Steve Gann
Sandra 12010 Winter Olympics Guide: Speed Skating
February 21st 2010 15:52
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2010 Winter Olympics Guide: Speed Skating
Speed skating has been a part of the Winter Olympics since 1924. There are a total of 12 medals awarded for competition during the games, tying it with cross-country sking for the most medal events. This years' competitions take place between February 13th thru the 27th.
History:
Organized races on ice skates first developed in the 19th century. Norwegian clubs hosted competitions from 1863, with races in the town of Christiania drawing five-digit crowds. In 1884, the Norwegian Axel Paulsen was named Amateur Champion Skater of the World after winning competitions in the United States. Five years later, a sports club in Amsterdam invited competitors to an ice skating event they called a world championship, with participants from Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the host country. The Internationale Eislauf Vereinigung, now known as the International Skating Union, was founded at a meeting of 15 national representatives in Scheveningen in 1892, the first international winter sports federation. The Nederlandse Schaatsrijderbond was founded in 1882 and organised the world championships of 1890 and 1891.
Competitions were held around tracks of varying lengthsthe 1885 match between Axel Paulsen and Remke van der Zee was skated on a track of 6/7 mile (1400 metres)but the 400-metre track was standardised by ISU in 1892, along with the standard distances for world championships, 500 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and 10,000 m. Skaters started in pairs, each to their own lane, and changed lanes for every lap to ensure that each skater completed the same distance. Competitions were exclusively for amateur skaters. Peter Sinnerud was disqualified for professionalism in 1904 and lost his world title.
World records were registered since 1891 and improved rapidly: Jaap Eden lowered the world 5000-metre record by half a minute during the Hamar European Championships in 1894. The record stood for 17 years, and it took 50 years to lower it further by half a minute.
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