The Olympic Oval is home to the fastest ice in the world, with more than 150 world records set in our facility in long and short track speed skating over the past 20 years! As well, our fast ice would not be possible without the hard work, ingenuity and dedication of our Olympic Oval Operations and Maintenance crews.

Find out about our three ice surfaces and how we make the fastest ice in the world;

• Ice Surfaces
• Making Ice
  

Ice Surfaces

The Olympic Oval has three ice surfaces, one long track speed skating oval and two Olympic-size hockey rinks, which fit inside the oval ice.   

Long Track Speed Skating

• The large oval ice track is used for long track speed skating training and competition and public skating
• 400 m around x 13 m wide
• 1/4 mile in circumference
• Two ice rinks fit into the middle of the oval ice

North Rink

• This rink is used primarily for short track speed skating training and competition
• International size rink, 30 m x 60 m
• Centurian ST-2000 safety mat system surrounds the north rink to reduce the chance and severity of injury
• Other sports such as figure skating, power skating and hockey can use the rink for training as well
  

South Rink

• The Calgary Oval X-Treme female hockey team and University of Calgary men's and women's Dino hockey teams train and compete on this rink
• International size rink, 30 m x 60 m
• This rink is also used by other users for hockey, figure skating and other users

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Making The Fastest Ice in the World

The fastest ice in the world is made with demineralized water. This type of water reduces the amount of dirt and mineral build-up that increases friction between the ice and a skate blade. Olympic Oval ice is laid directly onto concrete, and then painted according to the needs of the sport. The ice is generally one inch thick.

The temperatures of the three ice surfaces are independently controlled and can range from -2 to -7 degrees Celsius, depending on the needs of the activity.

The Olympic Oval owns two ice resurfacing machines, Zambonis. One is one-and-a-half times larger than a standard size Zamboni and there is only one other such machine in Canada. The Zambonis are used to shave one to three millimetres off the ice to remove dirt that has drifted onto the ice during the course of the day. Flooding removes any imperfections, keeping the ice smooth, level and of course, fast!

Maintaining the oval ice, a surface where world records are consistently broken, is no easy feat. Factors such as humidity, air temperature, air circulation, as well as the number of spectators all make a difference, and need to be carefully monitored and controlled. Our icemen are continually looking for ways to make sure that the Olympic Oval continues to hold the title of fastest ice in the world!

Take a look at our long and short track World Records!