Japan were the defending champion and the world record holder at the beginning of the Olympics. The Netherlands and the United States were the 2018 silver and bronze medalist, respectively; however, Japan and the United States did not enter this year. The Netherlands are the 2021 World Single Distances champion in team pursuit, with Canada second and the Russian Skating Union third. Canada were leading the 2021–22 ISU Speed Skating World Cup after three events before the Olympics, ahead of Japan and the Netherlands.
A total of 8 team quotas were available for the event, with a maximum of one team per NOC. The top six countries qualified through their performance at the 2021–22 ISU Speed Skating World Cup, while the last two countries qualified through their time performance.[4]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world, Olympic and track records were as follows.