The 2001 World Allround Speed Skating Championships were held on the City Park Ice Rink in Budapest, Hungary, on 10–11 February 2001.

Claudia Pechstein is a German speed skater. She has won five Olympic gold medals. With a total of nine Olympic medals, five gold, two silver, and two bronze, she was previously the most successful Olympic speed skater, male or female, of all time,. Pechstein is the most successful German Winter Olympian of all time. After the World Championships in Norway in February 2009, Pechstein was accused of blood doping and banned from all competitions for two years.