So Panther...

[Ferry_vO]

..Think he can still win the title tomorrow..?

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/1.jpg

:d

[Panther_99FS]

Well,
If he's a car racer I can honestly say 2 things..

1) Don't know who he is...

2) Don't know what series he races in...

:redface:

[Ferry_vO]

Not a car racer....

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/2.jpg

:d

[Ferry_vO]

OMG I can't believe he did win! :applause:

Only third after the third race, but with the #2 falling and the #1 failing he did win the world championship with a fabulous last 1,000 meters.

:ernae:

[lefty]

Well, there's a winter sport even more obscure than my beloved curling !

Tell me something, just where do these guys practise ??

Certainly not on any ice rinks around here.

Do the Dutch rent out frozen canals or something ???

[Panther_99FS]

Ah speed skating....

I used to follow it when I was young :)

[Ferry_vO]

I'm surprised to hear you can even see it in the US.. As you can tell from Lefty's comments even the UK doesn't care.. ;)

It is very big here in Holland where it's our national winter sport (Since we don't have any hills to go skiing......). Other countries that participate are Norway, Germany, Russia and some of it's former states, Japan, Korea, Finland, Canada, the USA and a few others.

Shani is one of my few not-Dutch favourites; He just does things his way, and he's won just about everything there is to win. Very few skaters have won both Sprint and allround titles plus olympic medals as well! :applause:

[wombat666]

We have 'Speed Skating' in Oz, we even have a Winter Olympics 'Gold Medal' Winner ....... :friday:

[lefty]

Nothing wrong with speed skating - very skilful stuff. (and EPIC pile-ups!) But nobody has answered my question - how do you start ? All the ice rinks I've ever seen are either full of hockey players, curlers or little girls trying to be Katarina Witt! I would have thought that taking up an entire rink for three or four skaters would become very expensive indeed ?

[Panther_99FS]

lefty,
Here in the USA, speed skating is a very regional sport - much like lacrosse.

If you live in a speed skating region, you'll find it. :)

Note: One of the areas that I played hockey at actually had days/times set up for curling....:wave:

[Ferry_vO]

We have several full length (500 meters) ice ovals around here where skaters can train. I think there's an unwritten rule that the speed skaters usse the outer tracks, and the recreational skaters will use the inside.