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2014 Winter Olympics odds: Olympics betting action is about set to get started at BookMaker Sportsbook. There isn't an aspect of the 2014 Winter Olympics which we aren't breaking down, and that includes each of the disciplines of the Olympics. Today, we'll look at one of the most important sports of the Olympic Games, Speed Skating.
When you think of speed skating in general, you probably are thinking about running around a track inside of an arena in a race between approximately eight contenders on any given heat. However, there is a difference between short track speed skating and just the generic speed skating, which is also known as long track speed skating.
The difference is subtle, as there are fewer turns to take due to the fact that the rink is a lot longer to skate around for traditional speed skating. As a result, it takes more technical skill to run in short track speed skating, whereas it takes more pure speed to win on the longer track, knowing that there are fewer twists and turns which need to be made with one's body to beat the Olympics betting lines.
The other difference between short track speed skating and long track speed skating is that there are only two skaters on the ice at any given moment on the long track, and they have to switch lanes every lap. On the short tracks, there are multiple skaters on the ice at any given time.
All of the speed skating will take place at the Adler Arena Skating Center, which is a part of the Sochi Olympic Park in the Coastal Cluster. There are a whopping 12 days of activities, 11 of which will feature medals being handed out in the Olympics, beginning on Saturday, February 8th, and ending on the penultimate day of the Olympics on Saturday, February 22nd.
Right off the bat on February 8th, the men compete in one of their longest competitions, the 5,000 meters. The women are at it the next day in the 3,000 meters. From there, the races get shorter for most of the rest of the week, as it goes from the 500 meters in men's and women's to 1,000 meters in men's and women's, to 1,500 meters in men's and women's. However, after a rest day on February 17th, the skaters are back for their toughest challenge, the 10,000 meters for men and the 5,000 meters for women.
The final of the speed skating events is the team pursuit, in which three skaters will race at the same time for each country. There are qualifying heats and finals heats for these events as well, and again, only two teams are allowed on the ice at any given time.
The same 12 events were held in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and that could at least make your Olympics betting picks a bit easier to decipher, knowing that a ton of the same names are going to be coming back.
However, there was a real split in the countries which took medals here in these events, as there were nine different countries which were awarded medals between the men and the women, including six different countries which were awarded at least one gold medal. The Netherlands had the most success in Vancouver in 2010, taking seven total medals, including three golds. South Korea also picked up three gold medals and a total of five medals in speed skating overall.
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SPEED SKATING EVENTS
MEN'S EVENTS
- 10000m men
- 1000m men
- 1500m men
- 5000m men
- 500m men
- Team pursuit men
WOMEN'S EVENTS
- 1000m women
- 1500m women
- 3000m women
- 5000m women
- 500m women
- Team pursuit women
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