The clap skate was introduced in speed skating in 1998.
Notes on verification
Multiple independent, high-quality sources (ISU, NBC, Olympedia, peer-reviewed biomechanics paper, EBSCO) confirm the clap skate's Olympic/mainstream competitive introduction in 1998, though the underlying technology was invented earlier (1980s) and saw limited use in 1996-97.
Sources
- The science games — ABC Science Archive (abc.net.au)
- https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/speed-skating-101-equipment (nbcolympics.com)
- http://www.olympedia.org/editions/46/sports/SSK (olympedia.org)
- https://isu-skating.com/speed-skating/news/speed-skating-and-the-clap-skate-revolution/ (isu-skating.com)
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0021929000000634 (sciencedirect.com)
- https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/sports-and-leisure/speed-skating (ebsco.com)
- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clap%20skate (merriam-webster.com)
- https://www.sportsci.org/news/news9803/clapnagano.html (sportsci.org)