Long-track speed skating

Long-track speed skating is a racing sport held on a 400-meter oval, usually with two skaters racing in separate lanes against the clock.

Speed skating: A family of ice-racing sports in which athletes skate around a course as quickly as possible. Long track is the oval-racing branch of this broader ice sport.
Olympic speed skating: The speed-skating events contested at the Olympic Winter Games. The Winter Olympics provide the sport’s most prominent international championship stage.
Short-track speed skating: A form of speed skating contested on a 111.12-meter oval, with several skaters racing together. Its compact rink and crowded pack racing contrast with long track’s large oval and usual paired starts.
International Skating Union: The international governing body for figure skating, speed skating, and synchronized skating. It sets the rules and organizes major international long-track competitions.
History of speed skating: The development of competitive ice skating from local races into organized international sport. Long track emerged as speed skating’s organized oval-racing form.
Pair skating: A race format in which two competitors start together and race in separate lanes. Most long-track races use paired starts, with each skater timed independently.
Speed skating at the Winter Olympics: The Olympic program of long-track and short-track speed-skating competitions. Olympic long-track events make the sport’s distances and team formats especially visible.
Inline speed skating: A racing sport in which athletes compete on inline skates, usually on road or track courses. It shares speed-skating technique but replaces ice blades with wheeled skates.
Eric Heiden: An American speed skater who won all five men’s events at the 1980 Winter Olympics. His sweep remains one of the sport’s most exceptional Olympic performances.
Dutch speed skating: The skating tradition and competitive culture that developed in the Netherlands, a leading speed-skating nation. Dutch skating culture helped shape the sport’s early popularity and enduring institutions.

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Bonnie BlairNarrower topic: Blair competed in long-track events rather than short-track pack races.