Speed skating (also long track speedskating or long track speed skating) is an Olympic sport where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as short track speedskating, inline speedskating, and quad speed skating are also called speed skating. Short track speed skating (also Shorttrack speedskating) is a form of competitive ice Speed skating. Inline speed skating is the sport of racing on Inline skates It is often called inline racing by participants Long track speed skating enjoys large popularity in the Netherlands, and has also had champion athletes from Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan, Italy, Norway, South Korea, Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the United States. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. The Czech Republic ( ˈt͡ʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka short form in Česko ˈt͡ʃɛskɔ also called Czechia, The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Speed skaters attain maximum speeds of 60 km/h (37 mph) during the shorter distances. (For the South African airport with IATA code "KMH" see Johan Pienaar Airport.

Contents 1 The rink 1.1 Top international rinks 1.1.1 Indoor 1.1.2 Outdoor 2 History 2.1 ISU development 2.2 Elfstedentocht and Dutch history 2.3 Olympic Games 2.4 Women's competitions 2.5 Technical developments 2.6 Professionalism 3 Racing 4 Equipment 5 Competition format 5.1 Allround 5.2 Sprint championships 5.3 Single distances 5.4 Team pursuit 5.5 Marathon 6 Notable skaters 7 References 8 External links

The rink

Skaters race on a two-lane oval similar in dimension to an outdoor athletics track. Indeed, an athletics track covered with ice can function as a speed skating track, such as Bislett stadion in Oslo up to the 1980s. Bislett stadion is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's most well known sports arena internationally with 15 speed skating world records and (called Christiania from 1624 to 1878 and Kristiania from 1878 to 1924 is the Capital and largest city of Norway. According to the rules of the International Skating Union, a standard track should be either 400 m or 333⅓ m long; 400 m is the standard used for all major competitions. The International Skating Union (ISU is the international governing body for competitive Ice skating disciplines including Figure skating, Synchronized Tracks of other, non-standard lengths, such 200 or 250 m, are also in use in some places for training and/or smaller local competitions. On standard tracks, the curves have a radius of 25–26 m in the inner lane, and each lane is 3–4 m wide.

Top international rinks

These rinks have hosted international events (World Cups or international senior championships) between 2004 and 2007.

Indoor

• Gunda-Niemann-Stirnemann-Halle, Erfurt, Germany
• Heilongjiang Indoor Rink, Harbin, China
• Krylatskoe Ice Rink, Moscow, Russia
• M-Wave, Nagano, Japan
• Oval Lingotto, Torino, Italy
• Olympic Oval, Calgary, Canada
• Pettit National Ice Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
• Sportforum Hohenschönhausen, Berlin, Germany
• Taereung Indoor Ice Rink, Seoul, South Korea
• Thialf, Heerenveen, Netherlands
• Tully Gym, Tallahassee, United States
• Vikingskipet, Hamar, Norway
• Utah Olympic Oval, Kearns, Utah, United States

Outdoor

• Chuncheon National Ice Sports Centre, Chuncheon, South Korea
• Circolo Pattinatori Pinè, Baselga di Pinè, Italy
• Ludwig Schwabl Stadion, Inzell, Germany
• Machiyama Highland Skating Center, Ikaho, Japan
• Ritten Kunsteisbahn, Collalbo, Italy
• Lake Placid Oval, Lake Placid, USA

History

ISU development

Organized races on ice skates first developed in the 19th century. Norwegian clubs hosted competitions from 1863, with races in the town of Christiania drawing five-digit crowds. ^[1] In 1884, the Norwegian Axel Paulsen was named Amateur Champion Skater of the World after winning competitions in the United States. Axel Paulsen (1855-1938 was a Norwegian figure skater and Speed skater. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Five years later, a sports club in Amsterdam invited to an ice skating event they called a world championship, with participants from Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom as well as the host country. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Internationale Eislauf Vereinigung, now known as the International Skating Union, was founded at a meeting of 15 national representatives in Scheveningen in 1892, the first international winter sports federation. The International Skating Union (ISU is the international governing body for competitive Ice skating disciplines including Figure skating, Synchronized Scheveningen (ˈsxeːfənɪŋə is one of the eight Districts of The Hague, as well as one of its subdistricts ( wijken) The Nederlandse Schaatsrijderbond had been founded in 1882,^[2] and had organised the world championships of 1890 and 1891. ^[3]

Competitions were held around tracks of varying lengths – the 1885 match between Axel Paulsen and Remke van der Zee was skated on a track of 6/7 miles (1400 metres) – but the 400 metre track was standardised by ISU in 1892, along with the standard distances for world championships, 500 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and 10,000 m. Axel Paulsen (1855-1938 was a Norwegian figure skater and Speed skater. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States Skaters were to start in pairs, each to their own lane, and changing lanes for every lap to ensure that each skater completed the same distance. Competitions were exclusively for amateur skaters, and these rules were applied: Peter Sinnerud was disqualified for professionalism in 1904, and lost his world title.

World records were registered since 1891, and improved rapidly: Jaap Eden lowered the world 5000 metre record by half a minute during the Hamar European Championships in 1894. Jacobus Johannes "Jaap" Eden ( October 19, 1873 &ndash February 2, 1925) was a Dutch athlete The record stood for 17 years, and it took 50 years to lower it by further half a minute. ^[4]

Elfstedentocht and Dutch history

The Elfstedentocht was organised as a competition in 1909, and has been held at irregular intervals whenever the ice on the course is deemed good enough. The Elfstedentocht ( English translation "Eleven-cities Tour" is a Speed skating competition and leisure skating tour held irregularly in the Other outdoor races developed later, with Noord-Holland hosting a race in 1917, but the Dutch natural ice conditions have rarely been conducive to skating. The Elfstedentocht has been held 15 times in the nearly 100 years since 1909, and before artificial ice was available in 1962, national championships had been held in 25 of the years between 1887, when the first championship was held in Slikkerveer, and 1961. Slikkerveer is a Village in the municipality of Ridderkerk, South Holland, the Netherlands. Since artificial ice became common in the Netherlands, Dutch speed skaters have been among the world top in long track speed skating and marathon skating.

Another solution to still be able to skate marathons on natural ice became the Alternative Elfstedentocht. The Alternative Elfstedentocht races take part in other countries like Austria, Finland or Canada and all top marathon skaters as well as thousands of recreative skaters travel from outside the Netherlands to the location where the race is held. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page According to the NRC Handelsblad journalist Jaap Bloembergen, the country "takes a carnival look" during international skating championships, despite the fact that "people outside the country are not particularly interested. NRC Handelsblad, often abbreviated to NRC, is a daily evening Newspaper published in the Netherlands by PCM Uitgevers "^[5]

Olympic Games

At the 1914 Olympic Congress, the delegates agreed to include long track speed skating in the 1916 Olympics, after figure skating had featured in the 1908 Olympics. The anticipated 1916 Summer Olympics, which were to be officially known as the Games of the VI Olympiad, were to have been held in Berlin, Germany. However, World War I put an end to the plans of Olympic competition, and it wasn't until the winter sports week in Chamonix in 1924 – retrospectively awarded Olympic status – that ice speed skating reached the Olympic programme. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or more commonly Chamonix (ʃamɔni in French is a Town and commune in eastern France, in the Haute-Savoie Charles Jewtraw from Lake Placid, New York won the first Olympic gold medal, though several Norwegians in attendance claimed Oskar Olsen had clocked a better time. Charles Jewtraw ( 5 May 1900 in Clinton County New York – 26 January 1996 in Palm Beach Florida) was an American Lake Placid is a Village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. Oskar E Olsen ( October 17 1897 &ndash December 28, 1956) is a Norwegian former speed skater and Olympic medalist ^[6] Timing issues on the 500 m were a problem within the sport until electronic clocks arrived in the 1960s; during the 1936 Olympic 500 metre race, it was suggested that Ivar Ballangrud's 500 metre time was almost a second too good. ^[7] Finland won the remaining four gold medals at the 1924 Games, with Clas Thunberg winning 1,500 metres, 5,000 metres, and allround. Arnold Clas Robert Thunberg ( 5 April 1893 &ndash 28 April 1973) was a Finnish speed skater who won five Olympic gold It was the first and only time an allround Olympic gold medal has been awarded in speed skating.

Norwegian and Finnish skaters won all the gold medals in World Championships between the world wars, with Latvians and Austrians visiting the podium in the European Championships. At the time, North American races were usually conducted packstyle, similar to the marathon races in the Netherlands, but the Olympic races were to be held over the four ISU-approved distances. The ISU approved the suggestion that the 1932 Olympic speed skating competitions should be held as packstyle races, and Americans won all four gold medals. At the 1932 Winter Olympics, four Speed skating events were contested Canada won five medals, all silver and bronze, while defending World Champion Clas Thunberg stayed at home, protesting against this form of racing. Arnold Clas Robert Thunberg ( 5 April 1893 &ndash 28 April 1973) was a Finnish speed skater who won five Olympic gold ^[8] At the World Championships held immediately after the Games, without the American champions, Norwegian racers won all four distances and occupied the three top spots in the allround standings.

Norwegians, Swedes, Finns and Japanese skating leaders protested to the USOC, condemning the manner of competition, and expressing the wish that mass start races were never to be held again at the Olympics. However, ISU adopted the short track speed skating branch, with mass start races on shorter tracks, in 1967, arranged international competitions from 1976, and brought them back to the Olympics in 1992.

Women's competitions

In the 1930s, women began to be accepted in ISU speed skating competitions. Although women's races had been held in North America for some time, and competed at the 1932 Winter Olympics in a demonstration event, the ISU did not organise official competitions until 1936. However, Zofia Nehringowa set the first official world record in 1929. Women's speed skating was not very high profile; in Skøytesportens stjerner (Stars of the skating sport), a Norwegian work from 1971, no female skaters are mentioned on the book's nearly 200 pages, though they had by then competed for nearly 30 years. The women's long track speed skating was since dominated by East Germany and later reunified Germany, who have won 15 of 35 Olympic gold medals in women's long track since 1984. The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state German reunification (Deutsche Wiedervereinigung took place twice after 1945 first in 1957 the Saarland was permitted to join the Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Technical developments

Artificial ice entered the long track competitions with the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the competitions in 1956 on Lake Misurina were the last Olympic competitions on natural ice. The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated between February Lake Misurina is the greater natural lake of the Cadore and it is 1754  M above Sea level, fraction of Auronzo di Cadore ( Belluno 1960 also saw the first Winter Olympic competitions for women. Lidia Skoblikova won two gold medals in 1960, and four in 1964. Lidia Pavlovna Skoblikova (Ли́дия Па́вловна Ско́бликова (born 8 March 1939) is the most successful Olympic speed skater

More aerodynamic skating suits were also developed, with Swiss skater Franz Krienbühl (who finished 8th on the Olympic 10,000 m at the age of 46) at the front of development. Franz Krienbühl ( March 24, 1929 &ndash April 16, 2002) was a Swiss speed skater who is mostly known for his inventions ^[9] After a while, national teams took over development of "body suits". Suits and indoor skating, as well as the clap skate, has helped to lower long track world records considerably; from 1971 to 2007, the average speed on the men's 1500 metres has been raised from 45 to 52 km/h (28 to 32 mph). Clap skates (also called clapskates slap skates slapskates from Dutch klapschaats) are a type of Ice skate used in Speed skating. (For the South African airport with IATA code "KMH" see Johan Pienaar Airport. Similar speed increases are shown in the other distances.

Professionalism

After the 1972 season, European long track skaters founded a professional league, International Speedskating League, which included Ard Schenk, three-time Olympic gold medallist in 1972, as well as five Norwegians, four other Dutchmen, three Swedes, and a few other skaters. Adrianus ("Ard" Schenk (born 16 September 1944 in Anna Paulowna, Noord-Holland) is a former speed skater from the Jonny Nilsson, 1963 world champion and Olympic gold medallist, was the driving force behind the league, which folded in 1974 for economic reasons, and ISU also excluded tracks hosting professional races from future international championships. Erling Martin Jonny Nilsson (born 9 February 1943) is a former speed skater from Sweden. ^[10] The ISU later organised its own World Cup circuit with monetary prizes, and full time professional teams developed in the Netherlands during the 1990s, which led them to a dominance on the men's side only challenged by Japanese 500 m racers and a couple of American allrounders.

Racing

All races are held in pairs, for which two lanes on the track are used. Skaters wear bands around their upper arm to identify which lane they started in. The colours are white for inner lane and red for outer lane. At the back straight, the skaters switch lanes, which causes them both to cover the same distance per lap. When both skaters emerge from the corner at the exact same time, the person currently in the inner lane will have to let the outer lane pass in front of him.

Occasionally, quartet starts are used, for the pragmatic and practical reason of allowing more skaters to complete their races inside a given amount of time. This involves having two pairs of skaters in the lanes at the same time, but with the second pair starting when the first have completed approximately half of the first lap. The skaters in the second pair will then wear yellow and blue arm bands instead of the usual white and red.

When skating the Team pursuit, the two teams of three team members start at opposite sides of the oval. Cycling The team pursuit is a Track cycling event similar to the Individual pursuit, except that two teams each of up to four riders compete start In marathon races there is usually a mass-start.

Equipment

There are primarily two types of skates, traditional ice skates and the clap skates. Ice skates are boots with blades attached to the bottom used to propel oneself across a sheet of ice Clap skates (also called clapskates slap skates slapskates from Dutch klapschaats) are a type of Ice skate used in Speed skating. In long track speedskating, only clap skates are used in competition above recreational level. The clap skates were introduced around 1996, and were a revolution in that they are hinged to the front of the boot and detach from the heel, allowing the skater a more natural range of movement. This enables a longer stroke while keeping maximum contact with the ice. By the 1998 Winter Olympics, nearly all skaters used clap skates. The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games were a Winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1998

Both use long and straight blades compared to many other ice skating sports. Ice skating is Traveling on Ice with skates, narrow (and sometimes parabolic) blade-like devices moulded into special Boots A study Blades are about 1 mm thick and typically come in lengths from 13 to 18 inches (33–45 cm). Most competitive athletes use lengths between 15 and 17 inches (38-43 cm), depending on body size and personal preference.

A lot of attention is given to air resistance. In Fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called fluid resistance) is the force that resists the movement of a Solid object through a Fluid (a The rules demand that the suits follow the natural shape of the body, preventing the use of e. g. drop shaped helmets (as seen in cycling) or more inventive "Donald Duck" costumes. However, a lot of time and money is spent developing fabrics, cuts and seams that will reduce drag. Some skaters use low (no thicker than 3 mm) "aerodynamic strips" attached to their suits. These are intended to create turbulent flow in certain areas around the body. In Fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a fluid regime characterized by chaotic Stochastic property changes

You also can wear glasses so the wind doesn't "dry out" your eyes.

Competition format

Allround

One of the oldest skating formats is the allround event. Skaters skate four distances and a ranking is made up based on the times skated on all of these distances. The method of scoring is the same for all combinations. All times are calculated back to 500 m times, so skating the 500 m in 40 seconds gives 40 points, while 1500 m (3×500 m) in 2 minutes (120 seconds, equivalent to 3×40 s) also gives 40 points. Points are calculated to 3 decimal places, and truncation is applied, the numbers are not rounded. In Mathematics, truncation is the term for limiting the number of digits right of the Decimal point, by discarding the least significant ones The skater who has the fewest points wins the competition. This system is called samalog. Samalog (or samalogue in UK spelling sometimes called sammenlagt ( Norwegian: "put together" "total sum" is a scoring system in An allround champion may often not have won a single distance – such as Viktor Kosichkin in the 1962 World Championship - or he may win three distances but lose the overall title. Viktor Ivanovich Kosichkin (Виктор Иванович Косичкин (born 25 February 1938 in Moshky, Russia) is a former speed Originally, three distance victories won you the championship, but the rules were changed after Rolf Falk-Larssen beat Tomas Gustafson at the 1983 World Championship despite having less points. Rolf Falk-Larssen (born 21 February 1960 in Trondheim, Norway) is a former speed skater. Sven Tomas Gustafson (born 28 December 1959 in Katrineholm, Sweden) is a retired speed skater, and one of the most successful

Sprint championships

The sprint championships are two-day events where skaters run the 500-m and 1000-m on both days. The samalog system is again applied to crown the winner. To counter any systematic bias regarding inner versus outer lanes, skaters change start lanes from the first day to the second. Nations with active skaters arrange annual national sprint championships, and the ISU arranges annual World Sprint Speedskating Championships, for men and for ladies, since 1970. The International Skating Union (ISU is the international governing body for competitive Ice skating disciplines including Figure skating, Synchronized The World Sprint Speed Skating Championships are annual Speed skating championships While there are annual European (Allround) Speedskating Championships, no such championships are arranged for the sprinters. The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of Speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe

Single distances

A more basic form of speedskating consists of skating a single event. This is the format used for the World Single Distance Championships, which have been arranged since 1996, and the World Cup. The World Single Distance Championships are a series of Speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union. The Speed Skating World Cup is a series of international Speed skating competitions organised yearly by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1985/1986 The usual distances are the 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m (ladies only), 5000 m and 10000 m (men only), but some other distances are sometimes skated as well, such as 100 m and 1 mile. Women occasionally but rarely are given the possibility to skate the 10,000 m, but outside the top-level championships.

The 500-m is usually skated with two runs, so that every skater has one race starting in the outer lane and one in the inner. This practice started with the first of the World Single Distance Championships in 1996, and with the 1998 Nagano Olympics; at all earlier Olympics 1924–1994, the 500-m was skated only once. The World Single Distance Championships are a series of Speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union. The reason for skating this distance twice is that there is a small but statistically significant average advantage of starting in the inner lane; negotiating the last curve at high speed is typically more difficult in the inner lane than in the outer lane.

In addition to international championships, the International Skating Union has organised the Speedskating World Cup since the 1985–86 season. The International Skating Union (ISU is the international governing body for competitive Ice skating disciplines including Figure skating, Synchronized The Speed Skating World Cup is a series of international Speed skating competitions organised yearly by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1985/1986 The World Cup works by ranking skaters by cumulative score during the season, for each distance separately, at specially designated World Cup meets. More specifically, there is for each season a World Cup competition for the 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, and combined 5,000 m and 10,000 m, for men; and for the 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, and combined 3,000 m and 5,000 m, for the ladies. There have been suggestions of making a grand total World Cup ranking by suitable aggregation of scores across distances, but such a ranking system has not yet been organised. Speed skating is thus the only individual sport with a season-long World Cup not to crown one World Cup winner at the end of each season.

Team pursuit

See also: Team pursuit

The team pursuit is the only team event in top-level long track speed skating and is skated by teams of three skaters. Cycling The team pursuit is a Track cycling event similar to the Individual pursuit, except that two teams each of up to four riders compete start Two teams race at a time, starting at a line in the middle of the straightaway. One team starts on each side of the track. Only the inner lane is used, and the distance is eight laps for men and six for women.

There are several formats for the team pursuit. The Olympic format is unusual in that it is a cup format, with several rounds of exclusion between two teams. In the World Cup and World Championships, one race is skated and the teams are ranked by their finishing time. In the Olympic format, a team that overtakes the other has automatically won the race and the remaining distance isn't skated. In practice, the distance is so short that this rarely happens unless one team has a fall.

The team pursuit is a new event in major international competitions. Similar events have been skated for years on a smaller scale, but was not considered an "official" ISU event until around 2004. It was introduced at the Olympics in 2006.

Marathon

Skaters skate in a large group and they skate large distances. When conducted at an ice rink oval, the distance is usually around 40 km, akin to the traditional marathon in running. An Ice rink is a frozen body of Water where people can Ice skate or play winter sports The marathon is a long-distance foot race with an official distance of 42 When skated outdoor on natural ice, the distances can be as long as 200 km. An example of this is the famous Elfstedentocht (Eleven cities tour) which is irregularly held in the Netherlands. The Elfstedentocht ( English translation "Eleven-cities Tour" is a Speed skating competition and leisure skating tour held irregularly in the The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands An example of a famous marathon outside the Netherlands is the International Big Rideau Lake Speed Skating Marathon in Portland, Ontario, Canada. The International Big Rideau Lake Speed Skating Marathon is an annual Speed skating competition held in Ontario, Canada. Portland is a community located in Eastern Ontario within the township of Rideau Lakes in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page

Notable skaters

See List of long track speed skaters. The following is a list of notable ice speed skaters. The list is sorted by speed skating discipline (long track or short track) gender and competing nationality

References

External links

• IOC - speed skating
• ISU - speed skating
• Outdoor Ovals in the US and Canada
• Skating results from 1887
• German Ice Speed Skating Federation - also has results

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