by Jeffrey Ober

Created on: January 11, 2010

The 2010 Winter Olympics will feature eight short track speed skating events. The four men's events are the 500 meter, 1000 meter, 1500 meter, and the 5000 meter relay. The four women's events are the 500 meter, 1000 meter, 1500 meter, and the 3000 meter relay. It was first included as an Olympic medal event in the 1992 winter games.

The short track is an ice track that is about 111 meters long, in an oval shape, and situated inside a hockey rink. The track features very sharp corners which makes the track especially difficult to navigate at high speeds. The 2010 Olympic events will be held at the same location as the 2010 figure skating events, Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum.

These events are unique in skating events in that the time it takes for the competitor to finish does not matter. Instead, those who qualify are put into various heats or four or six and the winners of each heat advance to the next round. When there are just four left, those four compete in the final round with the winner of that round winning the overall competition.

The 500 meter relay is an all-out spring with each competitor simply trying to get around the track four and a half times quicker than anyone else. In the 1000 meter event, the skaters start out slowly and attempt to maneuver for position until the end of the race when all the skaters sprint to the end. The 1500 meter event is especially difficult because all the heats and events are held in a single day. These races are almost a mile long and require great stamina and strategy to remain in the lead at the end.

The relay event differs from the individual event in that eight teams of four skaters (plus a substitute) participate. The teams decide how many laps each of their members will skate and throughout the race the teams cooperate to give team members a push move them into the lead. Few individual skaters lead their team for more than one lap, so the teams work together and any individual may lead their team seven or eight times in one race. However, the final two laps must be covered by the same individual.

In 2010 the short track events are spread out over a number of days. The first events are on February 13, 2010 including various heats and the men's 1500 meter finals. The ladies' 500 meter finals are on February 17. February 20th has more heats and the finals for the men's 1000 meter and the ladies' 1500 meter. On February 24th there are more heats and the ladies' 3000 meter relay finals. The events end on February 26th with numerous quarterfinals, semifinals, and the finals for the medals for the men's 500 meter, the ladies' 1000 meter, and the exciting men's 5000 meter relay.

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