How cool it is to run with friends to the skating rink on a frosty day! And there to compete who is faster and who has a steeper turn. And it always seemed to me that skates were also called skates because they race so fast. Well, just like horses!
And indeed, the Russian word "skates" was formed from the word "horse". But not because of speed, but because earlier the front of the skates was decorated with a horse's head.
It turns out that our distant ancestors also loved to ride them. Not far from Odessa, archaeologists have unearthed two pairs of the most ancient skates ever found on the planet. They are over three thousand years old! They are made from walrus tusks and animal bones. The first skates were similar to skis, as they did not have pointed ribs. And people pushed off with the help of sticks, so they moved on skates quickly and confidently.
What skates were not made of! In China, pieces of bamboo were attached to shoes, in Siberia they rode walrus tusks, in Kazakhstan they made skates from horse bones.
Time passed, the shape of the skates and the material from which they were made changed. In the 17th century, skates were made of wood, and upholstered with iron from the bottom and front.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the first steel skates appeared in the north of Europe, but their fastening was weak, they often flew off the feet of ice skaters. A strong fastening was invented by ours. The historical chronicles tell about Tsar Peter I, who amazed the Dutch with his extraordinary decision: he screwed the skates directly to his boots and famously glided to the shipyard where he was doing an internship. Upon his return to Russia, he ordered the production of skates in Tula. With the death of Peter, the passion for skating came to naught, nevertheless, a hundred years later, Pushkin noted, “how fun it is to glide along the mirror of standing, even rivers, shod with iron with sharp feet.” Tsar Peter I, who was fond of skating. He decided that skates and shoes should be a single unit and fastened the skates to the boots.
Muscovites with great diligence learned to skate, about which there are curious memoirs of contemporaries written in the 17th century. “Muscovites diligently learned to skate, and they repeatedly fell and were badly hurt. And since, through negligence, they sometimes rode on thin ice some of them fell up to their necks into the water. Meanwhile, they endured the cold very well and therefore did not hurry to put on a dry dress, but continued to ride for some time in the wet. Then they changed into a dry dress and went to ride again. They did this so zealously that they made progress, and some of them could perfectly run on skates ... "
If at first skates were used only as a means of transportation, then they became a favorite pastime in winter. The first skating club opened in 1604 in the Scottish city of Edinburgh. Even the conditions obligatory for skaters who wanted to become members of the club have been preserved. It was necessary to drive a circle on one leg, jump over three hats placed one on top of the other, and at high speed pick up a coin lying on the ice.
The very first thin-bladed running skates were invented in 1888 by two Norwegian runners. On such skates, the speed of athletes increased and the first world champion in speed skating was the Russian athlete Alexander Panshin.
And what are the skaters doing on the ice just now. Well, their skates, of course, are special! Now every sport has its own skates. These are speed skates, short track skates, hockey skates, figure skates, as well as recreational skates for tourism. And it all started with a strong bone!
At the end of the 17th century, the Russian carpenter Pyotr Mikhailov came to Holland. He tried to be no different from other masters. He led the most ordinary life - he studied shipbuilding, went to buy supplies for lunch, and in the absence of the hostess he cooked food himself. IN free time enjoyed skating on the ice. At that time, skates were tied with straps to boots every time. This boring occupation quickly bothered the carpenter, and he simply nailed the skates tightly to the soles.
Soon curious people began to gather around the carpenter, but by no means because of his invention - few people paid attention to the skates.
The Dutch, who were in Russia on business, "recognized" the Russian Tsar Peter I in the carpenter and told about it. Here is the entry left in his diary by the inquisitive Dutchman Yakov Nomen, a character in A. N. Tolstoy’s novel “Peter the Great”: “The Tsar managed to live incognito for no more than a week; some who were in Muscovy recognized his face. Word of this soon spread throughout our country. On the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, people bet big money and bet whether it was really a great king or just one of his ambassadors.
More than 150 years have passed, and the American Jackson Heine, who is considered the father of modern figure skating, came to St. Petersburg. He came up with a new skate blade and firmly attached it to the boot. But when he began to advertise his invention, he learned with chagrin that it was not at all new and that Peter I should still be considered the real inventor.
Antique Japanese and European skates.
What is the age of the skates? No one, unfortunately, will give an answer to this question. One can only assume that they first appeared where there were many smooth ice, while skis - in those places where a lot of snow fell. One thing is known: already several thousand years ago, our ancestors were fond of skating, made from the ribs or tubular bones of large animals. Usually, the bone was sawn lengthwise, polished and several holes were drilled to tie it to the shoe. This is confirmed by the excavations of archaeologists. The British Museum has skates that have been ridden several thousand years ago. For a long time they were considered the most ancient, and England and the Scandinavian countries were reputed to be the birthplace of skates. But recently, perhaps the most ancient skates on Earth were found in Kazakhstan. They belong to the Bronze Age. These are carefully polished bones of some animal. At the toe and end of the skate there are holes for fastening.
Ice skating rink of the 18th century
Time passed, the shape of the skates, the method of fastening, the material from which they were made changed. In the 17th-18th centuries, skates were made of wood, and upholstered with iron from the bottom and front.
And why, in fact, "skates"? Where does this name come from? "Skates" is a purely Russian word. It was formed from the word "horse" - the front of the skates was often decorated with a horse's head. So the name of the object came out according to its decoration - small horses carrying us forward. By the way, the word "horse" has another meaning. Skate or princeling, horse, prince - upper rib, roof ridge. In Russian buildings, the ridge was covered on top with a thick hollowed-out log for greater strength. It was called “okhlupen”, and its end facing the facade was carved in the form of a horse or a fighting bird.
Today, skates with the light hand of Peter I are tightly attached to shoes. Figured - with the help of screws, and hockey and running - with the help of rivets.
There are many types of skates. For those who are just joining this sport, “snow maidens” are suitable - they are stable. If you like speed, you need light skates with a long thin blade - cross-country. Hockey players use two types of skates: for Russian hockey and ice hockey. The former have slightly shorter blades than the cross-country blades, while the latter are slightly curved. This is no coincidence: during intense, high-speed play, these skates are easier to maneuver on the ice. Skaters have special skates - teeth in front, and the blade is sharpened with a groove.
But no matter how comfortable the skates are, they can “let you down” if the ice turns out to be bad. Masters of ice making on large rinks are called icemakers. Making good ice is both a science and an art. Here is how, for example, they fill treadmill. They do this, as a rule, at night, when the frost is stronger.
The casting machine goes through the first circle, then stops to form an ice crust. Then again on the road, but he is not close. To get a 20-centimeter layer of ice, the car needs to drive in a circle 800 times - 320 kilometers!
For a hockey field, ice is prepared differently: first, the field is covered with snow, and then rolled. And only after that they pour water. Among other things, ice is “faceted” - planed, polished, poured with hot and cold water. It all depends on the skill and experience of icemakers. After all, it is necessary to take into account the state of ice, and air temperature, and the presence of precipitation, and much more.
The work of icemakers was greatly facilitated by the advent of refrigeration technology. The first ice rink artificial ice was built in 1876 by the Chelsea refrigeration plant in the United States. By the end of the century ice arenas acquired Paris, London and other cities of the world.
But there are skates that you can ride without thinking about the state of the ice. Because it is not needed at all. But you need special skates - roller skates. By the way, they are not as young as they seem. They are over 200 years old. The history of their demonstration to the public is both funny and sad. Roller skates were invented by a master of musical instruments. He lived in London. To draw attention to his invention, he somehow drove them to a magnificent masquerade ball, playing the violin, but he could not slow down in time. As a result... the violin is broken, a huge mirror is broken, and the inventor himself is seriously cut.
There are sometimes strange turns in the history of inventions. It would seem that after such a "premier" reputation roller skates forever undermined. But a short plank with wheels, which is attached to the shoes with a strap, began to conquer the world. Since the middle of the last century, halls and paved areas for roller skating have been built in Europe and America. Not far behind Europe and Russia. However, at first, the "roller runners" appear only at the fair arenas and perform in variety revues. But then athletes got on new skates, then ballet dancers. Well, how could the ubiquitous boys lag behind them, especially if they are “in business”?
Roller skates of the 19th century
On roller skates, newspaper boys rushed through the streets of American cities, and letter carriers and couriers quickly mastered the innovation - people often of respectable age. In many countries, employees of airports, weavers when servicing machine tools, workers in large assembly shops, and museum guides began to spend most of their working day on roller skates. If you manage to visit the Louvre, these skates can be offered to you.
Modern roller skates.
Very soon it turned out that roller skating is not only pleasant, but also useful. It promotes the development of coordination, improves the vestibular apparatus. Almost everyone can use rollers, and age has absolutely nothing to do with it. To ride them, maintaining balance, you do not need any special training.
But the rollers are not as harmless as it seems at first glance. For example, in 1978 - the year of the roller boom in America - 93,000 boys and girls ended up in hospitals with broken arms and legs. And this is thanks to the rollers that are so far simple, on which special tools were not used to increase speed. And there are many such resources. Here are just a few of them.
1906 France. In one of the Parisian parks, motorized roller skates were tested. Each skate had its own miniature single-cylinder Gas engine with fuel tank and battery.
1915 USA. Wheeled skates are invented, which move with the help of a small electric motor, and the battery is attached to a wide belt.
1980 Germany. Motorized skates have been improved, their motor has become more miniature, control is carried out using a special drive.
1983 France. A young man rolls on asphalt on roller skates. He has a fan in his hand. The traction force is such that it pulls a person forward.
Relatively recently in America, roller skates have turned into a "board on wheels." Riding on it requires a lot of courage and dexterity. Maybe that's why she so quickly gained popularity among young people around the world? Competitions are already being held in a new sport, on the sidewalks and asphalt areas you can often see guys deftly balancing on rapidly racing boards on wheels - skateboards ...
Do you know?
He reports: according to the testimony of ancient historians, the most ancient skaters were the Cimmerians, who skated on bone skates on the surface of the frozen Dnieper estuary. Bone skates were used several centuries later. So in the XII century, the monk Stephanius, the author of the Chronicle of the Noble City of London, wrote: “When a large swamp, washing the city rampart near Moorfield from the north, freezes, whole groups of young people go there. Some, walking as wide as possible, just glide quickly. Others, more experienced in playing on ice, tie the tibia bones of animals to their feet and, holding sticks with sharp tips in their hands, from time to time push them away from the ice and rush with such speed as a bird in the air or a spear fired from a ballista ... "
Medieval bone skates, Museum of London
via http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Medieval-skates-London.jpg
2.
Pair of skates made of bone, 11th century/ A pair of 11th century ice skates made from horse metacarpal bones.
The link in the image will open the file 2,768 × 1,600 pixels, file size: 1.3 MB
via http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoneSkatesBedfordMuseum.JPG
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Skates made of bone/ Eiríksstaðir. Ice skaters made of bone.
The link in the image will open the file 2,560 × 1,920 pixels, file size: 1.68 MB
via http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eir%C3%ADkssta%C3%B0ir_-_Schlittschuh_auf_Knochen.jpg
In the 13th century in Holland and Iceland, changes took place in the technology of making skates. Animal bones were replaced with metal and wood. Sharpened metal strips began to be inserted into wooden bars. From the beginning of the 18th century, wooden bars were gradually replaced with steel tubes.
4.
Old Dutch skates. via http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oude_schaats_uit_Nederland..JPG
5.
Old skates from Finland / Old skates. Picture taken on the Kylmäpihlaja lighthouse island in front of town Rauma, Finland
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_skates_at_Kylm%C3%A4pihlaja_lighthouse.jpg
6.
Skates, America, mid 19th centuryuze Metropolitan/ 1840-59 Culture: American Medium: leather, wood, metal Dimensions: 113 in. (287 cm). Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/80096269
In the 50s and 60s of the 19th century, the craze for skates came to the United States. Skates from the Met are made according to an old Dutch design, unchanged for hundreds of years.
7.
Skates of the year and century are not clear. via http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heulenaars.jpg
One of the problems was attaching the skate to the shoe. The historical chronicles tell about Peter I, who amazed the Dutch with his extraordinary decision: he screwed his skates directly to his boots and famously glided to the shipyard where he was doing an internship. Upon his return to Russia, he ordered the production of skates in Tula. With the death of Peter, the passion for skating faded away, nevertheless, a hundred years later, Pushkin noted, “how fun it is to slide along the mirror of stagnant smooth rivers, shod with sharp iron on your feet.”
8.
Various skates from the museum of the German city of St. Blasien / Sankt Blasien
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StBlasien_Schlittschuhe.jpg
In the United States, in 1848, a Philadelphia inventor patented durable skates with all-metal soles.
9.
Advertisement from the Boston Almanac, 1864
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1864_skate_BostonAlmanac.png
In 1842 Londoner Henry Kirk filled in the first ice rink. Man-made ones have been added to the natural places of winter skiing.
Skates in painting
10.
Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1450-1516) Tripti The Garden of Earthly Delights, between 1480/90 and 1510.
Right wing, detailWood, oil. 389×220 cmPrado Museum, Madrid
In the winter landscapes of the Little Dutch, people on skates take pride of place. I will limit myself to one artist.
For example, three works by the Dutchman Hendrik Averkamp (1585-1634), master of the winter landscape. IN early childhood his family settled in Kampen (province of Overijssel), where his father ran a pharmacy. Hendrik Averkamp was mute from birth, hence his nickname (Stomme Campen, mute from Kampen). Averkamp specialized in the winter landscape in his work, becoming the most famous painter of this theme in European art. The artist organically combined the landscape with genre scenes, depicted the leisure of citizens. The Pushkin Museum has his winter landscape.
11.
The link in the image will open the file 4,083 × 2,670 pixels, file size: 2.77 MB. vi http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hendrick_Avercamp_-_Skating_Scene_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
Hendrik Averkamp 1620s, oil, 240x380 mm, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.
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The link in the image will open the file 10,718 × 5,438 pixels, file size: 20.18 MB. via http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hendrick_Avercamp_-_A_Scene_on_the_Ice_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
Hendrik Avercamp. Scene on Ice, circa 1625, oil on board, 39.2 x 77 mm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
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via link on image image 4271×4226 px, file size 5.7 Mb, from here http://gallerix.ru/album/National-Gallery-London-3/pic/glrx-444597196
Hendrik Avercamp. Winter scene near the castle.
Sources are inside the text.
Earlier on the winter theme and about the small winter Dutch: Snowball fight in Europe, 14th-17th centuries:
One of the most loved winter entertainment is ice skating. Everyone, young and old, put on boots with iron runners and stand on the ice, where, laughing merrily, they cut circles. Probably sooner or later, everyone in their life wondered how skates appeared? Skates have changed since the creation of the first ones, today skates are called: “ Sports Equipment, which is a collection of special boots with blades attached to them." The history of skates goes back to the distant past, to the origins of the creation of their prototype.
The first bone skates Historians believe that the Cimmerians were the very first skaters: they rode on bone runners that were attached to their legs (second half of the 8th century BC).
Much later, such interesting evidence was recorded as the notes of the monk Stephanius, made already in the 12th century. The monk wrote: “When a large swamp, washing the city rampart from the north near Moorfield, freezes, whole groups of young people go there. Some, walking as wide as possible, just glide quickly. Others, more experienced in playing on ice, tie the tibia bones of animals to their feet and, holding sticks with sharp tips in their hands, from time to time push them away from the ice and rush with such speed as a bird in the air or a spear fired from a ballista ... ".
This was the first literary mention of skates, as well as evidence that bone skates were still in use and, moreover, were used for a long time. The first skates were the prototype of skis, but they did not have sharp edges. Repulsion took place with the help of special sticks. But still, movement on the surface covered with ice became faster and more confident.
Another interesting fact is that devices for moving on ice were carved from the bones of completely different animals, and in China they even moved on ice due to bamboo trunks attached to their legs; in Siberia, for example, they rode on the tusks of walruses, and near Borovoye Lake in Kazakhstan they found skates made from the shank of a horse. In a museum located in London, there is such a skate - a long honed bone with a slot for laces.
wooden skates
Time passed, not only the skates themselves improved, but also the movement on them, the bone from which they were made replaced the tree, and the sticks used as an auxiliary tool were completely abandoned. The first wooden skates appeared around the 13th century, initially their surface was polished, and a century later they began to attach metal strips. At first, skates were made with one skid. But already in the 15th century, devices for riding with two skids appeared. From the 14th century to the 17th century, they were made of wood and attached metal runners to the sole. 
with ropes and straps. Wooden skates were usually decorated with figures - images of a horse's head - and this is how the name "skates" appeared.
Skate Maker So who is the creator of such a wonderful invention that made life easier for people for a long time, and later became a great entertainment and turned into such a spectacular sport as figure skating? Unfortunately, there is no unambiguous answer to this question, perhaps we should pay tribute to the Cimmerians, who were the first to create the prototype of the skates and began to use it for practical purposes, it may be worth referring to sources reporting that the first person who combined the blade and shoes together, was the great emperor Peter the Great. Building ships in the Dutch forest port, he became interested speed skating, thus creating a device closest to what we today call skates and thus giving impetus to the creation of figure skating. There is also an equally interesting version that claims that the creation of such an interesting device belongs to the American Jackson Hayes, and that it was he who tightly connected the shoes with a steel blade.
But we know for sure that the first skates for running on them with a thin steel blade were invented in the 80s of the XIX century by the Norwegians K. Werner and A. Paulsen. The answer to the question about the creator of this very useful invention is still not found, it is quite possible to assume that skates are the end result of the efforts and implementation of the most incredible ideas of various people over many centuries.
Daria Trubitsina
The oldest mention of the term "skate" is found in the Anglo-Dutch Dictionary. In international sports, the word "skates" came precisely from the Russian language. Usually, the front of the runners was decorated with a wooden horse's head. So they called it - "skates".
But of course, skates are far from the first devices for moving on ice. In archaeological excavations and from ancient literature, scientists have discovered that the first such devices were made from animal bones. By the way, skates are one of the most ancient human inventions. When there was ice on the ground, ancient people carved skates from wood or bone and attached them to their boots. The inhabitants of Siberia rode on the ice on the tusks of walruses, and the Chinese on bamboo trunks. The British Museum has in its exposition bone skates that were used for skating almost two thousand years ago. And they were found only in the last century. Only in 1967, on the banks of the Southern Bug River near Odessa, archaeologists dug up the oldest skates ever found. They belonged to the Cimmerians who lived in the Northern Black Sea region 3200 years ago.
ancient skates
The emergence of figure skating
Scientists are digging into the very distant past to find the first facts of figure skating. Most historians believe that the birthplace of figure skating is Holland. After all, it was in this country that the first iron skates for ice were created in the 13th-14th centuries. In the Dutch book Lidwina's Life, you can even see what a skate with an iron blade was like. On the engraving depicting a group of skaters near the city wall, we see the skates of that time.
"St. Lidvina, who fell on the ice "(1498)
Many do not agree with the championship of Holland and believe that it is difficult to name the discoverer, because they started skating at about the same time in different countries. The creation of skates according to a new type made it possible to develop figure skating in general. But at that time it was different from the sport we know today.
Initially, figure skating was the ability to draw various intricate figures and patterns on the ice, and at the same time try to keep a beautiful pose. This is what attracted many people of art. A passionate admirer of skates was, in particular, the great German writer J. W. Goethe. Even paintings have been preserved that captured the poet on ice, sliding in an exquisite pose. In general, there are not so many paintings, prints, drawings and even caricatures devoted to any sport that exists to this day, as skating and figure skating.
Fun on the ice in front of the gates of St. Géry in Antwerp (Halle, 1553)
The first rules for skating were first published in England in 1772. Lieutenant of the English artillery Robert Jones wrote a "Treatise on Skating", which described all the main patterns known at that time. Since all the obligatory figures were described in Great Britain, therefore, it was in this country that the first skating clubs were created and the first rules for competitions in this sport were drawn up.
Ice Skating in New York's Central Park in Winter, in an 1862 painting
Development of figure skating
In 1882, the first international competition in Europe was held in Vienna.
In the development of figure skating as a sport, figure skaters from Austria, representatives of the Norwegian school, as well as Swedish, German, English and American, contributed.
The popularity of figure skating in Europe and in Russia, according to historians, was made possible thanks to a figure skater from America. American Jackson Haynes (in another transcription Heinz; 1840-1875), dancer and skater, combined both of his skills, and received his own style skating: riding to music, dance moves and “tops” on ice Skates, attached to shoes with straps, could not withstand such loads, then Haynes, one of the first, screwed them tightly to his boots. However, this style was not accepted in puritanical America, and in the 60s of the XIX century the artist went on tour to Europe.
Jackson Haynes
When the artist toured European skating rinks, he aroused the admiration of ice skating enthusiasts. Historians call him the founder modern style figure skating.
February 1890 was marked by the 25th anniversary of the St. Petersburg Yusupov ice rink and was organized sports competition. Skaters from Europe and America were invited to this competition. Given the scale and composition of the participants, this could actually be called the first unofficial world championship. For three days, 8 participants competed to determine the best of them, and in all types of skating, the winner was Alexei Pavlovich Lebedev, a talented Russian figure skater.
The success of the completed competition in St. Petersburg accelerated the organization of the first European and world championships, and also largely helped the creation of the International Skating Union (ISU) in 1892
In 1896, for the first time, the International Skating Union announced its intention to hold a world championship. To honor the merits of Russia in this sport, the first official international championship was held in Petersburg. Only 4 participants skated their programs on the ice: Austrian G Hugel, German G Fuchs and 2 Russian figure skaters G Sanders and N. Poduskov. The victory in that competition was won by the German.
Participants of the First World Championship in St. Petersburg, 1896.
At the dawn of the twentieth century, famous and talented skaters tried to invent their own unique and beautiful jumps on ice. Masters such as Salchow, Lutz, Rittberger, Axel Paulsen came up with their original jumping techniques, which to this day bear names derived from their names and surnames.
In the 1960s - after a half-century hiatus - Russia reappeared on the world stage. The first to inscribe their names in the annals of history were Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov. However, Soviet books preferred to remain silent about their merits - in 1979 they became "defectors". Irina Rodnina (with two different partners) became a 10-time world champion and a 3-time Olympic champion.
The end of the 20th century passed under the complete dominance of the USSR and Russia in figure skating. IN pair skating Russia was generally out of competition, having received "gold" in all Olympic Games ah from 1964 to 2006. However, having a huge advantage over the rest in doubles and dance skating and strong men, the USSR never won a single gold medal in women's skating. Kira Ivanova came closest to the coveted title (silver in the World Championships, bronze in the Olympic Games). Already in post-Soviet Russia, the women's world championship was won by Maria Butyrskaya and Irina Slutskaya.
And for men, Alexei Urmanov, Alexei Yagudin and Evgeni Plushenko became Olympic champions, world and European champions.
History of speed skating
Speed skating has a very ancient history. Information about the first races of the Dutch on skates along the frozen canals of the country dates back to the 13th century.
In the middle of the 16th century, skating competitions began to be held in the Scandinavian countries.
As a sport, speed skating developed in the second half of the 19th century. In 1867, the first official competitions skaters in Norway organized by the Christiania Skate Club. This sport became widespread in various European countries; in the 70s of the XIX century, national championships began to be held.
Norwegian runners A. PAULSEN and K. WERNER designed tubular cross-country skates in 1880. The front and back metal platforms were screwed to the sole of the boot with six and four screws, respectively. This was a revolution in speed skating.
A great contribution to the development of the form of skates was made by the Russian runner, an employee of the Nikolaev railway, Alexander Nikitovich Panshin (1863-1904). In 1887, he made elongated skates according to his own model - all-metal, long skates with a narrow blade and a slightly curved toe - the prototype of today's cross-country skates. For many decades, the model of tubular cross-country skates has not undergone fundamental changes.
Alexander Nikitovich Panshin
In 1889, the first (unofficial) world speed skating championship was held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. A.N. became its winner. Panshin.
In 1892, the International Skating Union ISU was formed - ISU He declared the competition, held in 1889 in Amsterdam, professional and held in 1893, in Amsterdam, the first official world championship, which was won by Jaap Eden from the Netherlands.
Dutch speed skater Jaap Eden on the ice. 1890-1900.
Already in those days, the program of such competitions included four distances that became classic in this sport for many years - 500, 1500, 5000 and 10,000 m. However, the conditions for winning the title of world champion then differed from the later rules of the classic all-around. Until 1908, in order to receive the title of world champion, it was necessary to win competitions at least three out of four distances. In connection with such rules in 1894, 1902, 1903, 1906 and 1907, the winners of the world championships were not identified.
Speed skating competitions were held, and are now held, on a closed track, consisting of two straight lines and two turns. The classic length of such a track is 400 m. The skaters participating in the competition run in pairs.
Dutch athletes Lijkle Poepjes and B. van derZee at the start of a speed race in Leeuwarden (Netherlands)
Among the strongest in this sport in the first or second decades of the 20th century, the Norwegian Oscar Mathisen achieved the greatest success. He won world championships five times - in 1908, 1909, 1912, 1913 and 1914. Twice - in 1910 and 1911 - the Russian skater Nikolai Strunnikov became the world champion.
Strunnikov Nikolai Vasiliskovich (1886-1940)
Since 1926, a system has been introduced, according to which the champion and the owners of all subsequent places were determined by the sum of the all-around points awarded to each skater at each of the four distances, depending on the results they showed.
Since 1936, the world speed skating championships have been held not only among men, but also among women. Their championship in the all-around was determined by the sum of points scored by each athlete in competitions at four distances - 500, 1000, 1500 and 3000 m. The first world champion was US speed skater Kitty Klein. Then on women's championships the world was won by the Norwegian Laila Shaw-Nielsen, in 1937 and 1938, and the Finnish athlete Verne Leshe, in 1939 and 1947.
In 1956, Soviet skaters for the first time entered the start of the VII Winter Olympics and won 7 medals. First Soviet champion Maria Isakova became the world champion, she won the world championship three times in a row, won three Olympic awards.
Maria Isakova
In 1957, at the XV World Women's Championship, held in Imatra (Finland) Soviet athletes won 13 prizes out of 15 possible.
In the capital of the 1964 Olympics, Innsbruck, Lydia Skoblikova won all four distances, setting world records in three of them, and in 2010 she is the only 6-time Olympic champion in the history of speed skating.
Lydia Skoblikova
In the mid-1980s, the first fully covered ice skating rinks appeared.
In 1997, a new type of skates began to be massively used - clap skates, which made it possible to increase running speed.
Clap skates
Variants of this type of skate have been known since 1900. In modern competitions, they were periodically used by various athletes since 1984, but without much success, and were perceived with skepticism, until in the 1996/1997 season, the Dutch women's team, speaking in this model, beat everyone as standing. So next year all athletes gradually began to switch to "claps". To date, all athletes in all competitions top level perform only in clap skates. The classic model with a fixed blade is used for setting up running for beginners and sprinters.
History of ice hockey
The history of ice hockey is one of the most contested of all sports. Traditionally, Montreal is considered the birthplace of hockey, although more recent studies point to the championship of Kingston (Ontario) or Windsor (Nova Scotia).
There is evidence that games resembling hockey (more precisely, field hockey) have existed since ancient times. Some believe that this game originated in Persia, where polo once appeared. According to other sources, the ancient Greeks also had a game reminiscent of hockey, which was even included in the program of the Olympic Games. She was called Freininda. In Athens, the bas-reliefs of the famous Themistocles wall, which is over 2400 years old, depict young people playing what is very reminiscent of modern field hockey. A similar game was played in the 16th-17th centuries in England and France. In the 16th century, a game with a ball on ice appeared in Holland - "bandy".
Scene on Ice (Henrik Averkamp, early 17th century)
Then, similar games appeared in Scandinavia, where later in the 19th century they were transformed into bandy on ice. Still, they knew such a game in China, five and a half centuries ago. The ancient Indians were also fond of hockey fights. Evidence of this are the frescoes exhibited at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. They depict athletes playing a small ball with curved sticks. Some sources claim that the birth of ice hockey is associated with the life of the Indians of the far north of America, who competed on ice in the game with sticks.
And if you resort to the help of linguists, you can find out that the word "hockey" is of French origin. "Hoke" - this is the name of the shepherd's staff with a curved handle in French.
But despite this, home modern hockey Canada still counts with the puck.
There are many versions of the origin of hockey in Canada. One of them is that field hockey first appeared in Europe. When in 1763 Great Britain conquered Canada from France, the English arrows brought it to Halifax, whose inhabitants were carried away new game. Since Canadian winters are very harsh and long, the area has always welcomed winter views sports. Attaching cheese cutters to their boots, English and French speaking Canadians played the game on frozen rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. At first they played not with a puck, but with a heavy ball, and the number of teams reached 50 or more players on each side. In Nova Scotia and Virginia, there are old paintings of people playing hockey.
The first formal game was held in 1855 in Kingston, Ontario, by teams drawn from the Royal Canadian Fusiliers of the Imperial Army. And the first official match took place on March 3, 1875 in Montreal at the Victoria skating rink, information about which was recorded in the Montreal newspaper Montreal Gazette. Each team consisted of nine people. They played with a wooden puck, and borrowed protective equipment from baseball. For the first time on the ice put a hockey goal.
1st hockey team McGill University
In the 1870s ice hockey in Canada was a compulsory game for everyone sports holidays. In 1877, some students at Montreal's McGill University invented the first seven hockey rules. In 1879, a rubber puck was proposed for the game. After some time, the game became so popular that in 1883 it was presented at the annual Montreal Winter Carnival. The Amateur Hockey Association was founded in Montreal in 1885.
Hockey at the McGill University rink, 1884
The first official rules for the game of ice hockey were published in 1886, which have been preserved to the maximum to this day. According to them, the number of field players decreased from nine to seven, the goalkeeper, the front and rear defenders, the center and two forwards were on the ice, and the rover acted ahead across the entire width of the field - the strongest hockey player, best of all throwing pucks. The team played the whole match in the same line-up, and by the end of the game the athletes were literally crawling on the ice from fatigue, because it was allowed to replace only the player who was injured (and even then in the last period and only with the consent of the opponents). The Canadian R Smith became the author of the new code of rules. In 1886, the first international meeting was held between Canadian and English teams.
In 1890, Ontario hosted a four-team championship. Soon there were covered skating rinks with natural ice. To prevent it from melting, narrow slots were cut in the walls and roofs for the access of cold air. In 1899, the world's first indoor ice hockey stadium with an artificial ice rink was built in Montreal, designed for an unprecedented number of spectators - 10,000 people. In the same year, the Canadian Amateur hockey league.
Montreal's 1894 Stanley Cup team
The game of hockey became so popular that in 1893, the Governor General of Canada, Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley, bought for 10 guineas a cup that looked like an inverted pyramid of silver rings - to be presented to the country's champion. This is how the legendary trophy, the Stanley Cup, was born. At first, amateurs fought for it, and since 1910 - professionals.
Team Montreal Victoria 1896
In 1900, a net appeared on the gate, made for the first time from fishing net, it allowed to accurately determine whether a goal was scored against the team. After that, disputes about the scored puck that sometimes reached team fights stopped, it became much more convenient for referees and hockey players to follow the goal. Then, a metal net was hung on the gate. It was durable, but after hitting the puck flew back and sometimes injured the goalkeeper or the player who was at the gate. This shortcoming was corrected by a second rope net stretched inside the gate to soften the blow. Today's network combines these two networks. The referee's metal whistle, which stuck to his lips from the cold, was replaced with a bell, and soon with a plastic whistle. At the same time, the puck throw-in was introduced (earlier, the referee used his hands to move the sticks of the opponents to the puck lying on the ice and, having blown a whistle, moved to the side so as not to get hit with the stick).
The first professional hockey team was created in Canada in 1904. In the same year, hockey players switched to a new game system - "six by six". The standard size of the site was established - 56 x 26 m, which has hardly changed since then. Four seasons later, there was a complete division into professionals and amateurs. For the latter, the Allan Cup was established, which has been played since 1908. Its owners subsequently represented Canada at the World Championships.
At the beginning of the 20th century Canadian hockey Europeans are interested. I Congress, held May 15-16, 1908 in Paris, founded International Federation Ice Hockey Group (LIHG), which originally united four countries - France, Great Britain, Switzerland and Belgium. From the birth of the game, until 1903, Europeans played on natural ice The first artificial ice appeared in London, after which the improvement of skating rinks and the construction of new ones began. And soon the UK was able to develop hockey to professional level, but not for long ... The war on hockey, like all other sports, had a great negative impact ...
To increase the entertainment and speed of the game in 1910, the replacement of athletes was allowed. In the same year, the National Hockey Association (NHA) arose, the successor of which was the famous National Hockey League (NHL), which appeared in 1917.
Hockey match, 1922
In 1911, the LIHG formalized the Canadian rules for hockey.
In 1920, the first meeting took place in an official tournament - at the Olympic Games, which were simultaneously considered world championships - between the teams of the Old and New Worlds. Canadians have confirmed their glory as the strongest hockey power in the world. The Canadians also won the Olympic tournaments in 1924 and 1928. In 1936, Great Britain won the Olympic title, taking it away from the Canadians, who had held it for 16 years.
A lot of innovations belong to the hockey players Patrick brothers - Frank and Lester (the latter became a well-known hockey figure). On their initiative, each player was assigned a number, points were awarded not only for goals, but also for assists (the "goal + pass" system), hockey players were allowed to pass the puck forward, and goalkeepers were allowed to take their skates off the ice. The game has since gone on to last three periods of 20 minutes each.
Goalkeepers did not wear masks until 1929, when Clint Benedict, who played for the Canadian club Montreal Maroons, first went on the ice in it, but it was not officially approved immediately. In 1934, the free throw was legalized - shootout. In 1945, multi-colored lights were installed outside the goal to more accurately record goals scored ("red" means a goal, "green" means no goal was scored). In the same year, triple judging was introduced: main judge and two assistants (linesmen). In 1946, the system of judicial gestures for specific violations of the rules was legalized.
In 1952, the USSR was accepted as a member of the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) and from that moment until 1991, the USSR national ice hockey team was the strongest in the world. She took part in 30 world championships, 19 of which she won. Participated in 9 Winter Olympics hockey tournaments, 7 of which won. It is the only team in the world that has never returned from the World Championships and the Olympic Games without a set of awards.
After the collapse Soviet Union, the baton from the USSR team was taken over by the Russian team, which did not have such success as its predecessor. Speaking at 5 Olympic tournaments, the team only once became a silver and bronze medalist, never winning the tournament. Participating in 21 world championships, 4 champion titles were won and 4 more times the team was in the prize-winners. But in last years Russian hockey players revive the glory of Soviet hockey, becoming world champions 3 times in the last 5 years.