speed skating

     

Spee 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. 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. Speed skaters attain maximum speeds of 60 km/h (37 mph) during the shorter distances.

Trivia about speed skating

  • Like her brother Eric, Beth Heiden is an Olympic medalist in this sport
  • Though a hot prospect in '80, Beth Heiden was frozen out of gold in this Olympic sport
  • In this sport the short track is an oval, 364 feet in circumference
  • This Olympic sport is said to date from 12th century Holland, where frozen canals were used as courses
  • Jaap Eden of the Netherlands was a champ in this sport 100 years before Dan Jansen
  • In 1980 Eric Heiden set 4 Olympic records & 1 world record in winning 5 gold medals in this sport
  • This sport's Eric Heiden & Bonnie Blair are the USA's top gold medal winners in the Winter Olympics; each has 5

Found pages about speed skating