Swings skates to historic first at The World Games

Bart Swings added a gold medal at The World Games 2022 to his already impressive resume in speed skating. He also expressed his desire to see roller speed skating included in the Olympics.

Guardar
Bart Swings (second in line) competes during the semi finals 1000m speed skating of The World Games 2022 at Powell Steam Plant Saturday, July 9, 2022, in Birmingham, Ala. (Photo/Butch Dill). Photo Credit: The World Games 2022
Bart Swings (second in line) competes during the semi finals 1000m speed skating of The World Games 2022 at Powell Steam Plant Saturday, July 9, 2022, in Birmingham, Ala. (Photo/Butch Dill). Photo Credit: The World Games 2022

Birmingham, Alabama - Belgian skater Bart Swings accomplished a historic first on the opening day of competition at The World Games. He became the first athlete to win a gold medal at The World Games and the Olympic Games in the same year.

Normally, The World Games are held in the year following the Summer Olympic Games, and the year before the Winter Olympic Games. However, the postponement of The World Games after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic opened the door for Swings to accomplish something that had been previously impossible.

He had already made history at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, winning Belgium’s first gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in 74 years. An accomplishment he achieved in a sport that was more foreign to him.

“I only started [ice skating] when I was 19 years old,” said Swings. “I grew up with inline and wanted to achieve something special there first, so that’s why ice skating is, for me, more difficult to win and to get a gold medal in Beijing.”

2022 Beijing Olympics - Speed Skating - Men's Mass Start Final - National Speed Skating Oval, Beijing, China - February 19, 2022. Gold medallist Bart Swings of Belgium reacts after the flower ceremony. REUTERS/Susana Vera
2022 Beijing Olympics - Speed Skating - Men's Mass Start Final - National Speed Skating Oval, Beijing, China - February 19, 2022. Gold medallist Bart Swings of Belgium reacts after the flower ceremony. REUTERS/Susana Vera

He added, “[an] Olympic medal is of course something special, something big. It was 74 years since the last time Belgium won a gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games, so that was kind of a historic moment in Belgium. I’m of course very proud of that.”

“The World Games is different of course, non-Olympic sport, not as big, and doesn’t get as much attention, which is a little bit sad because my heart is in this sport,” admitted Swings.

His confidence, expertise, and heart shown through on the first day of competition at The World Games 2022. He took victory in the first event he entered.

“I grew up with this sport, within ice skating, it’s my passion,” explained Swings. “I always did it from when I was a child, so winning here is a very special feeling for me.”

“Going back to inline is easier because I have been inline skating since I was eight years old,” the Belgian explained. “It’s kind of in my blood and the movement is easy for me.”

2022 Beijing Olympics - Speed Skating - Men's 10000m - National Speed Skating Oval, Beijing, China - February 11, 2022. Bart Swings of Belgium in action. REUTERS/Phil Noble
2022 Beijing Olympics - Speed Skating - Men's 10000m - National Speed Skating Oval, Beijing, China - February 11, 2022. Bart Swings of Belgium in action. REUTERS/Phil Noble

“Going back to the ice is harder because it’s very technical and it’s something I really had to learn myself, [in order] to get the technique right,” he admitted. It’s always a switch you have to make.”

He also held larger aspirations for roller speed skating, telling Around The Rings, “I’d love to see it [in the Olympics]. I think this sport deserves it very well. The level is super high and I think I also kind of prove it by winning a gold medal in both disciplines.”

The World Games and Olympic champion then took on the role of marketer, saying, “as you can see, it is very entertaining, very physical and technical, so all aspects that’s nice about a sport.”

He implored, “let’s get it in the Olympics.”

The odds of roller speed skating joining the Olympic sports program anytime in the near future seem slim. However, World Skate, the governing body of roller speed skating, already has a foot in the door of the Olympic program through skateboarding. Perhaps the time will come for roller speed skating as well.

For now though, Swings will have to be happy about what he has achieved in 2022.

Guardar

Últimas Noticias

Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons

Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons

Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024

She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024

Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris

Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris

Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years

The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years

Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”

The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”