Utah Olympic Oval
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The Utah Olympic Oval is an indoor
speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...
oval located southwest of
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 ...
, in
Kearns, Utah Kearns ( ) is a metro township in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. Named after Utah's U.S. Senator Thomas Kearns, it had a population of 36,723 at the 2020 Census. This was a 2.8 percent increase over the 2010 figure of 35,731. Kearns is ho ...
. The Oval was built for the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
and it hosted the long track
speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...
events for the 2002 games. Inside the facility the 400 meter skating track surrounds two international sized ice sheets, and is itself surrounded by a 442 meter
running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...
. Due to its high altitude, , and the associated low air resistance, ten Olympic records and nine world records were set at the Oval during the 2002 games, the largest number of world records ever set at one event.


History

Along with
Soldier Hollow Soldier Hollow is a cross-country ski venue located at the mouth of a hollow of the same name about southeast of Salt Lake City in Wasatch Mountain State Park in northwestern Wasatch County, Utah, United States. The venue was created for the 2 ...
and the
Utah Olympic Park The Utah Olympic Park is a winter sports park built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and is located in Summit County ( east of Salt Lake City) northwest of Park City, Utah, United States. During the 2002 games the park hosted the bobsleigh, skelet ...
, the Utah Olympic Oval was built specifically for the 2002 Winter Olympics. On October 5, 1992, the Utah Sports Authority chose the Oquirrh Park Fitness Center in Kearns as the site for the 2002 Olympic Oval, beating out other locations in
West Valley City West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns in ...
, Sandy and
downtown Salt Lake City Downtown (also called City Center) is the oldest district in Salt Lake City, Utah. The grid from which the entire city is laid out originates at Temple Square, the location of the Salt Lake Temple. Location Downtown Salt Lake City is usually def ...
. Funds from the 1989 Olympic referendum would be used to construct the oval, and would be repaid with profits from the games. The plans called for using $3.7 million of tax payer money to construct the oval, which would be an outdoor facility. If Salt Lake City won its 1995 bid for the 2002 games, Olympic funds would be used to cover the oval, and build an ice sheet in the center of the track. By the time the groundbreaking ceremony was held in May 1994, the price tag had increased to $4.1 million, with an expected completion date sometime that December. Because of cold temperatures and a wet spring, cement for the oval could not be poured, and the oval didn't open until September 1, 1995, almost a year behind schedule. The oval was formally dedicated in a ceremony, attended by Olympian
Cathy Turner Cathy Ann Turner (born April 10, 1962, in Rochester, New York) is an American short track speed skater, who won gold medals at the 1992 Winter Olympics and 1994 Winter Olympics. Turner was the American short-track champion in 1979, but short-t ...
, on January 12, 1996. Prior to it being covered and used during the Olympic games, the oval would be used for inline skating during the summer and ice skating during the winter months. After Salt Lake City won the 2002 Olympic bid on June 16, 1995, Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) began the design process for a permanent cover for the oval. During the cover's design process it was decided to pull up and replace the entire original oval. The new oval was designed by Gilles Stransky Brems Smith of Salt Lake City, and constructed by Layton Construction. Work on the new oval began in June 1999 at an estimated cost of $27 million. To keep those costs down, and give an unobstructed view of the ice, the roof would be constructed similar to a
suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
. Between twenty-four masts, twelve on each side of the building, steel cables nearly long and in diameter were strung, suspending the roof above the oval. On April 19, 2000, as construction was progressing on the oval, some of the bolts holding the roof's cables sheared, causing part of the roof to collapse. Following an investigation into the cause of the accident and repairs, construction resumed in July 2000. Construction on the oval was further delayed when three weeks after the concrete floor was poured, the freeze tubes in numerous spots were found to have moved off their rebar supports and had floated out of alignment. It was determined that entire floor was going to have to be torn up and replaced, or else the ice might not freeze evenly. After a new floor was poured, and had cured, the final coat of ice was added to the track on February 12, 2001; just in time for four Olympic speed skaters to test out the new venue later that afternoon. The first event held in the new oval was the
World Single Distance Championships The World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union. History Since the late 19th century, speed skating championships were always decided by racing multiple ...
, on March 9–11, 2001. On March 9, 2001, the first day of competitions, a press briefing to introduce the facility was held. Members of SLOC with the design and construction teams were present to introduce the oval to the public. The completed building has , roughly the size of four football fields, it is wide by long, with a ceiling high; the low ceiling allowed the temperature inside to be easily maintained at the appropriate conditions. The completed facility contained the 400-meter oval skating track, which surrounded two international size hockey ice sheets. Under the ice sheets and track are of freeze tubes which keep the concrete base at year-round. In the end the oval ended up costing $30 million, and on his blog, ex-SLOC
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
and politician,
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...
states that the Utah Olympic Oval was 10 percent the cost of the
Richmond Olympic Oval The Richmond Olympic Oval (french: Anneau olympique de Richmond) is an indoor multi-sports arena in the Canadian city of Richmond, British Columbia. The oval was built for the 2010 Winter Olympics and was originally configured with a speed skati ...
used during the
2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
.


2002 Winter Olympics

During the 2002 games the oval hosted the
speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...
events. For the competitions temporary seating was installed and the oval had a capacity for about 5,200 spectators, plus press members. 100 percent of available tickets for the venue's events were sold, allowing 53,056 spectators to witness events in the oval.


The Oval today

Following the 2002 Olympics, SLOC turned ownership of the oval over to the Utah Athletic Foundation, who also owns and manages the Utah Olympic Park near
Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...
. The oval currently houses the original 400-meter oval skating track, two international size ice sheets, a 442-meter
running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...
, an eight-lane 110-meter
sprint running Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...
track, weight room, locker facilities and team rooms, meeting rooms, a concession, gifts and gear shop, plus skate rentals. Skating lessons are also offered by the foundation. The U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team is currently headquartered in the oval, and has been since January 2001. The Oval is also home to the North Utah Grizzlies special needs hockey team.


Records set at the Utah Olympic Oval

The oval is one of the world's fastest indoor skating tracks, mainly because of its elevation. It is the world's highest indoor oval at above sea level, higher than Calgary's
Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is North America's first covered speed skating oval; it was built for the 1988 Winter Olympics and opened on September 27, 1987.1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts†...
(which is the second highest). Because of the elevation, there is less air resistance for the skaters and less oxygen frozen into the ice, making it harder, denser and faster. During the 2002 Olympic games all ten speed skating events held in the oval set Olympic records. The oval still maintains six, thanks in part to the relatively low elevation of the
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
,
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, and 2014 Olympic Ovals. Before and after the Olympics, the oval has hosted many local and international speed skating competitions. Holding the honor of ''Fastest Ice on Earth'' has created an unofficial rivalry between the Utah Olympic Oval and the
Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is North America's first covered speed skating oval; it was built for the 1988 Winter Olympics and opened on September 27, 1987.List of world records in speed skating This list of speed skating records is an overview of the records currently held in various speed skating events, as ratified by the International Skating Union. World records Men * * Seven skaters have a recordea 3000m time below this world ...
*
List of Olympic records in speed skating This is the current list of Olympic records in speed skating. Men's records ''♦ denotes a performance that is also a current world record. Statistics are correct as of 11 February 2022.'' Women's records ;Note See also * List of world reco ...


References


External links

*

- Utah Office of Tourism - Olympic Oval

- ISU Statistics {{Olympic venues in speed skating Venues of the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic speed skating venues Indoor speed skating venues Speed skating venues in the United States Sports venues in Salt Lake County, Utah Sports venues in Utah Sports venues completed in 2001 2001 establishments in Utah Arena football venues