Speed+Skating

Speed Skating Have you ever heard of speed skating? Well I hadn’t. I have done some research and let me tell you some facts about the traditional way of speed skating. Speed skating is common but exciting winter sport. **
 * Speed skating didn’t start out as a sport It started out as a form  **
 * of transportation from town to town, across frozen lakes and rivers. The Dutch were the earliest pioneers of skating. The Dutch used canals to communicate as far back as the thirteenth century. The first speed skating competitions took place in 1863 in Oslo, Norway. Speed skating has been part of the Olympics since the first game in 1924 in Chamonix. **
 * Speed skating doesn’t require a lot of equipment. The type of equipment used helps the skaters be fast and stay safe. The most important part of the speed skaters equipment is the skates. The outer lane skaters wear a red armband and the inner lane skaters wear a white arm band. Skaters wear protective glasses that also reduces glare, improve visibility, and protect the eyes from wind and ice chips. **
 * Skaters can be disqualified from a race for making two false starts, for crossing the line that divides the lanes or for not changing lanes at the crossing point. They can also be disqualified for interfering with other skaters when they change lanes. In team competition if one skater is disqualified the whole team is disqualified. If a skater falls, they can get up and continue. If they fall before the finish line, their time gets recorded when their skates cross the finish line. Skaters are allowed to re-start a race if they are seriously interfered with. They rest for thirty minutes before re-skating and the best time of the two races is the final score. **


 * In this year’s Winter Olympics, Mark Twitert of the Netherlands was the first Dutch man to win this event since 1972. He beat Shani Davis, the world record holder. The United States had a total of 24 medals in the Winter Olympics. They received 7 gold 7 silver and 10 bronze. **
 * Out of those 24 medals 3 are in speed skating. One gold and one silver, won by Shani Davis and one bronze by Chad Hedrick. **
 * Before I researched speed skating I really did not have any interest in the sport, probably because I didn’t know anything about speed skating. Now that I read about speed skating, I have more interest in the sport. I don’t think I would ever speed skate my self but I did watch it more in the Olympics this year then I ever have. **