An Olympic Speed Skater's Biggest Nemesis: Air
If you've ever tried to run at a high altitude, you know how low-oxygen environments can inhibit your performance. But speed skaters tend to perform better at high altitudes where less air resistance translates to faster speeds. At lower altitudes, skaters experience more drag, making it harder to set world or Olympic records.
The two graphs below show the connection between altitude and speed for Olympic speed skaters. The top graph shows results for gold medalist speed skaters. The bottom shows the host venue altitudes. Although speed skaters are growing consistently faster, there are clear spikes in performance at high altitude locations.
If you've ever tried to run at a high altitude, you know how low-oxygen environments can inhibit your performance. But speed skaters tend to perform better at high altitudes where less air resistance translates to faster speeds. At lower altitudes, skaters experience more drag, making it harder to set world or Olympic records.
The two graphs below show the connection between altitude and speed for Olympic speed skaters. The top graph shows results for gold medalist speed skaters. The bottom shows the host venue altitudes. Although speed skaters are growing consistently faster, there are clear spikes in performance at high altitude locations.
* From 1998 to 2014 the 500m medal was awarded based on the result of 2 races. These times have been averaged to allow comparison with the results from other years.
Sources: Olympic result times and altitudes are collected from wikipedia, the now-defunct DatabaseOlympics.com and sports-reference.com. For venues where altitude data doesn't exist, best estimates have been provided. Icons are from The Noun Project. The speed skater icon is by Robin Will. The yeti icon is by Mat Rutherford. If you see an error, feel free to contact me here.
Sources: Olympic result times and altitudes are collected from wikipedia, the now-defunct DatabaseOlympics.com and sports-reference.com. For venues where altitude data doesn't exist, best estimates have been provided. Icons are from The Noun Project. The speed skater icon is by Robin Will. The yeti icon is by Mat Rutherford. If you see an error, feel free to contact me here.