Earlier today, Dutch skater Jorien ter Mors qualified for the Olympic 1,500 m in speed skating. Earlier, she had already made the team for all four short track events (500 m, 1,000 m, 1,500 m and relay). With this performance, Ter Mors joins a small group of 10 skaters that has competed in both sports at the Olympics. (Four of them only competed in the 1988 short-track tournament, which was then still a a demonstration sport. It gained full medal status in 1992.)

The most successful member of that group in both sports is Eric Flaim. The world allround long track champion in 1988, he won a silver at the Calgary Olympics in long track, adding another silver with the US short-track relay team in Lillehammer. Two other skaters have also medalled, but only in short-track. Maurizio Carnino has two relay medals in his collection (including the 1994 gold), just like Sylvie Daigle (who won gold in 1992).

Also remarkable is the performance of Latvian Haralds Silovs. At the Vancouver 2010 Games, he competed in both sports on the same day. After completing the 5,000 m in 20th place on the 400 m oval, he raced in the heats and semi-finals of the 1,500 m short-track on the 111 m piste.

The other skaters who competed in both sports are:

• Dave Besteman (short: 1988 (demonstration), long: 1992-1994)
• Robert Dubreuil (short: 1988 (demonstration), long: 1992)
• Tara Laszlo (short: 1988 (demonstration), long: 1992)
• Emmanuel Michon (short: 1988 (demonstration), long: 1976-1980)
• Andrew Nicholson (short: 1992-1994, long: 1998)
• Claude Nicouleau (long: 1988, short: 1992)

There are also other good skaters who have excelled in both sports, but not at the Olympics. Five-time Olympic champion Bonnie Blair was also the 1986 allround world champion in short-track, and two-fold gold medallist Gaétan Boucher of Canada was individual world champion in short-track in 1977 and 1980, and relay champion in 1979 and 1980. More recently, the 2010 Olympic champion 10,000 m, Lee Seung-Hun has won two world titles in short-track.