For the first time in years, world-class speed skating returned to Lake Placid. The village hosted the 2022 FISU World University Championship Speed Skating event last week.
The races were held on the same outdoor track where Eric Heiden won five Olympic gold medals at the 1980 Winter Games.
At the women's 1500 meter race, the speedskaters competed two at a time. Every few minutes, an official raised a flag, signaling the women to the start. They then crouched down and pressed their skates into the ice, and pushed off.
Two by two, the women sprinted down the first stretch and then would ease into longer strides. A few dozen people watched from the stands, including Wendy Walters.
“It’s really cool to see skaters competing on this outdoor oval with the mountains in the background," said Walters, "feeling the weather itself, sitting here bundled up with heat warmers in my gloves and multilayers on.”
It was a cold day, about 10 degrees and windy. Walters is no stranger to winter in Upstate— she’s from Rochester, though now lives in Indianapolis. She's visiting Lake Placid and said it’s great to see a small village put on such a big event.
“Having worked in intercollegiate athletics, I can see how events can leave a footprint in the community and I think there’s that opportunity here, as well, to have that footprint here," said Walters, "but also to expose these athletes to the experience of Lake Placid, as well.”
It's not just athletes, but their coaches and families, too, who are visiting the village. There are nine countries represented at these events— the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United States.
The speedskaters are pushing themselves to the limit. In a sprint down one of the straightaways at a 1500 meter race, one woman’s skate caught the ice she went down. A coach groaned from the sidelines.
This speedskating event is a preview of the 2023 World University Games, which is expected to bring more than 1,500 athletes to Lake Placid next winter.
Allison Johnson was watching from the stands with her wife, Jill, and their two daughters. The Johnsons are up visiting from Atlanta, GA.
“I’ve always wanted to visit Lake Placid," said Allison. "It’s been on my bucket list, so we decided to make a trip.”
The Johnsons didn’t know about this speedskating event until they got to Lake Placid. They had watched speedskating at the recent Olympics, but they've never been to an event in person.
Elsie Johnson, who’s 14, said this is the second time she’s seen snow and the first time she’s seen speedskating. "I’m just really excited to be here."
"I’m really excited to see these athletes," said Jill Johnson. “We see it on TV, but we don’t get to witness it in person.”
The Johnson’s younger daughter, Winn, said it was cool to see female speedskaters compete. From where they were standing, they could see the athletes speed around the corners and sprint across the finish line.
“I just really like watching women’s sports a lot," said Winn. "I think it’s really cool to show that they can do a lot of really cool things on the ice.”