Speed Skating
By Rodney

Lace up your skates, pull up your skin tight hood and head for the start line. Speed skaters use on an oval track that has a circumference of 400 meters (1312 feet.) The track is divided into two lanes so that two skaters race at one time. The skaters switch once during each lap because the outside lane is longer than the inside lane. While figure skating is about being beautiful on the ice, speed skating is about being fast! Speed skaters lean forward to help them go faster. They wear skates with long flat blades and they wear special suits that fit their body tightly. Sometimes they use one arm or both to help them pick up speed. Three of the most famous American speed skaters are Bonnie Blair, Eric Heiden and Dan Jansen. 

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  This page was last edited December 02, 2005.

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