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Speedskaters try out new Olympic oval in Turin

Anni Friesinger of Germany competes in the 1,500m World Cup speedskating event in Turin, Italy, on Friday. Friesinger finished first. PHOTO: AFP

The speedskating oval for the Turin Winter Olympics opened with World Cup races Friday, winning praise from those who had been convinced it would not be completed in time.

A week ago, construction on the oval was still ongoing. Roads still need to be paved outside the venue and there are large muddy areas that fans have to cross to enter. Inside, though, everything is complete.

"I'm pleasantly surprised, it's a real nice facility," said Casey FitzRandolph of the US, who finished seventh in the 500m race, 0.23 seconds behind Chinese winner Yu Fengtong's time of 35.19.

"The ice changes day to day, hour to hour, they're still playing with it. All in all though, it's pretty good. I don't think we will see any world records this weekend, at least in the sprint distances, but by February it should be much better."

Chad Hedrick of the US won the 5,000m in 6 minutes and 20.29 seconds. China's Wang Manli took the women's 500m in 38.25, and Anni Friesinger of Germany finished first in the 1,500m, in 1:57.32.

All of the winning times were far off world record pace.

The Turin Games run Feb. 10-26 and this weekend's speedskating event -- featuring more than 240 athletes from 28 countries -- is the final major test event.

Called the Oval Lingotto, the ultramodern facility has a sleek shell of reflective glass and 7,800 seats. There are 90km of cooling coils under the ice.

The 71 million euro (US$82.5 million) construction project began in June, 2003 and was delayed because of an asbestos problem. The oval is located near the center of Turin, adjacent to the Olympics media center and close to the athletes' village

"This facility is absolutely on a world level in terms of its beauty and vanguard technology," International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta said following a brief opening ceremony.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge also attended the opening.

"This facility is the final confirmation that Turin is ready," Turin mayor Sergio Chiamparino said.

The oval is the first covered speedskating facility in Italy.

"For someone like me, an Italian who has spent 35 years in the speedskating world, when I enter this arena it really moves me," Italy coach Maurizio Marchetto told the Gazzetta dello Sport.

The arena will primarily be used as an exhibition space after the games, although the ice-making equipment will remain in place and officials said they hoped it would also host more speedskating.

Olympic Flame

Five-time World Cup downhill champion Franz Klammer and Lazio striker Paolo Di Canio carried the Olympic flame in pouring rain Friday as the torch relay for the Turin Winter Games wound its way through Rome.

Klammer, the downhill gold medalist at the 1976 Innsbruck Games, ran with the torch in cold temperatures and heavy rain in the Castel Gandolfo area, the hilly countryside south of Rome that is home to the papal summer residence.

"Carrying the Olympic spirit is very important to me. My results at the Olympics changed my life," Austria's Klammer said Thursday. "I took part in the Innsbruck opening ceremony and I am just as proud now to carry the torch.''

Among the other torchbearers for the second day of the relay was Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori.

Di Canio also braved a downpour as he jogged Friday evening with the flame into the Stadio Dei Marmi, the marble arena which is part of the Foro Italico complex used for the 1960 Summer Olympics.

But Francesco Totti, captain of Lazio's crosstown rival AS Roma, said "personal commitments" prevented him from carrying the torch alongside Di Canio. "It would have been a very great honor for me to have carried the Olympic flame, universal symbol of sports and peace," Totti said on his Web site.

Di Canio talked about sportsmanship in his remarks to the few hundred spectators who turned out for the flame relay and a music concert.

"We're kicking off an important Olympics in which many men and women will compete with loyal rivalry. I know this is not always the case in soccer and that's why I'm proud to be here," Di Canio said.
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