With China's best ready to lead the charge on home ice, and some cross-discipline pioneers raring to test their craft, the speed skating World Cup's Beijing leg is guaranteed to deliver red-hot action on one of the world's coolest tracks.

The sleek Olympic oval is polished anew, the tickets are sold out, while the track — one of the world's fastest — has been conditioned to meet the need for speed. Everything is all set for a thrilling weekend of racing at Beijing's National Speed Skating Oval, as the world's premier skaters line up for the 2024-25 season's second World Cup event, which is set to kick off on Friday.

The three-day Beijing leg, following last week's opener in Japan, has plenty of exciting storylines to be written: The host squad's medal ambitions, the current leaders' attempt to extend their supremacy and some accomplished short-track stars' bold switch to the long track among the highlights that will make the event an intriguing treat for fans in the Chinese capital.

Leading the host's 34-strong roster are reigning men's 500m Olymp