“In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson. This portrays the sport of speed skating best. Speed skating is a very competitive, crowd-pleasing sport that the world has known for a long time, and there are many aspects to it. There is a fascinating history to speed skating, very famous speed skaters, and various types of speed skating. “In order to allow speed skaters to take long, gliding strides, speed skating blades have very little curve compared to hockey, figure or short track skates. Edges of the blades are sharpened to a 90-degree angle for maximum efficiency during the push.” (Grassie). This type of skate helps the racer to skate faster. There are multiple types of speed skating. To begin, short track is a well known type of speed …show more content…
skating. This is where about four skaters all start together, and skate around a track that is 111.12 meters long multiple times. The second type of speed skating is long track speed skating. During this event, two skaters race each other around an extended track that is about 400 meters long a couple times. The last type of speed skating is marathon speed skating. For this activity, many people start at the same time, and it is like a standard marathon where they race for an extensive distance, but the racers are skating instead of running. Overall, there are various types of speed skating. There are thousands of speed skaters in the world, but one of the more known ones is Apolo Anton Ohno.(Scotia). Apolo Anton Ohno was born on May 22, 1982 in Seattle, Washington. Furthermore, according to “Apolo Anton Ohno” in biography.com, “Apolo Anton Ohno was inspired to take up speedskating after watching the 1994 Winter Olympics with his father Yuki.” Before he started speed skating, he was an experienced swimmer and in line skater. Since then, at the Olympics alone, he has won two gold medals, two silver medals, and four bronze medals. He has also achieved many other titles. Finally, Apolo Anton Ohno is a very popular, and speedy skater that many people enjoy watching. However he hasn’t skated in every competition because this sport started way before he was born. Speed skating has been around for a long time in many countries, and has grown in many ways since.
To begin, the first year that speed skating was in the Olympics were the winter games of 1924. At that point in time, only men were allowed to race, but eventually in 1960 women were also able to participate in this sport. Furthermore, when speed skating was new, it was usually performed on frozen lakes and rivers during the winter time. Racers now skate on man made rinks. Lastly, the Dutch were the first people known to speed skate. In fact, the first ever speed skating competition was held in the Netherlands. Norway, however, held the first official speed skating competition.The history of speed skating is very interesting, and the sport has progressed over time. (“Speed Skating Equipment and History”). All in all, speed skating has been around a long time in many countries, and has advanced to the sport it is today. There are many contrasting types of speed skating, Apolo Anton Ohno is a very famous speed skater, and there is an interesting history of speed skating. This sport will be a popular event for many people to enjoy watching both this winter games, and in the future. Works
Cited “Apolo Anton Ohno.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 2 Apr. 2014, www.biography.com/people/apolo-anton-ohno-226021. “Apolo Ohno.” Team USA, www.teamusa.org/us-speedskating/athletes/Apolo-Ohno. Julia Grassie. “Speed Skating 101: Equipment.” NBC Olympics, www.nbcolympics.com/news/speed-skating-101-equipment. Scotia, Speed Skate Nova. Speed Skate Nova Scotia > About > Speed Skating > Speed Skating Overview, www.speedskatens.ca/Aboutspeedskating/Speedskatingoverview/tabid/1736/Default.aspx. “Speed Skating Equipment and History - Olympic Sport History.” International Olympic Committee, 13 Jan. 2018, www.olympic.org/speed-skating-equipment-and-history.
Sports show how athletic a person is or how well they at doing a certain thing. If you're good at running then you could do track. But some sports may require a lot of skill, such as hockey. Hockey is a sport that you play on the ice with ice skates.You play 82 games plus playoffs, and multiple games per week To play hockey you need to know the basics, know the rules, and how difficult it can be.
After being mesmerized by figure skating at the age of eight, I became a member of the Markham Skating Club. As a competitive figure skater, I must perform various jumps and spins in a choreographed program. I have participated in numerous competitions in Central Ontario and have received multiple medals for my achievements. Yet, my achievement as a figure skater stem from the adversity that I faced throughout my skating journey. This sport has imposed challenges to both my mental and physical strength that have ultimately constructed the qualities of dedication and humility within myself.
Ice hockey is a sport that is played and loved all around the world. The hockey culture is like no other. I have firsthand experience with this culture and it’s different from many things. Hockey gets the reputation as a brutal sport with a bunch of goons trying to kill each other, but most people don’t get to see on the other side. Hockey brings people together whether you are a different race, have different beliefs, or a different gender it’s like one big happy family. Ice hockey wasn’t invented or it didn’t have a specific year it began. It all started around the 1800’s in Windsor, where three college students from King’s College, adapted their knowledge of the game field hockey to the ice, where a new winter sport was born. The boys called the game Ice Hurley which later got called to what we know today as Ice Hockey. As the years went by, the game was being played by soldiers across Canada, where it was carried o...
Hockey is a very quick game. Probably the fastest game out there. The speed really helps with entertainment. Watching the players go back and forth, scoring chances everywhere. The watchers blood pumping quick and hardly any stoppages in the game. It is they only sport that actually allows fighting to occur. This entertains and gives pride to the fans when their teams player wins. As said before, any quality of other sports can be found in Hockey, In this case it was Boxing.
As a 29-year-old medical school applicant for which I have spent 23 of them in the world of competitive figure skating. For 19 years I was a competitive figure skater, competing at both the local and national level. Figure skating was my way of life, it guided every decision I made, whether I could go hang out with friends, go on family vacations, or what types of activities I could do so that I would not become injured, hampering my skating career. In the middle of my season in 2009 such injury occurred, I was diagnosed with a bulging disc partially caused by a grade one spondylolisthesis between my lumbar and sacral vertebrae. I was told that this was the end of my skating career, I would never be able to compete on that sheet of ice that
Every person has something inside them that defines them as an individual. This uniqueness can take many forms and could be visible to the outside world or quietly hidden, deep inside. Passion for something specific is often the guiding factor in developing one’s uniqueness and often in ways that were not foreseen. My love of ice hockey has changed my life in ways that I could not have imagined and has shaped my personal growth. My ability to stop a hockey puck defined me; or so I thought!
If anyone has ever heard about or watched skiing it is probably alpine skiing. Alpine skiing is the most traditional and popular type of skiing. Some of the necessary pieces of equipment needed for skiing are, helmet, gloves, ski pants and jacket, goggles, ski poles, ski boots and bindings, and last but not least skis. There are ten alpine skiing events in the olympics they vary from Downhill and Slalom, to Moguls and Slopestyle. Alpine skiing has been around since about 600 BC in modern day China. Earlier skiers used one big pole or spear not two like modern day skiers. Until the mid 19th century skiing was only used for transportation, but since then it is mainly used as a recreational sport.
First of all, Ekaterina Gordeeva should receive this award because of her outstanding achievements. “In the 31 competitions whose results are known at the senior and professional levels, they finished first 24 times, and never lower than second from the time they won their first senior world title.” (Rabinovitz). At the World Championships, Grinkov and Gordeeva received gold medals at Geneva in 1986, Cincinnati in 1987, Paris in 1989, and Halifax in 1990. At the Olympic Games, Grinkov and Gordeeva received a gold medal for pairs skating at Calgary in 1988. During the European Championships, Grinkov and Gordeeva won gold medals at Prague in 1988, Leningrad in 1990, and Copenhagen in 1994. At the International level, Grinkov and Gordeeva competed at the Olympics from 1987-1988, receiving first place, and from 1993-1994, also receiving fi...
Skates used to be more like skis. Players glided on the ice rather than actually skated. Artifacts also show the use of animal bones as skate blades as well. Currently, steal blades are used. There is a small arc groove on the blade that provides the friction needed to counteract the slipperiness of the ice (Haché 37). The boot of the skate is hard enough to protect the foot from puck impact but also flexible enough “to allow the calf muscle to push forward and to ease knee bending when the player crouches” (Haché 35).
Like any other sport, ice-skating is obliged to creative people who bring something new to it. These people are known to everyone as the inventors of particular jumps, splits, spins. They are given credit for their work and, sometimes, the skating moves they invented carry their names. For instance, the Lutz jump was invented by Alois Lutz before World War II; the Walley jump was attributed to Bruce Mapes who performed with the Ice Follies in the 1930s. With Mabel Fairbanks that was never the case. The spins she invented never have been officially admitted to be exclusively her creation.
Fencing is a method of personal expression and release. It is ultimatly a way of life for some. Nevertheless, this noble lifestyle is dying out. There are those who would convince others that classical fencing is a way of the past. In its place they would promote a sport that uses the same equipment and yet, is so different, that one cannot think of it in the same light. The controversy between these two poses the question "is Olympic fencing better than classical?"; A question that will require some research.
Every sport in today’s modern world seems to think it is the fastest paced sport around. From football, to baseball, to soccer, to lacrosse, all of these sports seem to have the fastest paced sport. Another sport that is played today that seems to be very low key to being the fastest paced sport is ice hockey. The real question here is since speed is a major part of ice hockey, is it more so than any other sport played by professional athletes? Accordingly, one reason ice hockey has such a fast pace is because, unlike football, baseball, or lacrosse, it is played on a sheet of ice instead of a grass or artificial field such as AstroTurf.
The equestrian sport in the Olympics first debuted in 1900, in Paris, France. Many people do not believe that horseback riding is a sport, but according to the Olympics, the horse is considered as
Freestyle is full of wild tricks, jumping and speed. The rider can be seen high in the air doing aerials, grinding berms, grabbing the board, jumping lumps, or riding backwards. Freestyle mimics skateboarding. Freestylers use natural obstacles to do their tricks. Riders find fallen trees, old buildings, bumps, dips and jumps where they can catch air and get their adrenaline going. They will also go to areas that have man made obstacle courses that resemble a skate park. In essence, it is a skatepark on the snow. These obstacles include ramps, jumps, and grinding bars. Freestylers also play in the halfpipe. It is a tightly packed area where dangerous tricks are performed. The rider must have great skill as they are moving extremely fast and catching major
Skiing, as a sport has existed since the early 1800’s, although depictions of skis have been discovered throughout Europe dating back thousands of years. Skiing as a recreational activity became popularized in the mid 1800’s however it did not arrive in the United States until around 1841. Once the concept of skiing reached the states, it took off. The United States continued to power advances in skiing for decades, with the introduction of rope tows, then actual ski lifts. By the 1950’s several ski areas had begun snowmaking and trail grooming, two American born inovatio9ns which ensured better skiing conditions and launched the US far ahead of Europe in ski technology (Fry 38). Skiing continued to evolve throughout the 1900’s, constantly changing and adapting to improve athlete performance and recreational experiences. Skis and equipment changed quickly and frequently, ski bindings, which...