Speed limit? (Graph It!).Olympic athlete JENNIFER RODRIGUEZ Jennifer Rodriguez (born June 8, 1976 in Miami, FL) is a Cuban-American speed skater. She started her career as an artistic roller skater, winning multiple national championships and placing second and third at world championships. (U.S.A.) likes being first: The Miami-born speedster speed·ster n. 1. One who drives very fast. 2. A fast car. is the first Hispanic athlete to compete in the Olympic Winter Games
Sport of racing on ice skates. The blade of the speed skate is longer and thinner than that of the hockey or figure skate. Two types of track are used in international competition. , busting records is nothing new. Each year since the sport debuted at the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924, speed skate records have gotten steadily faster (see graph, above). Why? Today's athletes have technology on their side. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] One speed-up invention: the clap skate clap skate n. A speed skate that has a blade attached by a hinge at the heel, allowing one to skate more efficiently by keeping the full length of the blade on the ice while the heel is raised. , which makes revolutionary use of a skater's biomechanics (body movement). With each stride a skate's blade detaches briefly from the boot heel. This lets a racer push off with the toes "so you can use more of your calf and other leg muscles to power your stride," says Jos de Koning, speed skate designer and biomechanics expert at Amsterdam's Vrije University. De Koning credits the clap skate alone with increasing racing speeds up to 1 second per 400-meter lap. Check out the graph. In 2001, by how many seconds did Catriona LeMay Doan smash her own 1997 women's 500-meter speed skate record? --S.M. |
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