[Photo via VCG]

The 2023 ISU World Cup Speed Skating - Beijing, part of the 2023-24 ISU World Cup Speed Skating, will be held from November 17 to 19 at the National Speed Skating Oval also known as the "Ice Ribbon".

This event marks the first major ISU competition at the National Speed Skating Oval following the Beijing Winter Olympic Games in 2022. The ISU World Cup Speed Skating this season comprises a total of six events, with Beijing hosting the second one. The event has attracted numerous elite speed skaters in China and other countries, with over 200 world-class speed skaters having already completed their registrations.

Among the participating Chinese athletes, Gao Tingyu, the gold winner at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games in 2022, will be returning for this season's competition, alongside other participants of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, including Ning Zhongyan, Han Mei, and Li Qishi.

The event has garnered the participation of many well-known foreign athletes. For the event in Beijing, a number of famous skaters from the Netherlands, a country dominant in speed skating, which has won six out of the 14 gold medals in speed skating at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, are set to return to the "Ice Ribbon" this season. Laurent Dubreuil, the Canadian silver medalist in the 1,000m at Beijing Olympic Winter Games, and Martina Sáblíková, the Czech bronze medalist in the women's 5,000m at Beijing Olympic Winter Games, who has participated in five consecutive Winter Olympics, are among the participants of this event.

(Source: CCTV News App)