Beijing's magnificent National Speed Skating Oval – better known as the Ice Ribbon – will host the first stop on the ISU Speed Skating World Cup 2026-27 circuit, kickstarting the new Olympic cycle.
Built for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the Ice Ribbon has quickly become a familiar stop on the international calendar. This weekend's racing also gives skaters an early feel for the ice they will return to in February, when the venue hosts the ISU Speed Skating World Championships 2027.
But for now, the focus will be on getting the season off to the best possible start. Here's what to look out for in Beijing this weekend.
On the women's side, both the reigning World Sprint and Allround champions are among the names entered.
Femke Kok of the Netherlands has been close to unbeatable in the 500m and nearly unstoppable in the 1000m, while compatriot Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong will compete across three distances after winning Olympic gold in the 1500m at Milano Cortina 2026.
Norway's Ragne Wiklund will also threaten in the 1500m and 3000m, but with a new Olympic cycle comes an opportunity for emerging talents to make their mark, including Japan's promising Yukino Yoshida.
On the men's side, home favorite Ning Zhongyan will be looking to build on his 1500m Olympic triumph at Milano Cortina 2026, while Gao Tingyu, who claimed 500m gold at the Ice Ribbon at Beijing 2022, will also have the home crowd behind him.
Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands will be another contender in the 1500m. He lines up in Beijing just days after his 37th birthday, with his world record over the distance, set in 2019, still intact.
There will be a couple of big names missing in the men's field, however. Jordan Stolz has chosen to start his season in Obihiro, while Dutch sprinter Jenning de Boo is out with a fractured collarbone.
One question hanging over the weekend is whether any track records will fall. Apart from the Men's 500m and 1000m, every record at the Ice Ribbon dates back to the 2022 Olympics.
The Men's 5000m looks the most vulnerable. Sweden's Nils van der Poel set the Beijing mark of 6:08.84 on his way to Olympic gold in 2022, but the distance has moved on fast since then.
Last season the world record fell twice. France's Timothy Loubineaud proved he's much more than a Mass Start specialist when he opened the season in Salt Lake City with 6:00.23, a fraction outside six minutes. Then Norway's Sander Eitrem became the first man to go under the barrier, clocking 5:58.52 in Inzell, Germany. That time is about 10 seconds quicker than the Beijing record.
Throw Czechia's Metodej Jilek into the mix, and there's every chance the 6:08.84 mark could topple.
Norway's Sander Eitrem is among the contenders to set a 5000m track record © ISU
How do the ISU Speed Skating World Rankings work?
New this season, an overall world ranking combines skaters' individual results from all six World Cups and the World Championships, with results weighted so that frequently raced distances like the 500m, skated twice at every World Cup, don't count for more than the rest.
Updated after each World Cup and carrying its own prize money, the ranking rewards skaters who perform across distances, complementing the existing World Cup distance standings.
Read our full ISU Speed Skating World Cup preview.