Long Track Speed Skating

RICHMOND, B.C. -- Two speed-skating world champions were escorted out of the Richmond Olympic Oval in recent months and denied training sessions because they did not follow the proper access procedures.

Bob de Jong, the reigning Olympic champion at 10,000 metres, and Wang Beixing, the 2009 women's world sprint champion, have been both been asked to leave the Oval - site of the 2010 Olympic Games competitions - since the facility opened on Dec. 15.

In both cases, the Oval did not receive written requests for ice time in advance from the skaters' national Olympic committees - a protocol that had been agreed upon by the Vancouver Games Organizing Committee (VANOC) and the International Skating Union at a meeting in Monaco last summer.

"We put together an access program in co-operation with the international federation," said Tim Gayda, VANOC vice-president of sport. "If there are teams feeling [that access is insufficient], we'd be more than happy to take it up with the international federation and ask them: 'Is it enough?' "

According to the Richmond Olympic Oval, it has only received one written request for access, which came from the United States team. But that does not mean that 2010 Olympians haven't tried to skate at the $178-million facility, one of the signature venues for the Vancouver Olympics.

Yesterday, a report in a Toronto newspaper quoted former Canadian speed-skater Kevin Crockett, who now coaches for China, saying it was ploy by Speed Skating Canada to keep other countries out of the Oval. Crockett, who coaches Chinese skaters and some skaters on the Canadian development team, said the Canadians were being poor sports.

But speed-skating officials from three countries yesterday laughed at the notion that access was denied as part of an effort to gain a home-ice advantage in 2010. All three said that home-ice advantage does not exist in speed skating because ice surfaces are all similar unless they are located at altitude.

For an issue that was supposed to be contentious, not one country, outside of Canada, showed up for a team leaders' meeting yesterday that was going to clarify international team access.

"An oval is an oval," said Brian Rahill, high-performance and Olympic program director for Speed Skating Canada. "You turn around on 400 metres of frozen water ... so you could train anywhere."

Wopke de Vegt, team leader of the Netherlands, said his skating federation had no issues with access to the Oval either in the past or going forward. The Oval will be available for international training for three two-week periods later this year.

Yves van Assche, team leader for Switzerland, said speed skaters are accustomed to showing up at competitive venues around the world, showing their ISU documentation and gaining access. He said they normally check websites for ice availability, but laughed at the theory that limited international access would lead to a Canadian advantage.

De Jong apparently gained access late last month based on his relationship with Ingrid Paul, his former coach who now works with the Canadian team. When Finn Halvorsen, Speed Skating Canada's national team program director, arrived and found De Jong in the Canadian locker room with Paul, who is also Dutch, he became concerned the rival skater might become aware of exclusive material meant only for Canadian eyes.

"He basically asked Bob to leave, and perhaps did it a little forcefully in terms of his tone," Rahill said. "But it was the right thing to do."

De Vegt said De Jong was not insulted at all and was even laughing about the exchange at a World Cup event in Salt Lake City last weekend.

The incident with Wang occurred in late December, when Speed Skating Canada was at the Oval for national championships training.

Crockett brought his contingent of skaters, but the Chinese were prevented from training because the ice was booked by Speed Skating Canada for Canadian skaters only, and because the Chinese skaters had not submitted written requests.

"The coach was trying to circumvent the rules," said Aran Kay, a spokesman for the Oval.

An internal Richmond Olympic Oval memo, obtained by The Globe and Mail, shows officials were not aware Crockett coached Canadian skaters as well as Chinese. But the memo also says a compromise was reached that allowed the Chinese skaters to use the ice during public times so long as they paid a $12.50 admission fee and Crockett did not coach the skaters from the ice or the sidelines.

Access to the Oval is either administered by VANOC or the City of Richmond, depending on the time of year. The facility was built in partnership between VANOC and three levels of government, and the city operates the facility. The city also makes the ice available for community recreation, which has hampered access to all 2010 Olympians, including the Canadian team.

"We're having to make compromises because this is a venue still open to the community," Rahill said. "It's a bit of a frustration, but it's a reality of a venue that was built with that mandate right from the onset.

"When you enter a partnership, everybody has to give and take."

Since Feb. 26, VANOC has been responsible for access control because the venue was being prepared for the ISU world single-distance speed-skating championships that take place this week.