Speed Skating

Skin-tight suit, a low aerodynamic position, pushing hard and looking for that perfect technique over distances ranging from 500 up to 10,000 metres.

Speed skaters are literally living on the edge of their 1.2 mm wide blades as they race around the 400 m oval at speeds of up to 60 km/h.

What once was used for transportation in the middle of the thirteenth century has developed into the fastest human powered, non-mechanically aided sport on earth.

Speed skating is the sport in which man is able to achieve the fastest speed, on a flat surface, without the use of mechanical means. Olympic champions can reach speeds of more than 60 km/h.
Skaters maintain a powerful and aerodynamic crouched position, which allows for long powerful straightaway strides and efficient crossover strides in the corners. In the longer distance races, one or both arms can be placed on the back to increase aerodynamics and to conserve energy.

Competition Format

There are 12 speed skating events at the Olympic Games, 6 for men and 6 for women:

The athletes race in pairs, skating in an anticlockwise direction around the track. They are racing for the best time and are timed to a hundredth of a second. Each pair is allowed one false start: the skater who commits the second false start will be disqualified. The skaters switch lanes at the exchange zone once per lap, so that both skate the same distance. Precedence is given to the skater who is changing from the outer lane.

All individual events take place in a single leg, except for the men's and women's 500 m competition that has two legs. In the shortest speed skating distance, the final result is based on the overall time of the two races, which are both completed on the same day.

Race pairing is based on times achieved during the season: skaters are thus divided into groups. A random draw determines the lanes and starting order within each starting group.

In the Team Pursuit, 2 teams made up of 3 athletes start at the same time from two different sides of the track and each of the team members faces the bends by "leading" or guiding the team in turns. The skaters who are not pulling follow closely behind the leader to take advantage of the air currents and the team completes the race when the third athlete crosses the finishing line. The competition is composed of elimination rounds leading up to the final.

Interference and falls

Athletes can repeat the race if they have been injured due to serious interference, including the fall of another skater. In this case, the athlete is given 30 minutes rest before restarting and the best time of the two races count. If a skater falls during the event they can get up and continue. In case of a skater falling close to the finish, the time is calculated from when the athlete’s skate, excluding the body, crosses the finishing line.

Disqualification

An athlete will be disqualified for the following reasons:

• committing the second false start of the pair
• cutting the lines dividing the lanes
• not changing the lanes at the exchange zone
• interfering during lane changes

Source: www.torino2006.org

Event schedule