NISA says it plans to work with ice skating authorities in the Netherlands, one of the leading nations in the sport, to develop training programmes, while also using Dutch facilities, including the 400-metre ice rinks, of which there are none in the UK.

There are a number of 60m ice rinks in the UK for short track speed skating, in which Britain recently secured success when last season's International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup champion Elise Christie became the nation's first woman to win a World Championship individual medal when she claimed bronze in the 1,000m in Hungary earlier this year.

However, despite being one of the first countries - along with the Netherlands - to formally participate in long track speed skating in the 1800s, Britain has struggled to make any impact on the international stage in the past few decades.

Elise Christie is a rising star in short track speed skating



























"The UK played a key role in transforming long track speed skating from a recreational activity and practical means of winter transportation into an organised, international sport, hosting the first official speed skating race on the Fens in the 1700s," said NISA chief executive Nick Sellwood.

"At one time, the sport was hugely popular in England, but once it moved from naturally occurring ice to man-made ice rinks, it diminished.

"And for the last few decades, there has been little organised support for long track in the UK.

"The few international skaters we've had were forced to rely heavily on their own efforts, usually moving to Canada, the Netherlands or Germany to train.

"We believe it's now time the UK returned, in a structured and organised manner, to the sport it helped to set up."

Sellwood believes that the best way to get British skaters back competing at the top is by working with and learning from the Netherlands, which currently has three Olympic champions in the form of Mark Tuitert and Sven Kramer in the men's 1,500m and 5,000m respectively, and women's 1,500m gold medallist Ireen Wüst.

The Dutch also claimed team pursuit bronze at both Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010.

"We are excited about building a new partnership with the hugely successful Dutch long track skating scene," Sellwood said.

"It represents a return to the close cooperation the two countries had in the sport throughout the 1800s and will give UK long track a kick start and key advantage."

Vancouver 2010 men's 5,000m champion Sven Kramer follows in a long tradition of top Dutch long track speed skaters



























Sellwood also believes the potential for British success in the sport will be boosted by the success of the nation's athletes in other sports such as cycling and gymnastics.

"The synergies and cross-over potential with other strong British sports such as cycling and gymnastics means that speed skating is a sport with great potential for the UK and we hope to be able to realise that potential and set the UK firmly back on the international scene," he said.

Long track speed skating has been part of the Winter Olympic programme since the very beginning at Chamonix in France in 1924, while Squaw Valley 1960 was the first Games in which women competed for medals in the sport.

NISA is currently looking for sponsors and partners interested in being associated with long track speed skating.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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