Drone shots of the Olympic Oval at the University of Calgary in December 2020.
The fastest ice in the world is on borrowed time. Calgary's Olympic Oval is a legacy of the 1988 Winter Games in the city and the oldest of three covered speed skating ovals in Canada. The building that turns 38 years old this year has been a centre of international, university and community sport well past its expected life cycle.The fastest ice in the world is on borrowed time.
The Olympic Oval's ability to make ice is nearing end of life, because there are more and more brine leaks among the 400 pipe connections under its expansive floor. The Oval will again draw the world's fastest skaters Friday to Sunday for one of many World Cups it's hosted over the years, in addition to over a dozen world championships.A pair of Olympic medallists on Canada's long-track team are worried about an ice fail before next year's Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
Isabelle Weidemann helped Canada win a national-record 10 medals at the world single distance championships in Calgary last February. The speed skater says the fact that their training facility is aging weighs on the Canadian team ahead of the 2026 Olympics. "We're lobbying hard with our federal and provincial governments because there's nobody corporately that wants to step up and do this."
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