Olympics Speed Skating, Events, News, Athletes, Teams, Pictures

MAIN Sports Olympic Games Olympic Speed Skating

Now the fastest human-powered sport on the planet, speed skating took off quietly enough on the frozen canals of medieval Holland.

13th century races were eventually exported to neighboring European countries, where during the winter months skaters competed to see who could glide over the ice the fastest - and still maintain their upright footing at the finish.

The sport really began to take off in the 19th century, when the first official speed skating competition took place in Oslo in 1863, leading up to a major international competition in Hamburg some 20 years later. As a result, the International Skating Union was founded in 1892 in Holland, the birthplace of speed skating, to establish worlwide regulations governing the sport.

Speed skating has been part of the Winter Games since the first in Chamonix in 1924. Women skaters were only allowed to enter the competition beginning in 1960 at the Squaw Vally Games.

While Olympic Short Track speed skating arguably provides more thrills, traditional speed skating is admired for combining speed and endurance as skaters cover distances ranging from 500 to 10,000 meters while reaching incredible speeds of up to 60 km/h (37 mph).

The sport's most memorable Olympic champion by far is US athlete Eric Heiden who sped away with all five gold medals at Lake Place in 1980.

Speed skating at the Olympic Games consists of ten events: 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m for both woman and men, 3000m for women, 10,000m for men, and Team pursuit for women and men.

U.S. Speed Skaters we watched in 2006:

Shani Davis - Born and raised on Chicago's south side, Davis became the first African-American to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team in 2002, and went on to win the 2004 World Single Distance title in Long Track in the 1500 and the U.S. All-Around Long Track titles in 2003 and 2004.

Chad Hedrick - Formerly an inline rollerskating champ, Hedrick made worldwide headlines in 2004 when he crossed over to ice skating to win the U.S. National Championship in the 10,000 meters and the World Allround Championship. He was also the first non-Dutch skater to win the 5000-meter World Championships, six weeks after his Allround title. He later received the Oscar Mathisen Memorial Trophy, an annual international award honoring the outstanding speedskating performance of the year.

More about Olympic Speed Skating around the Web:

International Olympic Committee - Speed Skating - Overview of the speed skating competitions, list of events, Olympic records, athlete profiles, Flash presentation, picture gallery, related links.

International Skating Union - Speed Skating - World coverage in news and pictures, results and records, rules and regulations, discussion boards.

U.S. Speed Skating - National governing body offering news, pictures and information, schedule and results, details on sponsored programs.

Speed Skating Canada - News, feature stories, pictures, records and results, event calendar, club and membership details.