Short Track Speed Skating

The roots of ice skating date back over 1,000 years to the frozen canals and waterways of Scandinavia and the Netherlands when men laced animal bones to their footwear and glided across frozen lakes and rivers. By the 1600's, traveling on blades between villages had become a useful and enjoyable means of transportation for the Dutch. In 1889, the Dutch organized the first world championship and by the end of the century, the sport had attracted a mass following in many parts of the world.

Canada has always been a world leader in speed skating, with its first recorded ice skating race in 1854 and the formation of the Amateur Skating Association of Canada in 1887, Canada¹s very first sport association. Three countries -- Norway, Germany and Canada -- contested the 1897 World Speed Skating Championship in Montréal with the world title going to Winnipegger Jack McCulloch.

The sport of short track speed skating, characterized by the mass start, originated in Canada and the United States in 1905, with the first known competition to have taken place in 1909. By the 1920s and 1930s, crowds regularly packed New York's Madison Square Gardens in anticipation of the thrills and spills that characterize the sport. In 1981, the sport's first World Championship was held at Meudon-la-Forêt, France and it received full medal status at the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville.

Despite its relatively short history, short track speed skating has produced many illustrious moments -- many of which have belonged to Canadians. There is a long list of world class Canadian short trackers beginning with Lela Brooks, Sylvie Daigle and Gaetan Boucher and more recently Nathalie Lambert, Marc Gagnon, and François-Louis Tremblay.

Short track races occur on a 111.12 m oval track on a rink measuring 30m x 60m. Because the corners are tight and it can be difficult for skaters to maintain control, the boards must be covered by protective mats, and skaters wear safety gear which includes a hard shell helmet, cut-resistant gloves, knee pads, neck protector and shin guards.

Short track skaters mass start with four to eight skaters on the starting line. Positions are drawn by lot and the competition pits skater against skater. Races are skated counter-clockwise. Overtaking is allowed but the skater who overtakes is responsible for any collision or obstruction that results from the overtaking. Strategies and tactics are very important in a race. Races are often won by the smartest rather than the fastest skater.

Kimberley has had a solid tradition of short track speed skating thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Kimberley Speed Skating Club, founded in the early 1980s, and has had a number of members participate in BC Winter Games over the years. Sixty young athletes (M&F) will excite the spectators at the Maryville Arena, accompanied by 24 coaches and 20 officials.

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