About Olympic Oval

At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, speed skating made its indoor Olympic debut inside the Olympic Oval. Though that was three decades ago, top athletes from around the world still flock to the Oval to skate, train, and compete on its superior ice.

But you don't have to be an Olympic athlete to glide around this world-class facility: public skating times open the doors to skaters of all ages, enabling the entire community to fully experience one of Calgary's most-iconic sites. Here are some fast facts about the Oval:

• It has 3 different ice surfaces: They include a 400m long track oval ice surface, an olympic sized hockey rink and an olympic sized short track ice surface.
• The Fastest Ice in the World: In fact, the Oval refers to its ice as "The Fastest Ice in the World". That's because the ice here is made with demineralized water, which reduces the amount of dirt and mineral build-up—and thus, friction—between the ice and skate blades.
• World records are common: Thanks to the ice's speed, world records are broken all the time here. In fact, over 300 world records have been set in long- and short-track skating over the past few decades.