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Skating
Updated: 2006-02-10 14:21 Speed skating
ABOUT
It is believed that skates were developed about 3000 years ago in
Scandinavia. In the Netherlands, skating served as a way to travel over the
canals in winter and the Dutch are still among the world's most avid skaters.
Although the Netherlands is the birthplace of speed skating, the first known
skating competition is thought to have been held in 1676. Competitions sprung up
across the northern part of Europe shortly after, but the first official speed
skating events were not held until 1863 in Oslo, Norway. In 1889, the
Netherlands hosted the first World Championships, bringing together the Dutch,
Russians, Americans and English.
Speed Skating has been a part of the Olympic programme since the 1st Olympic
Winter Games in Chamonix Mont Blanc in 1924. Originally only men participated,
but women's events were included in the 1960 Squaw Valley Games.
COMPETITION
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.
All events are skated once, with the exception of the men's and women's 500
metres, which are skated twice.
The final result is based on the total time of the two races.
In each
event, skaters race in pairs against the clock on a standard 400m oval. Athletes
are timed to a hundredth of a second as they skate counter-clockwise around the
oval.
LIST OF EVENTS
10000m Men
1000m Men
1000m Women
1500m
Men
1500m Women
3000m Women
5000m Men
5000m
Women
500m Men
500m Women
Team pursuit
Men
Team pursuit Women
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