The first ISU World Development Trophy 2015 was scheduled to take place in Zakopane, however because of a technical failure of the ice skating rink the event was transferred to Warsaw. More than 25 youth skaters from six countries (CZE, EST, HUN, LAT, POL and SVK) took part in the second ISU World Development Trophy in Speed Skating in Warsaw, Poland.
The ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships 2015 took place in the same rink from February 20 to 23 at the Ice Rink Stegny in Warsaw. Therefore a special Championships atmosphere reigned during the ISU World Development Trophy and proved to be inspiring for all the participants.
The event was led in cooperation with György Sallak/ISU Development Coordinator, Mrs Jildou Gemser/ISU Speed Skating Technical Committee and the Polish Speed Skating Association. The weekly program contained joint trainings on and off ice. Coaches’ seminars on various topics were also held every evening and in between the trainings.
During the week moderators worked with the skaters both on and off ice on the basics of speed skating such as knee control, balance and a general skating technique. The coaches’ seminars covered such topics as material support, training methods and the analysis of a skating technique.
Andreas Larsson, a Swedish coach and Marek Stanuch, project coordinator took part in motivating youngsters and providing them with great opportunities to better their performances.
Coaches of individual teams discussed their training methods daily at a special ‘Coaches Clinic’. All the methods were practically demonstrated and thoroughly discussed with the experts.
The ISU World Development Trophy competition held on Wednesday. Each participant raced individual 500 and 1000 meters, and the competition ended with a mixed team pursuit. The purpose of the mixed team pursuit was to give the skaters from smaller nations a chance to experience a great feeling of participation in a team event.
Trainings and competitions were regularly filmed and then analysed by the experts with the teams, on technical aspects in particular. Each of the participating teams received, at their own disposal, the recordings of their athlete’s performance.
In general, the mixture of Speed Skating training, competition and friendship prevailed. The event brought the young Speed Skating generation a lot of benefits including valuable experience and motivation for further development and future success.