Winter Olympics 2010 Guide: Speed skating

Ice-skating / Editor / 08 February 2010 / Leave a comment

Sven Kramer - value bet?

The Americans dominate an event which is all about gliding gracefully around the rink. But could a Dutch competitor provide the value bet?

"With 68 medals (28 gold), speed skating is America’s most successful sport in the history of the Winter Olympics."

What is it?
Only butlers and Liam Gallagher spend as much time with their hands behind their backs as speed skaters. The long, loping side-to-side stride is another iconic image of the winter games. Competitors skate anti-clockwise around a 400m rink. In the individuals, they swap lanes to ensure there is no advantage to the skater on the inside. There are competitions over 500m, 1,000m, 1,500m, 3,000m, 5,000 and a mighty 10,000m. In addition there is a team pursuit consisting of eight teams of five skaters. Only three are allowed on the ice at once and all times are taken when the third team member crosses the line.

History
The first official competition took place in England in 1763 and the first world championship took place in Holland just before the turn of the 20th century. It was an Olympic sport at Chamonix in 1924 where Clas Thunberg of Finland won three golds. Eric Heiden of the United States eclipsed that at Lake Placid in 1980 taking five golds. He also scooped seven world titles too. Women only started competing in the Winter Games in 1960. Lydia Skoblikova won two golds at Squaw Valley that year then added another four in Innsbruck at the following Olympics.

Who to watch
American Shani Davis is the favourite in the 1,000m and 1,500m events. He is the world-record holder in both disciplines. His only real competition should come from his compatriot Chad Hendrick, who pipped Davis to the in 1,500m at the World Cup event in Calgary back in December.

Fact!
With 68 medals (28 gold), speed skating is America's most successful sport in the history of the Winter Olympics. Also, Davis was the first black athlete to win an individual gold at the Games.

Best Bet
Davis will take all the column inches but Sven Kramer of the Netherlands may offer better value. He medalled in the 500m and 10,000m in Torino but he has improved since then.

Tags: Speed Skating betting, Sven Kramer, Vancouver 2010 betting, Winter Olympics betting