The history of skating goes back over 1000 years, when Scandinavian men laced animal bones to their footwear to slide across frozen bodies of water. Canada’s first recorded skating race happened in 1854 on the St. Lawrence River when two British army officers raced from Montreal to Quebec City. The year 1887 marked the establishment of Canada’s first sports association – the Amateur Skating Association of Canada, which eventually became known as Speed Skating Canada in 2000.
Olympic Speed Skating (known today as Long Track Speed Skating) made its debut in 1924 at the first Olympic Winter Games, held in Chamonix, France. Canada won its first Olympic Speed Skating medals in the 1932 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid.
Since 1994, Canada’s long track speed skating team has enjoyed great achievements on the world level. Kevin Scott broke the world record in the 1000m race in the 1994 Canadian Sprint Championships and also won the gold in the 1000m race at the World Sprint Championships, with teammate Susan Auch winning silver in the 500m race. Neal Marshall was the first Canadian to win the World Cup in the 1500m race in 1994. He then went on to win another world record in the 1500m race and a bronze at the World Single Distance Championships in 1997. Catriona Le May Doan won both gold and silver at the World Sprint Championships in 1996 with Susan Auch winning the bronze. The 1997-1998 Season marked the height of achievements for Canada’s team, who brought home five Olympic medals, 18 World Championship medals, 42 World Cup medals, and four overall world cup titles.
Canada’s team will continue their pursuit of excellence at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in the Long Track Speed Skating medal events at the Richmond Oval.
