Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the women’s speedskating 1000 meters final on Monday.
David J. Philip/AP
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David J. Philip/AP
Seeing Ilya Malinin skate in person remains a surreal experience. I watched him land a backflip at nationals last month, and twice this weekend in his first two Olympic skates. What impresses me every time is the effect it has on the crowd (see). snoop dogg, For example). The collective roar shakes the room – I could feel it in the seats on Sunday – and begins to sizzle back into Malinin’s veins for the rest of his skate. I asked him about it after his first Olympic backflip on Saturday.
“To be honest, it feels like an incredible roar in the atmosphere,” he said. “Once I do that backflip, everyone starts screaming with joy and they’re out of control.”
We’re not used to seeing backflips on Olympic ice largely because the move was illegal in competition from the late 1970s until 2024 (though that doesn’t mean people weren’t doing it). here is one A closer look at the backflipJust in time for the men’s short program today.
There are moving walkways along the one-mile-long route between the metro and the Milano Speed Skating Stadium.
Rachel Treisman/NPR
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Rachel Treisman/NPR
taking action
Yesterday I took a break from the figure skating arena to the long-track speedskating rink (a completely different venue) to watch the women’s 1000m race, eager to catch a glimpse of Team USA’s stars. Brittany Bowe and Erin Jackson in the process. I did it! It was thrilling to see that his arms and legs were moving so fast that it seemed as if they were slowly gliding. Ultimately, the headline was Dutch phenom Jutta Leerdam, who won the gold medal and set a new Olympic record in front of a hugely supportive crowd, which also included her fiancé, the American influencer-turned-boxer. jake paul.
But, in the spirit of going beyond the headlines, I wanted to share a few things I noticed even before that last summer:
The Milano Speed Skating Stadium should be called Moving Walkway City. The rink is technically connected to the nearest Metro stop, but it’s about a mile walk to get there (according to my Apple Watch, it takes 25 minutes each way), and much of that path is surrounded by conveyor belt-like structures I’ve only seen at airports. There’s also the option of walking on a regular sidewalk, but why would you choose that when you can feel like you’re slipping, flying through the air evening vampire? The point is, you have to really build up time for this part of the journey otherwise you’ll end up like the people behind me, but pushing people out of the way on the narrow belt because they were pushing harder.
Each race is so fast – 1,000 meters is the equivalent of 2 1/2 laps around the rink – that I spent as much time commuting to the rink as I did watching the action, a big change from the long, late (at least in local time) nights of figure skating. The speedskating rink was much warmer than the figure skating venue, where I was freezing even in thermals. Their layouts are also completely different: I’ve seen the typical speedskating oval on TV many times, but in reality the carpeted space in the middle was bustling and occupied by timekeepers, reporters and other officials.
I didn’t even realize until today that, while there are two skaters attending each trial, there are other people warming up at the same time in the lanes right next to them. From the TV camera it appears that there are only two people running on the ice, as they are running right behind them. There’s also a little camera behind them moving in the air in a way that immediately made me think of the golden snitch in it harry potter Quidditch game.
Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands was the crowd favorite after her breathtaking gold medal-winning lap.
Luca Bruno/AP
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Luca Bruno/AP
I immediately noticed that perhaps 80% of the crowd was wearing orange, and the cheering for the two Dutch skaters was much louder than the loud applause for the American women. I didn’t see Jake Paul, but I saw plenty of people around me turning to a special section of the stands after Leerdam’s breathtaking final lap. I paid attention during a brief break in the action, when the MC queued up John Lennon’s “Imagine” and urged the crowd to sing along (his vision never actually became a reality). And on the return trip, I actually smiled when I saw volunteers sitting in lifeguard-esque chairs on the long walkway, using megaphones to herd the masses back toward the subway.
what am i drinking
An example of the bottle-cap situation.
Rachel Treisman/NPR
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Rachel Treisman/NPR
Almost every drink I drink here comes from a plastic bottle: the water that stays in my hotel room, the late-night Coke Zero I buy at the rink, the Aqua. Natural and/or curly I choose from a café.
Coming back home, I usually keep a reusable bottle in my bag. I was warned about the lack of refillable water bottle opportunities in Italy and tried to plan accordingly. But I did not know about the condition of the bottle cap. Why oh why don’t they come off completely? You can unscrew the cap as much as you want, but a part of it will always be stuck to the rim (and sometimes scratch your nose when you try to take a sip).
At first, I thought I was reaching new levels of sleep deprivation. But then I learned that this is the new norm, thanks to a 2024 EU directive that aims to encourage recycling and reduce litter. The EU said at the time Bottle caps were among the top 10 single-use plastic items most commonly found on European beaches, posing a threat to animals who swallow them. understood! I think anyone who has seen a beautiful photo of a seal – or lost the lid of a half-filled drinks bottle on the way out the door – can come across that.
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