ISU

Switzerland is a winter sports superpower, its all-conquering Alpine skiers in particular having a rich history in Olympic Winter Games. The nation has had success in Figure Skating and Speed Skating, but is yet to win a medal in Short Track. How can this be in a land packed with ice rinks? Thibault Metraux explains.

Having swapped the ice for the diamond, the late-blooming baseballer is on the brink of an unusual double. Eddy Alvarez is about to achieve something special. At Tokyo 2020, not only was he the Team USA flag bearer he will also join the rare group of athletes who have competed at summer and winter Olympic Games.

The pandemic meant that there was no such thing as a “normal” week for the world’s number one-ranked male Short Track Speed Skater – but Park Ji Won was trying to remain patient while normality slowly resumed.

A year ago, life seemed good for Kyle Ross-Waddell: the young Short Track Speed Skater had made his debut on the ISU World Cup circuit, and was being mentioned as a potential candidate to make the Great Britain team for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

New Zealand's former Short Track Speed Skater Blake Skjellerup is the special guest on the latest edition of The Ice Skating Podcast, produced to celebrate Pride month.

Shaoang Liu has never found elite sport to be a lonely place. Unlike many of his peers, the 2021 overall ISU World Short Track Speed Skating champion has never felt alone.

Italian Short Track Speed Skating legend Arianna Fontana is targeting her fifth Olympic Winter Games at Beijing 2022.

Katrin Manoilova is one of just two Bulgarian Short Track Speed Skaters to have won any sort of Olympic medal but, when asked to explain the status of the sport in her homeland, she is adamant only one of them really registers.

With the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games getting closer, Dutch Short Track Speed Skater Sjinkie Knegt still seeks daily improvement after coming back from two horrific injuries. “I am happy I came this far, but I still hope to improve and get better in the future,” Knegt said.

They often get super nervous when they watch each other’s races, sometimes even a bit frustrated if things don’t go as planned. But most importantly, siblings Hanne and Stijn Desmet (BEL) enjoy living the Short Track Speed Skating life together. “It’s nice to always have someone around you can talk to and be close with,” they said.

“I felt like a little kid,” Ryan Pivirotto (USA) said after one of his training sessions at the Dordrecht 2021 ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships. “It’s exciting to race again, to see everyone,” he added. But for Pivirotto that was not the only thing. Coming back to the world stage had been an uphill battle the US Short Track Speed Skater, who struggled with depression after not having been selected to compete at the 2018 Olympics.

“It’s the lactate in the legs that I feel,” Akash Aradhya (IND) said when he stepped off the ice just after his training session at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dordrecht (NED). “It’s the hardest ever, but it’s also why I love the sport so much,” he added with a smile.

When Short Track Speed Skater Sofia Prosvirnova (RUS) was asked who helped her most during the past year, the answer followed quickly. It’s her boyfriend and Speed Skater Viktor Thorup (DEN). “He helped me a lot and motivated me through these challenging times,” Prosvirnova said.

“I’ve moved myself out of my comfort zone,” says Liam O’Brien (IRL). The 21-year-old left his home country Australia and moved to South Korea three years ago to pursue his Olympic dream. “It’s been a whole change and a different life now, but I love it.”

A knee injury kept Short Track Speed Skater Julie Letai (USA) side-lined until mid-October 2020, but Letai bounced back to compete in the Ladies’ Relay at the 2021 ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dordrecht, the Netherlands.