Pictures from Ice Speedskating

When going on a trip or holiday, we always wonder what the weather would be like. It’s always difficult to imagine a place where you have never been before, with weather conditions so different from the place where you live yourself. This summer, fighting 48 degrees Celsius in Morocco was not easy for me and made me vow never to do that again. I never thought at that moment I would find myself on the other end of the Celsius scale.

A week before my departure to Finland, the temperatures in Seinäjoki, were averaging around-25 to -30 degrees Celsius. Images and reports came to me about multiple layers of clothes and heaps and heaps of snow. How was I going to survive such harsh conditions? Standing at the edge of the ice-rink, for hours and hours with temperatures of -30? I couldn’t imagine and I had some doubt whether this was such a good idea after all.

But there I was, on a plane to Finland! I first spent the whole day in the train to Bremen,where I arrived too late to go sightseeing, and just had enough time for a couple of hours of sleep. The first tram to the airport was packed with early birds like me and before most people would even have had their breakfast, I already was in Finland. Blue skies, bright sunlight and everything covered in snow. I flew to Tampere and took the train to Seinäjoki. The train was a little delayed and while standing on the platform waiting for it, I could feel the cold biting through my jeans, making my legs feel numb but tingly.

Tampere trainstation, waiting for the train in -24 degrees

The train was a pleasant surprise, nice seats, electricity and big windows to look out from and see the landscape pass by at an impeccable speed. Pine trees, covered in snow; houses, covered in snow and plain nothingness, covered in snow. 36 hours after I left my home, I finally arrived in Seinäjoki. I left my luggage at the hotel and walked to the hotel where the organization comity would be based. I was able to pick up my media accreditation and was warmly welcomed by the ladies of OC.

View from the train

My media accreditation

The first two days in Seinäjoki I didn’t do too much. Just have some coffee and meet up with a local friend, who drove me around Seinäjoki. I went to the morning practice at the ice-rink on Thursday and by then, temperatures rose to only -16 degrees. It was bright and sunny and you could feel the excitement of the young competitors. It was difficult to see that excitement as most skaters were covered in facemasks, ski glasses and multiple layers of hats, gloves, coats and jackets.

Seinäjoki townhall and bell tower

After an hour the rink was already empty and I continued my day, drinking coffee and just relaxing. But on Friday it was finally time for the competition! The opening ceremony was scheduled at noon, so I went to the ice-rink a little bit earlier to meet the people at the media office and shoot some images of the rink and surrounding. I was surprised about the turn-up for the event. Young children were giving time of from school before their ski-holiday to witness the event and it was promising to see such warm support from the local community.

Face mask to protect nose and cheeks

After the introduction and official opening, the event started at 12.30 pm with the first races. By then, temperatures were only -9 degrees, but because of snowfall last night, the rink was covered with snow and the wind blew fresh snow on the track. This caused for some harsh conditions and some bad corners by some of the skaters, as they found their skate stuck in a pile of snow.

Opening ceremony

Kazakhstan girl Yekaterina Aidova won the 500m event and with the boys, it was Korean Sung-KyuKim who took the gold in a time of 36,81. With 140 competitors from 21 countries, the 500m especially took a while and by the time the ladies 1.500m started, the day was already half way over.

Pien Keulstra racing in the 1.500m, breaking the trackrecord

But Czech girl Karolina Erbanova managed to set a new track record in the 1.500m and found herself at the top of the ranking for the Allround classification after day 1. It was also nice to have Dutch girl Pien Keulstra on the podium who was the first to break the old track record, set by Ireen Wust during the last World Juniors in Seinäjoki, back in 2005.

1.500m Podium Ladies: 1. Karolina Erbanova (CZE), 2. Pien Keulstra (NED), 3. Hege Bokko (NOR)

By the time the first day for the girls was over, the boys still had to race the 3.000m and it was already dark outside. Competition ended around 8 pm and by that time, I was tired and almost relived the day was over. The Norwegians made a sweep in the 3.000m and the whole podium was colored bright red by Sverre Lunde Pedersen, Kristian Fredriksen and Simen Spieler Nilsen. This would not be the last time they were on the podium, as the build a solid base for the overall classification.

I went back to the hotel for some dinner and work on the pictures. A little bit too late I went to bed, but competition didn’t start until 11 am on Saturday so I had enough time to sleep. When I woke up on Saturday, I was a little bit disappointed to see such grey skies over Seinäjoki. The last couple of days, there was sunshine all over the place, but now, the clouds moved in. But this also implicated, that temperatures were rising. It was only -2 degrees Celsius when I went to the ice rink and it turned out, these were perfect conditions for shooting pictures. The ice was now clean and looked fresh and the light turned out to be very even and I’m very happy with the way my pictures turned out that day.

Tommi Pulli (FIN) racing 500m men

We had another 500m for boys, which was also won by Koreans Sung-Kyu Kim and we continued the allround tournament with the 1.000m for girls. Erbanova showed she was the strongest and managed to grab the gold in this distance as well, giving her a solid 13 second head start for the final distance. The boys skated a 1.500m were Sverre Lunde Pedersen from Norway demonstrated his diversity and took another gold medal. With still 1 distance to go for both boys and girls, it was very clear who would become the next Junior World Champion, but there was still an interesting battle for the silver and bronze.

3.000m Ladies, Dutch Lotte van Beek & Pien Keulstra celebrate their good races

The girls had an exciting finale, were Dutch girls Lotte van Beek and Pien Keulstra managed to step up on the allround podium with an aggressive 3.000m. The distance was won by Korean’s Do-Yeong Park, followed by fellow Korean Bo-Reum Kim and Dutch girl Pien Keulstra. It’s encouraging for the future to see that two Korean girls were on the podium at the 3.000m. The men’s final took place in the dark again, not the best conditions to skate or to take pictures. The Norwegians repeated their performance and took the medals home, writing history while doing so, as they are the first Norwegians to make a full sweep in the allround classification.

Final allround classification: 1. Karolina Erbanova (CZE), 2. Pien Keulstra (NED), 3. Lotte van Beek (NED)

With these distances finished, it was time for the allround price giving ceremony, which was nice to shoot pictures of, as the kids involved were overwhelmed with excitement and pride. Although the circumstances for taking pictures were not perfect, I think I managed well enough to capture these special moments for these young skaters. I congratulate Karolina Erbanova and Sverre Lunde Pedersen with their junior world title!

The Norwegian Sweep: 1. Sverre Lunde Pedersen, 2. Simen Spieler Nilsen, 3. Kristian Reistad Fredriksen

After the race day was over, I still had some work to do, as the deadline for newspapers was approaching. I worked hard on getting the pictures ready in time, and I’m very pleased that Norwegian newspaper “Bergens Tidende” has covered the story of the Junior World Championships and used a few of my pictures.

500m Ladies: Alexandra Ianculescu (CAN) at the starting line

The next day, I was very excited as it was getting a little bit sunnier and it was only -1 when I left the hotel. Perfect day to watch some ice speed skating and make some pictures! The 500m ladies was scheduled and I managed to try some new things and shoot some nice images. Golden girl Karolina Erbanova showed she was on a winning streak and grabbed the overall gold, before Yekaterina Aidova from Kazachstan and Hyun-Yung Kim from Korea. The 1.000m for boys was very exciting with good racing by the young skaters. Korean Sung-Kyu Lee showed he is a sprinting force to reckon with for the future and took the gold. Local Seinäjoki boy, Tommi Pulli was fired on by the home crowd and managed to claim the silver. First medal for the Dutch boys was secured by Maurice Vriend, who took the bronze.

Podium 1.000m Men: 1. Sung-Kyu Lee (KOR), 2. Tommi Pulli (FIN), 3. Maurice Vriend (NED)

After these distances, groups of young skaters took the ice and everywhere, small trains of skaters were cruising through tight corners and relaxing on the straight. The Team Pursuit was about to begin with 11 lady teams and 12 men teams for qualification. First and second time ranking would be racing the final, for gold and silver later that day, third and fourth would be racing for bronze.

Team Korea racing the qualification team pursuit

Some teams were struggling to keep it together and benefit from each other, other teams looked like they have been doing this for years and looked like a solid machine, making things run smooth as clockwork. At the end of qualification, there were 4 teams left with the ladies. Korea and Japan would fight for silver and gold, while Canada and USA would decide who would get the bronze. The Dutch team (third time) was disqualified for crossing the line to the warm-up lane and was deleted from the results.

Team Canada wins bronze with Kali Christ, Kate Hanly and Brianne Tutt

Frank Hermans, Thomas Krol and Maurice Vriend racing the final

The boys from Russia would race against Japan, to see who would get the bronze, while the Norwegians would take on the Dutch team for silver and gold. The Norwegians were clearly the favorites as the team members finished 1, 2 and 3 in the allround classification and showed their strength in the qualification which they won convincingly. However, in the final it would demonstrate that this is not enough and you have to keep it together until the finish line. Halfway during the final race between Norway and Netherlands, the Norwegian team had a 1.5 second lead and was skating closely together when the Dutch team started to fall back and was struggling to keep up the pace. Right at this moment, one of the Norwegians fell and their hopes for gold were gone. The Dutch team was able to easily cruise to the gold and the disappointment in the Norwegian camp was enormous. The contrast between these emotions couldn’t have been bigger. On one side, there was the orange brigade, smiling and relieved they managed to claim a world title after all, on the other side was the disappointment and disbelief of the red squat. It’s no wonder, there are not only happy faces on the podium…

Deception after the race

Gold for the dutch boys, Maurice Vriend, Thomas Krol and Frank Hermans

After the price giving ceremony, the rink soon turned empty, as everybody was heading back to the hotel and get ready for the return journey home. I travelled back on Monday and was glad to be back home, where I fell asleep with a huge grin on my face, because I have had a wonderful trip. I have met so many nice and interesting people. The people of Seinäjoki and the organization comity have been more than nice to me, making me feel very welcome and at home. The competition was very exciting and showed passion for skating at a young age. I would like to invite you to go through the different pages with pictures, as well as the slideshow with all the pictures from the event..

General page

Pictures day 1

Pictures day 2

Pictures day 3

Slideshow with more pictures

All results and classifications

In case any of the skaters, teammembers or family would like to receive any of the pictures, please contact me via naomi@passion-for-skating.com

Naomi Schläger

Have you ever been to Zakopane?? No... and why would you? I have never been to Poland before and wasn't planning to do so either. However, my friends from Ryanair keep sending me these newsletter, in which they tell me, that they now have flights starting from 5 to 8 euros. Every now and then, they pursuade me to take a look at their site and the last time I did this, I was checking the calendar for the speed skating events.

I just noticed the Junior World Cup was moved one week back, compared to the first scedule when it would be at the same time as the World Cup in Berlin. I just noticed this when I got a pop up on my computer, telling me Ryanair had some discount rates for flights. I checked it out and noticed the flight to Krakow would only cost me 5 euro.. o boy o boy.... Five minutes later I had booked the flight and was searching the web for busconnections and cheap hostels to stay in.

After coming back from Berlin last sunday night, I was very tired and the rest of the week very busy with study, sleep, job hunting and working on the Berlin pictures, when on wednesday 11 o'clock I realized I still had to pack for my flight to Krakow the next morning. After 3 hours of sleep, I found myself trying to get warm under the shower at 5 in the morning and I was hoping there wouldn't be any snow as this means chaos on the roads to the airport. Luckily for me, we had no delays at all and soon I was boarding and flying of to Krakow. I was very ill prepared, as I realized I did not have any foreign currency on me and had no idea what to think of Poland.

I guess this left me with nothing but nice surprises! I got out of the plane, walking to a trainstation and within a few moment, caught a train to Krakow centrum where I walked for 10 minutes and found my hostel without any problems! It was a bright and sunny day and trams and people where passing by. After changing and freshing up, I hit the old center of Krakow. I strolled to the Wawel castle and did some sightseeing. I was surprised with how modern this part of Krakow looked and how rich all the people in the streets looked. I was only caught of guard by the fact that dusk hits already at 4 pm and this means the temperature drops a few degrees instantly.

Mariacki Church (St Mary's Church) by night.

I had a nice sleep in my hostel and the next morning, I took it easy as I planned to be in Zakopane at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. When I got to the busstation, the platform was crowded and I was lucky to have bought my ticket in advance as people were being refused on the bus. I settled next to a student going home for the weekend and looked out the window for the two hours of the busride. I expected some snowtopped mountains as we would approach the Tatras mountains, but it was warm and sunny for the time of the year, and I even pulled out my sunglasses when I arrived in Zakopane.

When arriving in Zakopane, it showed how ill prepared I was, as I expected a lovely cosy small mountain village, but instead I found a large bursting city with neon advertisement and large shopping malls. I walked to the town center as my hostel would be there and once again, I was welcome with Polish kindness and was very happy to stay at that place. I dropped my luggage at my room and stormed outside, as the sun was shining and I couldn't wait to go to the icerink.

Main street in Zakopane

I walked around the town, stopping here and there to take some pictures and I was again surprised, this time by the posters for the junior world cup! How nice. They were plastered onto an old wooden fence, but still, they were there. When I came to the sportpark, it was a little bit unclear where the icerink was, but I just decided to go with my gut feeling and walk around the athletic track. I found a huge screen playing videos of some of the world records raced in Salt Lake City and I entered the cafe.

I was greated by a person of the orginazing commitee who made sure I got a cup of hot tea and some cake. I was invited to come to 'the hotel' and get my press accreditation and be present at the draw of that evening. As the rink was empty and nothing was going on there, I decided to go and try to find that hotel. I knew it was close, but I had no idea what the name of the hotel was or how close it would be... When walking, I found some russian trainers, and just decided to follow them.. haha, and they brought me directly to the hotel Imperial, head quaters of this skating event. What an old dump!! I was glad I stayed in my warm, comfortable, luxe hostel! oeps... sorry, no offence but it didn't look to appealing to me. I was given a warm welcome again and got my press card for the event.

The posters in the village for the event.

It took a long time to finish the draw and when I finally got the draw for the next day, I could go back to town and have some food. I took the bus back as it was freezing cold and went into the first restaurant that I found when I got out of the bus. They had all sorts of Polish dishes and it was difficult to choose from the menu. But, as it turned out, Polish food is very rich, because I couldn't even finish my plate with sausage and potatoes! I went to bed straight after dinner and had a good sleep.

When I woke up on saturday morning, I immediatly noticed something was differant. The light coming from the blinds was differant and there was no sounds what so ever... I jumped out of bed and peaked under the blinds and say what I was dreading: SNOW! Lots and lots of snow! Normally, I get really excited when seeing snow, as we do not have this very often in Holland (although last year and this year we had more than the last 10 years all together) But now it was terrible! Snow means problems at the icerink and problems with taking pictures! How am I supposed to use my camera in a blizzard??

The COS icerink in Zakopane

Nevertheless I decided to go to the icerink and when I got there, I soon found out, there wouldn't be any races going on any time soon. The track was still covered with snow and there was no way there would be races within half an hour. When I got inside, I was told the races were delayed untill 12 o'clock, which really was a good thing as I noticed I forgot my batteries! I left them in the charger at the hostel. I ran back to the busstop, jumped out of the bus, ran upstairs to my dorm room, grabbed the batteries, stuffed them in my camera and ran back to the busstop and back to the icerink.

When I got there the second time, it was awefully quiet. At first, there were skaters and coaches walking around, lots of people at the little cafe, but now, at 11.30 nothing was going on. I soon discovered that the races where postponed again, untill 2 pm this time. I didn't really get why, as the ice seemed ready but apparently it wasn't. But, it was all fine with my, as I was setting up my laptop in the cafe, having a nice tea with a sandwich and trying to get some information about the races in Hamar, I didn't mind waiting.

By the time it was almost 2 pm, the place was vibrant again with people. Skaters, coaches and trainers, some anxious waiting mommies and daddies, and when the first skaters were called to the starting line, I guess everybody was releaved the event would be about to begin! I had some troubles, adjusting my camera to the grey and snowy weather, but by the time it was getting dark and they turned on the light at the icerink, I was doing much better.

After every distance, I was able to sprint back inside for some warmth as the snow and the wind made me very cold at the icerink. I felt sorry for the skaters who were out there in a racing suit and trying to do their best, while a blizzard of snow hit their faces. I was just very glad I had my wintercoat and snowboots on, and eventhough, I was still cold! I think the outcome of the races was not very surprising. Yekaterina Aidova from Kazachstan won the 500 meter girls and Russian Kulizhnikov won the boys event. Lotte van Beek showed she has still got it, by winning bronze in the 500 meter and gold in the 1.000 meter event.

The 1.500 meter boys was a long event, with 40 skaters to the starting line, but Sverre Lunde Pedersen won in the end, flanked by the two dutchies Thomas Krol and Maurice Vriend. I remember my first Junior event. Untill then, I had only gone to major international senior events and I knew all the skaters from television. And last year, I went to Groningen and had no idea who was who and I need to check the drawing list all the time to check the names. Now I was even looking forward to see some kids racing and I know if the skater did good or not.

By the time the 3.000 meter girls took place, it was pitch black outside and it seemed like there were less snowflakes in the sky. It didn't stop snowing untill all the races were done, but at least the girls didn't have to skate 3k in a blizzard. Maybe I make too much a deal out of this snow stuff, as I know most countries don't even have an indoor oval and most of the kids don't know any better than skating outside, in rain and storm, but for me these were really bad conditions to be at an skating event. The last outdoor events in Collalbo and Baselga were nothing but sunny and nice weather for a day of competition. Anyways, Pien Keulstra won the 3k and was flanked by 2 Russian ladies on the podium.

I guess everybody was happy the day was over and left the oval, as within a few moments after the flower ceremony, the whole compound was empty. I packed my stuff together and went back to town where I had dinner plans with an Ozzy from the hostel. We had a joyfull evening with good Polish grilled food and lots of wine. Absolutly nackered and with a slight buzz, I fell in a deep sleep.

The next morning, I had some difficulties waking up, but when I realized it might not be snowing, I jumped out of bed and took a peak from under the blinds. I even saw blue sky! Marvellous! I was ready within a few moments and checked three times if I had everything before I went to the icerink again. I didn't want to come back again because I've forgotten something! When I arrived at the icerink, music was bursting from the speakers and I could feel, everybody was excited. There were even some spectators and they cheered for the polish skaters.

The 500 meters where won by the same skaters as yesterday, so when we had the flower ceremony of today and yesterday, almost the same people where on the podium. The first few pictures were made in bright sunlight, but soon, the mountains and some clouds absorbed the sunlight and left the ice greyish and dark. The 1.000 meter boys was won by Maurice Vriend and the 1.500 meter girls gave an all dutch podium, aswell as places 4 and 5. Pien Keulstra beat Lotte van Beek and Letitia de Jong completed the orange podium. It was all giggles and laughter on the highest step of the podium.

The 3.000 meter boys was the final event of the Junior World Cup in Zakopane and had a really close finish. Frank Hermans, raced against Sverre Lunde Pedersen in his pair. Hermans took the lead quit early in the race, but in the final lap, Pedersen was getting awefully close. With a last inner corner, it seemed Pedersen would win from Hermans and win the event, but Hermans managed to stay ahead by 0.01 seconds and won the 3k for boys. Pedersen finished second and dutch boy Maurice Vriend collected another medal by finishing 3rd.

You can find all the results from the races on the site of the Polish Speed Skating Association: click here to go to the page

One the event was over, everybody went their seperate ways and I went back to town, for the last night in Zakopane. I can surely recommend to visit the town, I have heared there are loads of walking tracks, skiing and langlauf routes. It has everything you could wish for in a wintersport area and the city is really alive and good entertainment.

Below you will find some of the best pictures of this weekend. Conditions to shoot pictures were really difficult but I did the best I could.

Verneri Kinnunen from Finland skating through a blizzard

Frank Hermans from the Netherlands

Lotte van Beek, Netherlands, on her way to the fastest time of the day

One of my photos was used on the populair dutch website: schaatsen.nl

Simen Spieler Nilsen from Norway at the start of the 1.500 meter

Maurice Vriend from the Netherlands racing to 3rd place

New day, sun is shining and Tommi Pulli from Finland races the 500 meter

Piotr Michalski representing Poland

Podium 500 meter girls: 1. Yekaterina Aidova, 2. Britt van der Star and 3. Lotte van Beek

Ursula Wlodarczyk racing for Poland in the 1.500 meter event

Yvonne Daldossi from Italy

Letitia de Jong from Netherlands racing to 3rd place

Tatyana Sokirko from Kazachstan

All Dutch podium with 1. Pien Keulstra, 2. Lotte van Beek, 3. Letitia de Jong

Artyom Tsygankov from Belarus skating the 3.000 meter

Pawel Torun from Poland

Thomas Krol from the Netherlands

When I got up this morning, it was snowing again and minus 4 degrees outside. Tomorrow it will be somewhere between -15 and -8, so I am happy to be leaving and going home, although the temperatures are not much higher over there. I took a bus back to Krakow and spent some more time in the city and enjoying Polish cuisine. I did hear some disturbing news from some of the young skaters, stuck at airports or with serious delays, so I do hope, I am able to fly home tomorrow without any difficulties, because so far, this trip has been a dream get-a-way! Everything has been very cheap and comfortable, nice and friendly and exciting and new, I do not wish to close of with a bad experience, but we'll see about that. This blog more or less covers my experiences with Poland and this small speed skating trip- I hope you liked to read this and the pictures. Next event will be on friday, the Eindhoven Trofee, an allround tournament for Men to select for the dutch Allrounds in december.

Naomi Schläger

At the very last moment, I decided to make the journey to the north and to go to the ISU Junior World Cup in Groningen. And mind you, I live in a very small country, but nevertheless, the trip to Groningen took me 260 kilometers and due to some serieus speedy gonzales actions of my red voiture, I arrived after two hours at Sportcenter Kardinge in Groningen.

This was my first Juniors event and I must admit, I did not know many of the skaters. I knew some dutch speedskaters and I knew some names vaguely but as the World Cup in Hamar was not broadcasted live, I thought: it's speedskating, so why not.

I was warned up front about the cold in Kardinge, so with an extra layer of cloths, I entered the icerink. And wow, I was surprised by the nasty wet cold inside. Luckily, the hot tea make me warm again. The icerink was nearly empty and I decided to take my position in the corner. The 500 meter Ladies and Men was not so nice for me. It was a drama to find the right settings on my camera and eventhought, they are Juniors, the boys and girls skated pretty fast!

I was also very surprised to find out, there were icebreaks every 15 minutes. Resulting in 500 meter ladies for 8 pairs (15 minutes) and then an icebreak of 15 minutes. Luckily, the 1.000 meter ladies was a lot nicer and went a lot faster. I managed to take a few more good shots and it was nice to watch the flower ceremony.

The sun came out, giving some interesting shots and some pleasent light at some moments.

After day 1 I went home and worked on the pictures. It was pretty difficult to find out which picture belonged to which skater as most of the names (especially the ones from Russia and Kazakhstan and Belarus) are pretty difficult for me to remember. But I think I managed. In case I did make some mistakes, please let me know so I can correct it.

All in all, it was a fun weekend and a nice experience. The Youth has the future!