Characteristics of the Sport

Short track speed skating is contested on a 111.12m indoor track.  It is different to traditional long track speed skating as competitors start in a mass start and the course is significantly smaller and more technical than long track speed skating.
Short track skating is competed indoors, often time in hockey rings and ice skating stadiums.  The Australian public’s knowledge of short track speed skating is limited to footage of our first winter Olympic champion Steven Bradbury. Bradbury’s win was extraordinary as all other competitors in the final crashed out on the last corner. In Australia, Bradbury’s win is often put down to dumb luck, however his final win epitomises the fine line between fast racing and the carnage that routinely occurs in short track racing.  Short track speed skating is highly technical, involving tight corners and high speeds which make it difficult to maintain control at all times, even for the world’s best. 

Competition

The International world cup season for elite short track skaters starts in September and finishes in February. 
At the Olympic level skaters compete across a number of distances and formats.  Men compete over 500m, 1000m, 1500m and a 5000m team relay, while women compete over 500m, 1000m, 1500m and a 3000m team relay. All events are mass start and competitors are not assigned lanes.  This makes for close quarter racing and exciting outcomes. 
Competitors in individual races move through a number of heats and finals, before a final race of 4-6 skaters to determine the medalists.  First skater to cross the line is the winner.  Although first skater across the line is theoretically the winner; due to the close nature of the racing, protests and disqualifications are common place.
Short track relay races usually occur over two days of competition with 8 teams of 4 skaters taking part in semi final and final races.  Each team nominates the exact number of laps each individual skater will do with the final two laps being completed by the same skater.  Typically no single skater will complete more than 1.5 laps per change meaning a large number of changeovers per race.  Skaters don’t pass a baton like in athletic relays instead they need only touch the next skater.  Due to the importance of gaining momentum and building speed it is common for the skater starting out on the next lap to receive a push from behind off the tagging skater.

Training

Elite Australian speed skaters spend considerable time training in Australia as  commercial ice rinks provide suitable training facilities. This differs to other Australian winter sport athletes who spend considerable time overseas in order to gain access to quality training facilities.  Due to minimal financial support for short track skaters in Australia, most have full time employment on top of daily training commitments.  Daily work commitments coupled with sharing the ice with other sports, means that skaters train early in the morning. On ice training is highly explosive and specific focusing on a mix of developing speed as well as the technical skills required to negotiate a race.  Skaters usually supplement on ice training with other forms of leg based aerobic training like cycling.  Gym sessions focus on lower body strength and are a mix between specific isometric movement exercises and highly explosive lower body exercises.  

Physical Characteristics

Short track speed skaters have one objective and that is to skate very fast and stay upright.  This means the main body focus is on lower body strength and stability.  Short track skaters are often shorter and stockier than their long track counterparts.  Their lower bodies (legs and buttock muscles) are overdeveloped in proportion to their upper bodies.  Skinfolds can be an issue when trying to balance the energy requirements of muscle tissue development with trying to stay as lean as possible. 

Common Nutrition Issues

Work/training life balance

As most short track speed skaters have full time careers on top of their sporting life it is essential they are organised to meet their nutritional requirements for performance.  Due to early morning training, skaters should have a pre training snack to overcome the effects of an overnight fast and maximise training benefits.  Skaters will need to ensure post training and throughout the rest of the day, food and fluid intake is planned to meet requirements.  It’s difficult for everyday people to eat right at work, however it‘s of even greater importance for athletes, like short track skaters to organise their intake to ensure they recover sufficiently between sessions. It is a good idea for these athletes working full-time to plan out their weekly food intake.  Identifying quick cook meals, using leftovers wisely using a small esky at work and scheduling breaks while at work will assist them to balance their recovery nutrition needs with work commitments.  It’s important for these short track skaters to become proficient at cooking, as it’s common place for time-poor athletes to rely heavily on less than ideal convenient take-away or semi-prepared meals.

Building strength

Short track speed skaters are required to be highly explosive and have great lower body strength and power; however muscle hypertrophy may not always be their major goal.  This is common to other power athletes where being heavier is not an advantage but being stronger and more explosive is.  This presents different nutritional challenges to those athletes trying to “Bulk Up”.  Skaters need to ensure that nutritional intake around training is suitable to ensure muscle tissue repair and redevelopment.  Skaters may not necessarily need an additional post training snack to achieve this.  They may aim to use their next snack or main meal as their post gym or training recovery snack.  If this is the case skaters should aim to include a nutrient dense high quality protein source that contains ~10-20g of protein along with carbohydrate and other vitamins and minerals.  The following snacks can achieve this:
• Bowl of breakfast cereal and milk
• Flavoured milk
• Ricotta/honey and cinnamon on a fruit toast
• Fruit salad and 200g of yoghurt.
• sandwiches with meat fillings
• hot chocolate/Milo™
• liquid meal supplements (e.g. PowerBar Protein Plus Powder™, Sustagen™)

This fact sheet is based on AIS / National team athletes and is therefore specific to these athletes. Written by AIS Sports Nutrition, last updated August 2009. © Australian Sports Commission.