World Championships Overview

Alx Bont 氏による WC Gijon 総括が11日に投稿されています。大会はクラッシュと骨折を伴う高速レースが繰り広げられる選手権となりました。高グリップを誇るトラックは幾つも世界記録を更新した反面で、転倒した選手が衝撃力をスライディングで逃すことが出来ず、鎖骨骨折7名、上腕骨折多数の怪我人を生みました。また傾斜k角度が小さくバンク効果が得られないコーナーでは、集団選手のライン取りが重なりクラッシュの一因と成ったのではないかと思われ、ご多分に漏れず日本選手も慣れないコースで怪我の洗礼を受けたようです。レースに怪我は付き物とは言え、将来的に FIRS が防護服着用を視野に考え始めているとか・・・嘘みたいな話です。

また、これからは韓国のようにトラックとロードの2編制チームを派遣する国が増えるかも知れません。


World Championships Overview

Alx Bont (Sep. 11, 2008)
The road events have finished and today is a rest day. The only event left is the marathon tomorrow. The medal tally stands at: Colombia 14 gold, Korea 8 gold and the US 7 gold.

These championships have been marred by an unusually high rare of crashes and broken bones relating from those crashes. The track in particular which is very grippy doesn't allow for skaters to slide and there was a lot of skin lost. Some are also calling for the wheel size to go back to 100mm for the track because it allows slower skaters to keep up easier than if they were on 100mm wheels. I also believe the shape of the track is partly to blame for the crashes. It is too flat and everyone wants to be low on the turn. If the track was more banked, skaters could get benefit from going higher on the corners. There are too many skaters in the eliminations which make them desperate not to be the last one over the line. Also, the very bumpy track does make the skaters more tired and more prone to crash. So there are a number of issues for FIRS to look at as well as people calling for the mandatory use of body armor and the fact that the judging seems more relaxed then usual.


Colombia regained their title as the world's best track skating nation after being knocked off last year. Korea split their team in two, having separate road and track teams with only a few track skaters joining their road team. The road was coated with urethane making it extremely fast but slippery in the rain. Storms are predicted for tomorrows marathon.

There are some 7 broken collar bones and numerous broken arms. Who is going to let their kids play a sport which is more dangerous than grid iron? In short track, they implemented cut proof suits to stop people from being cut. If skaters train any harder than they do now, they will be over training which will make them slower not faster.


I agree with the calls to change to a concrete track because when skaters fall on smooth concrete, they slide. When they fall on the new surfaces, they grip and do a lot more severe injuries.

I'll make a falls tape and put all the crashes together for you to see.

As for the 100mm v 110mm, it is easier for the slower skaters to keep up with the 110mm on the track. So there are more of them in the pack where as many of them would have dropped off earlier with 100mm.
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Australia, One Down

CadoMotus (Sep. 2, 2008)
Danny Finster is an experienced campaigner. He's been to Worlds for years, some years missed for financial reasons. He's spent time in Europe racing the World Inline Cup, even won one. I've known, skated with, coached, and raced with and against Danny since we were kids. We're from the same club. Danny's brother Andy Finster went to his first Worlds in Korea in 2006. In his first event, the 300m time trial, he crashed on the final corner and broke both wrists - out for the Championship, without crossing a finish line, and having to watch the remainder of Worlds with both arms in slings.

Andy, Danny and I had grown up skating together, and we were excited about Korea Worlds as we were set to skate the relay together for the first time - so we were shattered when we couldn't, and to see Andy have his first Worlds experience be a Championship-ending injury his first time on the track.

Today, Danny crashed over a Venezuelan skater in a busy warmup on the full Moreda track - he's back from hospital now, laid up in bed with a broken collarbone.


Something's not right
Andy's hand holds Danny's X-Ray to the light, showing his crossed-over collarbone

As the team arrive back from lunch, having watched Danny leave the track in an ambulance earlier in the day - one by one we gathered in his room. There's not much to say. A charismatic teammate, who has been in great skating form, who might have to spend the competition watching uncomfortably from the sidelines. For his brother, Andy, it is a reversal of fortune from events that took place in Korea two years ago. For the three of us, teammates since we started skating, it looks like being another year before we get a chance to relay together at the Worlds.


Positive Spirits
Propped up in bed and with his teammates around

Pure Skating News: September 2 in Gijon - Australia, One Down

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