Speed skating became a popular way of moving over the frozen rivers, canals, lakes and fiords of Scandinavia– a peninsula in the Northern Europe  more than thousand years ago. Local people of Norway, Sweden, Netherland, and Denmark used to tie animal bones to their shoes for easier travel during the long winter months. Much later, this tool of necessity turned into a fun activity .

You can now see why these countries have such a great representation in modern days athletic world, particularly in the long track —  the art of skating is in their blood!

The big boost into the popularity of the skating as a sport was the designing of a skate with an iron blade by a Scotsman in 1592. About 50 years later the first speed skating club of Edinburgh was found and in 1763– the first official speed skating race was held on the marshlands in Eastern England.

It wasn’t much later when the North America discovered the joy of the sport that led to the invention of all– steal blade. That was a revolutionary move that made the skates lighter, the blade– sharper, and the speed– faster..

But the story of technological improvements in the boots and blades throughout the years just come to show the great interest this sport inflicts in people of all ages. As a matter of fact, this is a sport one can practice all his life with the same childish enthusiasm that comes  as soon as the cold air brushes off your face and the feel of freedom empowers your body!

In 1889, the Dutch organized the first world championship with skaters covering four distances — 500m, 1 500m, 5 000m and 10 000m. An international body, the International Skating Union (ISU), was formed in the Netherlands in 1892. By the end of the century, the sport had attracted a large following in many parts of the world.

As a recreational activity, skating did not become popular until the late 17th century when British army officers took up skating as a means of passing the Canadian winters.

Canada's first recorded ice skating race took place on the St. Lawrence River in 1854 when three British army officers raced from Montreal to Quebec City. Speed skating races became a regular feature of winter life and, by 1887, the Amateur Skating Association of Canada, the young country's first sports association, was formed. (The name was changed to the Canadian Amateur Speed Skating Association in 1960, and to Speed Skating Canada in 1999.) In 1887, the first official championships were staged by the Amateur Skating Association of Canada which, in 1894, became the first non-European body to join the ISU.

Three countries — Norway, Germany and Canada — contested the 1897 World Speed Skating Championship in Montreal with the world title going to Winnipegger Jack  Culloch.

 

 

Jaap Eden-the first official World Champion