Speed skating, or speedskating, is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track". The ISU, the governing body of both ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating".

The standard rink for long track is 400 meters long, but tracks of 200, 250 and 333⅓ meters are used occasionally. It is one of two Olympic forms of the sport and the one with the longer history. An international federation was founded in 1892, the first for any winter sport. The sport enjoys large popularity in the Netherlands and Norway. There are top international rinks in a number of other countries, including Canada, the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Russia. A World Cup circuit is held with events in the those countries and with two events in Thialf, the ice hall in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

Sven Kramer (born April 23, 1986 in Heerenveen) is a Dutch long track speed skater. He is the Olympic champion of the 5000 meter in Vancouver 2010, and five-time European and five-time World Allround Champion. He is also three-time world champion and world record holder in the 5,000 m, 10,000 m, and the team pursuit (the latter alongside Wouter Olde Heuvel and Erben Wennemars). Before Shani Davis he was first in the Adelskalender; as of March 7, 2009, he is second behind Davis. Winning the 2010 World Allround Championship, he was the first speed skater in history to win 4 consecutive world allround championships, and 8 consecutive international allround championships.

Sven Kramer was born on April 23, 1986 in Heerenveen, Friesland, Netherlands. He is the son of former speed skater Yep Kramer, and the four year older brother of speed skater Brecht Kramer.

In the 2004 season he came in second at the Junior allround world championships.

In December 2004 he won the Dutch Allround Championships at just 18 years old and thus qualified for the European Allround Championships for the first time, where he won the silver medal. At the World Allround Championships 2005 he came in third. At the end of that season he signed a contract with the Dutch TVM-team.