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Long track

Skaters are 2 on track and skate in counter clockwise on a 400 meters track. Every lap, racers change of corridor to skate the same distance. Skater who’s going in the inside corridor have priority. Women do: 500, 1000, 1500, 3000 and 5000 meters. Men : 500, 1000, 1500, 5000 and 10 000 meters. There is also a sprint competition. Skaters only skate 500 and 1000 meters.

Officials

On the ice, there is the main official, the starter, chronometers and judges. There is also a lap counter, who rings a bell for the last lap. At the end, someone does final results.

Équipement

Skaters wear a “skin”( picture). In long track, skater don’t wear an helmet.

If you watched Olympic games or an other competition, you have certainly seen that the blade were not « glue » on the boot like in short track. The back of the blade doesn’t stay on the back of the boot. It looks stupid, but at the end of a race, the skater is very tired and pushes with the point and loose precious time. It was before Klap’s(sound it does when the blade touch the ice) invention. Now, skater always push the right way, even at the end, when is legs seem to be extremely heavy!!! .

Competition in Quebec

Most of long track competition in Quebec aren’t Olympic style(two person on the start). Instead of doing that, skaters start in group of 5 or 6 like in Short track.

Rules

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