<P> At the 1914 Olympic Congress , the delegates agreed to include long track speed skating in the 1916 Olympics , after figure skating had featured in the 1908 Olympics . However , World War I put an end to the plans of Olympic competition , and it was not until the winter sports week in Chamonix in 1924 -- retroactively awarded Olympic status -- that ice speed skating reached the Olympic programme . Charles Jewtraw from Lake Placid , New York , won the first Olympic gold medal , though several Norwegians in attendance claimed Oskar Olsen had clocked a better time . Timing issues on the 500 m were a problem within the sport until electronic clocks arrived in the 1960s ; during the 1936 Olympic 500 - metre race , it was suggested that Ivar Ballangrud 's 500 - metre time was almost a second too good . Finland won the remaining four gold medals at the 1924 Games , with Clas Thunberg winning 1,500 metres , 5,000 metres , and allround . It was the only time an allround Olympic gold medal has been awarded in speed skating . </P>
<P> At the 1914 Olympic Congress , the delegates agreed to include long track speed skating in the 1916 Olympics , after figure skating had featured in the 1908 Olympics . However , World War I put an end to the plans of Olympic competition , and it was not until the winter sports week in Chamonix in 1924 -- retroactively awarded Olympic status -- that ice speed skating reached the Olympic programme . Charles Jewtraw from Lake Placid , New York , won the first Olympic gold medal , though several Norwegians in attendance claimed Oskar Olsen had clocked a better time . Timing issues on the 500 m were a problem within the sport until electronic clocks arrived in the 1960s ; during the 1936 Olympic 500 - metre race , it was suggested that Ivar Ballangrud 's 500 - metre time was almost a second too good . Finland won the remaining four gold medals at the 1924 Games , with Clas Thunberg winning 1,500 metres , 5,000 metres , and allround . It was the only time an allround Olympic gold medal has been awarded in speed skating . </P>
when did long track speed skating become an olympic sport
when did long track speed skating become an olympic sport
1914
1914