead of having a big tie or vague “semifinalist” label for the skaters who didn’t make the A final.
 * This matters for results sheets, statistics, and qualification standards.
  1. World Cup / ranking points
    • In many international events, placements beyond the medals still earn world ranking or World Cup points.
 * A B final ensures those points are decided head‑to‑head on the ice, not just by times or earlier rounds.
  1. Fairness after crashes and chaos
    • Short track in particular is notorious for crashes and penalties, especially in crowded semifinals.
 * A strong skater might miss the A final after getting tangled or impeded; the B final gives them a race that still “counts” for ranking and points.
  1. Backup for disqualifications in the A final
    • If several A‑final skaters are disqualified and there aren’t enough clean finishers, skaters from the B final can be bumped up in the final classification (and in rare cases even into medal positions).
 * The B final is therefore a safety net to keep the final standings logically consistent.
  1. TV and fan value
    • Broadcasters get more races with high‑level skaters, and fans get another chance to see big names who narrowly missed the A final.
    • It makes the session feel more complete: you see both the medal fight and the “best of the rest.”

Simple example

Imagine 8 strong skaters reach the semifinals.

  • 4 make the A final → they race for 1st–4th.
  • 4 go to the B final → they race for 5th–8th.

If two A‑final skaters are disqualified, the winner of the B final might move up into, say, 3rd in the final classification.

Is this only in short track?

  • B finals are most visible in short track speed skating , but similar A/B finals exist in other timed sports (like swimming or rowing) to sort out placements and points beyond the medals.
  • In long track speed skating, formats vary more by distance and event, so you’ll see different ways of ranking skaters, but the idea of extra races to determine classification is common across timed sports.

TL;DR: There’s a B final in speed skating so officials can properly rank all skaters, award ranking points, and have a fair fallback if the A final is full of crashes or disqualifications—so the whole competition, not just the podium, makes sense on paper.

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