The World Competes

Short track speed skating is a fairly exciting sport in the Winter Olympics. It is a fairly new sport; it made its Olympic debut in 1992 in Albertville. It has a few small, but major, differences with its older cousin, speed skating. Some skaters, like Shani Davis, have participated in both regular and short track speed skating.

In speed skating, skaters race around a track against the clock. There are two skaters in the rink at a time, and their paths are generally separate. In short track speed skating, skaters must race against each other. While they’re not supposed to bump or cut off other skaters, contact does happen, and when it does happen, upsets are often made. Australia’s Steven Bradbury won the men’s 1000 meter race in 2002 when he just happened to be the last man standing after a massive collision; in another 2002 race, Apolo Ohno came in second, but ended up with the gold medal anyway, after it was determined that the first-place finisher, Korean skater Kim Dong-Sung, had blocked Ohno from passing him in the final lap (this is known as cross-tracking).

Short track speed skating is an exciting event; you can catch the first event, the men’s 1500m (and several qualification heats), starting on February 13th.