The trials, which are scheduled to take place in the Wisconsin city from January 2 to 7, will determine members of the United States’ long track speed skating team for next year’s Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

Up to 20 athletes may be named to the Olympic team - 10 men and 10 women - across 12 individual distances and two team events.

"We are thrilled to have the city of Milwaukee and the Pettit National Ice Center host the 2018 US Olympic trials - long track speedskating," said Ted Morris, executive director for US Speedskating.

"The state of Wisconsin has a rich history in speed skating and we’re excited about adding to that legacy.

"A total of 34 Olympic medals have been won by speed skaters born and raised in Wisconsin.

"Every US Olympic team over the last four decades has included athletes that called the Pettit National Ice Center their home base."

Opened on December 31, 1992, the Pettit National Ice Center is an official US Olympic training site for speed skating in the country and features a 445-metre run/walk track.

It replaced, and was constructed, on land previously occupied by the Wisconsin Olympic Ice Rink, an outdoor facility that was in operation from 1967 to 1991.

The venue hosts more than 425,000 visitors annually for the likes of hockey, figure skating and ice skating hockey.

"We are delighted that our top speed skaters will compete at the trials here to pursue their dreams for gold at the Olympic Winter Games," said Randy Dean, executive director of the Pettit Center.

"The timing of the Olympic trials is coincidental with the 25th Anniversary of the Center.

"Athletes will strive for gold skating on the oval, while we celebrate silver for the Pettit Center."

The Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics are due to take place from February 9 to 25.

Both long and short track will be staged in the Gangneung coastal cluster, with all competition for the former to be held at the Gangneung Oval.

The Gangneung Oval played host to the 2017 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships, which saw the US finish second in the medal standings to The Netherlands with three golds and one bronze.

At the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, the US team endured their first long track speed skating Games without a medal since Sarajevo 1984.

American speed skater Shani Davis claimed last November that the Under Armour skinsuits the country used at the Games were "defective".

Davis, a four-time Olympic medallist and 1,000 metres champion in Turin and Vancouver, could only finish eighth over 1,000m and 24th over 500m in Sochi.

Following the disappointment, various members of the team blamed the new suits, which were introduced shortly before the Games, for their slow times.

A report after the Games found the last-minute introduction of the suits had been a factor in the poor performance of the team, along with an over-reliance on high-altitude training, a failure to analyse the skaters' needs leading up to the Games, and interference with independent coaches.