Thialf is an ice arena in

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Thialf consists of the Thialf-hal (a 12,500-capacity speed skating venue) and the Elfstedenhal (a 2,500-capacity ice hockey venue). Thialf is used for

long track speed skating 　 Long-track speed skating, usually simply referred to as speed skating, is the Olympic discipline of speed skating where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as ice skating marathon, ...

short track speed skating Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice skating, ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the s ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

ice speedway Ice speedway is a developed form of motorcycle speedway racing, featuring racing on frozen surfaces. The sport uses bikes enhanced for the terrain. Participants can compete at international level. Outline The bikes race counterclockwise arou ...

, and non-sporting events. The outdoor rink was opened in 1967, and the indoor stadium was opened in 1986. Several world records have been set in the indoor stadium. Annually, Thialf hosts two

Speed Skating World Cup The ISU Speed Skating World Cup is a series of international speed skating competitions, organised annually by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1985–86. Every year during the winter season, a number of competitions on different ...

events.

Jan de Jong Jan de Jong (1942 – c. 28 April 2009) was the ice master of the Thialf skating stadium in Heerenveen, Netherlands. De Jong was responsible for the ice in the pre-eminent Dutch skating rink from 1967 when it opened as an outdoor 400-metre oval (t ...

was the ice rink master at Thialf for many years.

History

Thialf ice stadium (Heerenveen, NED) 2019

Thialf is named after Thialfi, a character in

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

, who was

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

's servant and had to race a giant. Construction on the artificial outdoor ice rink was started in 1966, and it was opened on 14 October 1967 by

Princess Christina of the Netherlands Princess Christina of the Netherlands (Maria Christina; 18 February 1947 – 16 August 2019) was the youngest of four daughters of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Early life Princess Christina, who wa ...

. It was the third 400m artificial ice rink in the Netherlands, after the

Jaap Eden baan The Jaap Edenbaan (translated: Jaap Eden track) is an ice rink located in the Watergraafsmeer, a neighborhood of eastern Amsterdam. The rink is named after the famous Dutch ice skater Jaap Eden. It contains a 400-meter lane and Jaap Edenhal. The ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and the IJsselstadion in

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...

. Several national and international tournaments have been held in Thialf, but only one world record has been set on the outdoor rink, by

Andrea Schöne Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

on the

5000 m The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stand ...

in 1983. The roofed stadium, which seats 12,500 people, opened on 17 November 1986, about a year after

Sportforum Hohenschönhausen Sportforum Hohenschönhausen is a multi-purpose sports complex in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. The Sportforum was named Dynamo-Sportforum during the East German era. Sportforum Hohenschönhausen co ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, which was the first 400m indoor speed skating oval in the world. Thanks to the indoor conditions, allowing climate control, almost all world speed skating records were broken at Thialf in the first season. Since 1988 it has been overtaken as the "fastest ice in the world" by the high-altitude indoor rinks in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, which have the additional benefit of low air pressure. Every year there are main skating events like the Dutch, European and World championships, and one or two

events in Thialf. The 2500-seat ice hockey arena adjacent to the speed skating oval is the home arena of the

Heerenveen Flyers The UNIS Flyers are an ice hockey club located in Heerenveen, Netherlands. The team competes in the BeNe League and also takes part in the Dutch Cup. Home games are played in the ice hockey arena which forms part of the Thialf complex. Histor ...

, one of the Netherlands' most successful ice hockey clubs. It is also the main arena used in the Netherlands for international ice hockey tournaments, hosting the

IIHF World U18 Championships The IIHF U18 World Championship is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation for national under-18 ice hockey teams from around the world. The tournament is usually played in April and is organized according to a sy ...

(Division II, Group A) in late March 2012. The stadium was renovated in 2016.

Long track speed skating

Events

; Dutch championships : * Dutch allround 1968: only for women. : * Dutch sprint: 1969, 1973, 1979, 1982: only for men. ; European championships ; World championships ; World Cup

Track records

These are the current track records in Thialf.

World records

The following

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

were set in Thialf.

Other events

The arena has hosted concerts by many famous artists, including

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

André Rieu André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (; is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra. Rieu and his orchestra have turned classical and waltz music into a worldwide concert touring act. He r ...

, TOTO,

Trance Energy Energy (formerly known as Trance Energy) was a Dutch trance event featuring trance music DJs from around the world. It was organized by ID&T and was held since 1999 in various venues in the Netherlands. History The event was founded in 1999. T ...

and

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

, among others. Also, the national

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competition was held in Thialf several times.

References

External links

* {{official website
Track records
Indoor arenas in the Netherlands Indoor ice hockey venues in the Netherlands Speed skating venues in the Netherlands Indoor speed skating venues Sports venues completed in 1967 Sports venues in Heerenveen 1967 establishments in the Netherlands