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ing the way with four medals. We had many goals for the event and believe that they were all met with flying colors. The ISU and US Speedskating were all very pleased with the overall venue and event execution. JTV productions out of Salt Lake City, Utah handled TV production and satellite feeds to over 7.5 million viewers worldwide. This type of event and execution would not be possible without the efforts and dedication from our amazing staff, US Speedskating, and volunteers. It was evi- dent that the Milwaukee community loved the event and even cheered regularly for foreign athletes. Ice operations Ice preparation for televised long track speedskating can be quite labor intensive especially with the size of the ice surface. During competition, the ice surface is kept between 7/8" to 1" thickness. Heat trans- fer is greatly improved by carrying ice just under 1". Long track blades generally glide on the surface with very little ice penetration making thinner ice safe for SPEEDSKATING 101 101 LONG TRACK Long track speedskating is done on a 400m Olympic Oval. There are just 2 Indoor Olympic Ovals and 2 Refrigerated Outdoor Olympic Ovals in the United States. (See map on page 50) Long track speedskaters traditionally use a clap-blade skate. The blade detaches from the heel to allow for longer blade contact with each push. A spring mechanism near the ball of the foot returns the blade with a clapping sound. This allows long track speedskaters to achieve speeds exceeding 60km/h or just under 40mph. SHORT TRACK Short track is raced on a 111m track, generally on an Olympic sized sheet 200' x 100'. A 111m track can be used on a 200' x 85' for practice, but competitions can't be held because of narrowed straightaway width. INLINE The final discipline of speedskating is inline. While inline is done off the ice, indoors or outdoors, it is most similar to short track speedskating. There are three disciplines of speedskating: Long track, short track, and inline speedskating. USICERINKS.COM MARCH.APRIL.2025 / 45