# Faced by Korean challenge, speed skating launches a new World Tour

*By Simon | November 4, 2024*

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![isuskate](https://globalkeirin.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/11/isuskate.jpg)

## 󠀁[Faced by Korean challenge, speed skating launches a new World Tour](https://globalkeirin.com/2024/11/faced-by-korean-challenge-speed-skating-launches-a-new-world-tour/)󠁿

4 November 2024

DerbyWheel is the successor initiative to IceDerby, a plan by the same Korean
investors to transform the sport of speed skating, by offering game-changing
prize money fuelled by gambling receipts.

IceDerby faced opposition from the sport’s governing body, which ultimately
ended up in a case before the Court of Justice of the European Union. In a
decision which could yet have implications for DerbyWheel, the court ruled that
the International Skating Union could not ban athletes who participated in
unsanctioned events.

IceDerby held a successful test event in February 2020, under ISU supervision;
but the competition’s progress was halted by the pandemic.

So, given these connections, _Global Keirin_ notes with considerable interest
the recent launch of speed skating’s new
[Short Track World Tour](https://short-track.com) – _organised_, not opposed, by
the ISU themselves.

The series has six three-day meetings, running Friday to Sunday, starting in
October and finishing in February. Skaters compete in national colours, for
teams like Dutch Lions, British Royals, and Australian Racing Roos.

![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KXyuNdDvrYA/maxresdefault.jpg)

The opening two rounds took place in Montreal: the second round had been
scheduled for Salt Lake City, but was moved when new safety padding at the venue
was delayed. Subsequent rounds will take place in Beijing, Seoul, Tilburg and
Milan.

Competition in Montreal was
[streamed](https://www.youtube.com/@SkatingISU/streams) live on YouTube,
receiving up to 40,000 views, and was also covered on the digital platform of
national broadcaster
[CBC](https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/short-track-speed-skating). The
ISU produced extracts and highlights videos, jostling for attention
[in their YouTube account](https://www.youtube.com/@SkatingISU/videos) with
dance performances from the Skate Canada International and Grand Prix de France.

It’s fascinating to see how skating’s governing body has reacted to the threat
of new external competition – or perhaps, more charitably, the demonstration of
an appetite for such an event among its athletes – by taking the initiative, and
launching something themselves. But the prize money doesn’t seem to be
game-changing, from what we can find online; and Icederby themselves seem to
have been frozen out.

We imagine the UCI,
[facing a similar challenge](https://globalkeirin.com/derbywheel-and-the-uci/)
from the same source, will be watching the development of this series with
interest.

**Categories:** Original
**Tags:** dwnews, sportinnovation