Rules and Regulations
The rules for short track are set by the International Skating Union (ISU). These rules have evolved overr the years with the ISU releasing communcations as to what new rules have been added and what old rules have been removed because they don't make sense anymore.
How Races Are Won
Races are pack-style not against the clock. The first person across the finish line wins.
Racing occurs in 4 distances: 500m, 1000m, 1500m and 3000m. In most competitions, skaters race the 1500m on day 1, 500m on day 2, 1000m on day 3. The 3000m is raced the last day with the 1000m.
Getting to the final is a matter of avoiding elimination in the preliminary heats, quarters and semis. Usually the first 2 skaters plus and additional 1-4 skaters advance to the next round. Those 1-4 skaters are 3rd place finishers with the fastest time. For example, say there are 10 races in the prelimaries. The top 2 finishers in each of the 10 races advance. Then they'll rank all the 3rd place finishers by time. The top four times out of the 3rd place finishers get to advance also.
Eventually only 4-6 skaters are left to race the final. Why 4 - 6 skaters? Longer distances allow for more people to race at the same time. The 500 and 1000 are raced with 4 skaters at a time. The 1500m is raced with 6 skaters.
Sometimes a skater bumps another skater who could have have won the race. The skater that did the bumping gets disqualifed (DQ). The skater who got bumped gets advanced. There have been instances where the 500m and 1000m have been raced with 6 because of DQs from the prior round.
The 3000m is a special race where there are no elimination rounds. The top 8 skaters, who skated all three events and made it to a final in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m, qualify. Those top 8 skaters are determined by Final points.
Ranking and the Short Track Point System
Final points also determine your overall classification during competition. Overall classification is what place your ranked across all 4 events. You get Final points for the being in a Final in any of the distances.
Points are given for the place that you finish. The points given are 34, 21, 13, 8, 5, 3, 2 and 1. 34 points for 1st place and 1 point for 8th place. No points are awarded to skaters who are disqualified or did not finish the race.
There are 3 types of points that you receive in short track: Seeding (or performance) points, Final points and World Ranking points. For every race in all the heats, quarters and finals, the finishers receive Seeding points. Skaters who make it to the final get Final points. World Ranking points are given based on your overall finish in each World Cup event.
Overall ranking in as single competition is determined in this order:
- Those who made a final and qualified for the 3000m
a) Final points
b) Finishing position in the 3000m - Those who made a final and didn't qualify for the 3000m.
a) Final points
b) Combined ranking over all distances
c) Total seeding points. - Those who didn't make a final
a) Combined ranking over all distances
b) Total Seeding points.
Therefore a skater who made it to final and got DQd (therefore receiving 0 Final points) has a higher standing than a skater who didn't make a final.
World Ranking
After every World Cup, a skater receives World Ranking points based on their overall finish. As of the 2005 season, 1st place is given 100 points. 2nd place is given 99 points and so on down the line. Since there are only six World Cups, skaters can only receive World Ranking points six times, once for every time they attend a World Cup. Only the skaters top 4 Ranking points are added to determine your world ranking.
So if a skater wins all 6 World Cups, he or she will have 400 ranking points not 600. In event of a tie in Ranking points, the skater who skated the least amount of World Cups is ranked higher, ie the skater that gets 399 points from 4 World Cups is ranked higher than a skater who had to skate 5 World Cups to get 399 points. Any skater that wins 4 World Cups is the highest ranking skater of the year. It's mathematically impossible for 2 skaters to get 400 points.
World ranking is determined in this order:
- World Ranking points
- Highest overall rank in any World Cup attended