Section 7: Violations & Penalties
7.1 Contact and Obstruction Penalties
- Causing a collision through irregular movement: If a skater changes direction suddenly or makes an unpredictable lateral move that causes contact, they are penalised. The penalised skater is either ranked behind all other finishers in their heat or disqualified.
- Impeding (blocking): Deliberately slowing down or moving to block a passing attempt. Penalty: ranked last in the heat or DSQ.
- Pushing with arms or hands: Using hands or arms to push another skater off-line. Penalty: DSQ.
- Kicking out a blade: Deliberately extending a skate blade to trip or destabilise another skater. Severe penalty: DSQ and potential further disciplinary action.
7.2 Track and Course Violations
- Crossing inside apex blocks: Skating inside the rubber apex markers (cutting the corner) results in a penalty. The skater gains an unfair advantage by shortening their path.
- Skating outside the track: Leaving the track boundary on the outside is generally not penalised unless it results in gaining an advantage or interfering with another skater.
- Late or early relay exchange: Performing an exchange outside the designated zone results in a time penalty or DSQ for the team.
7.3 Penalty Consequences
- Advancement denial: A penalised skater does not advance to the next round, regardless of their finishing position.
- DSQ: Complete disqualification from the event. Results are voided.
- Yellow card: Warning for minor infractions. Accumulated yellow cards across events may result in suspension.
- Video review: All penalties are reviewed by the video official. Decisions are final and not subject to protest. The referee announces penalties after the video review is complete.
7.4 False Start Penalties
- First false start: The heat is recalled and restarted. Warning issued to the offending skater.
- Second false start by the same skater: DSQ from that race. Other skaters in the heat restart.