After the Sochi Winter Olympics, many found out who Viktor An was, reasoned why he suddenly took Russian citizenship, and were glad that he brought Russia a huge number of gold medals. It remains only to deal with short track - the sport in which he won these very victories.
Short track is one of the disciplines of speed skating, representing the speedy passage of a certain distance on special skates. The name of the discipline is determined by the fact that the competition is held on a short track (short track).
From the history
Competitions in speed skating as such are held in specialized stadiums, which are structures longer than a football field. To make the conditions for ice skating more democratic, at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century a new discipline appeared - short track, the competition in which could be held on an ordinary hockey rink.
The "parents" of this discipline are Americans and Canadians, who in 1915 organized the first international tournament in this sport. The first domestic championships were held in 1905 in Canada and America, and the competition came to Europe in 1914, and they were held in England.
The International Skating Union took the development of short track speed skating under its control in 1967, later a special committee was organized there to deal with the issues of this sport. At the 1988 Calgary Olympics, short track speed skating appeared as an exemplary sport, and since 1992 it has become an integral part of the Winter Olympics.
Rules
Short track runs take place on a track inside a regular hockey rink. The length of the oval ice track is 111.12 m. The turns are determined so that the inner radius is 8 m. In the short track, athletes always move counterclockwise. Individual races for men and women are held at 500, 1000 and 1500 m, the relay distance for women is 3000 m, and for men - 5000 m.
For short track, the rules are quite strict, since a very close fight takes place at a small distance in a small space. During the competition, it is forbidden to interfere with the passage of the distance by an opponent, to cut off the designated distance, to throw a leg forward at the finish line, to cut off faster opponents, and also to push members of his team (except when passing the baton).
There are also rules for those who are overtaken by more than a circle. But in any case, the referee monitors compliance with all the rules, who can impose a penalty, remove from the race or postpone the athlete's race to the final qualification, if, for example, he is knocked down.
Clothes and footwear
Clothing for short track training consists of a special tight-fitting suit made of elastic material, in which inserts are provided to protect traumatic areas, as well as a helmet, gloves and shin and knee shields. The left glove has special stickers on the fingertips so that you can lean on the ice during the turn if necessary. A protective pad is always used on the neck.
There are also special skates for short track skates. The ridge is rigidly connected to the boot itself, and the blade is slightly shifted to the left of the center line of the boot. This was done specifically so that when cornering, you can almost not slow down and go through them, nestling on the ice.
