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Olympic Speed Skating
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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.
also
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