The Olympic Oval's Annual Report for the 2023-2024 Season.
The Olympic Oval is a world-class speed skating and high-performance sports facility dedicated to the pursuit of excellence and health and wellness for all.
Together with our partners, we will drive the mission of Canadian athlete podium performances.
Passion, Quality, Honesty, Respect, and Enjoyment. These values represent our team of people and on which The Fastest Ice in the World™ is built.
From the establishment of the Olympic Oval in ’88, UCalgary has long been the incubator of elite sport in Calgary. Champions Catriona Le May Doan, Hayley Wickenheiser, and Denny Morrison have all honed their competitive edge here.
The 2023/2024 season was a collective success for the Olympic Oval. Together, we declared, 'We are Back.' The season was a testament to our shared dedication, with events, competitions, public access, and high-performance training pushing the facility to near capacity. We united to introduce new public events, significantly increasing facility users, and even brought back the World Championships after a 15-year hiatus.
At the beginning of the season, we increased the number of athletes and coaches while introducing a new collaborative team coaching approach to better support athlete needs. As well, we gave out the most ever funding for our athletes through the athlete bursary. The University community continued to utilize us for Active Living programs and research projects, all aimed at keeping people active and healthy.
However, challenges remain. We are still working with others to secure sustainable funding to meet our future needs and immediate renovation needs. We have done extremely well in getting to this point in our history, but now we need to address some urgent requirements to maintain and increase the level of service we are able to provide.
It was also a busy year for our staff, who took it all in stride. A huge thank you to all our staff, who refuse to do "good enough" and always strive to provide the highest-quality experience for all our users.
Our success would not have been possible without the unwavering support of the local, national, and international communities. The Long Track Championships, hosted here this year, saw the highest numbers of spectators since the early 2000s. Public participation numbers soared, as did sales to support our core sports, underscoring the vital role you play in our journey.
To our partners, in sport and commercially, thank you for your continued support and for showing faith in our abilities to promise and deliver. We work well together and look forward to building stronger relationships this year.
The Olympic Oval was host to the ISU World SPeed Skating Championships February 15-18, 2024.
Canada's Performance at the ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships
Canada performed exceptionally well, garnering 11 medals between February 15-17, 2024. Over 3,000 spectators convened in Calgary to watch the World Championships on The Fastest Ice in the World™.
This season we received the Center of Excellence (CoE) designation from the International Skating Union (ISU) for the Olympic cycle of 2022-2026. It’s a seal of approval from the ISU and tremendous international recognition. The ISU is using the CoE around the world to help the development of speed skating. We collaborate with other CoE’s on different projects and share best practices. We have ISU internships for skaters and coaches to train, learn and improve at our facility. Additionally, skaters and coaches from multiple countries visited the Oval this past season, including South Korea, Japan, Great Britain, Norway, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei and China. One of our signature assets is that we host many ISU-sanctioned competitions during the season, which are open to everyone.
An ISU CoE is an International Skating Union-recognized skating entity that provides an overall environment of high-quality facilities, skating services, coaching and training activities, research and innovation, servicing high performance and long-term development of Skaters, Coaches, Officials, and experts while engaging with multiple ISU Members.
Learn about each department in the Olympic Oval during the 2023/2024 season - Operations, Partner Development and Guest Relations, High-Performance Programs, Innovation, and Competitions and Sales.
The Operations Team is an invaluable resource that ensures the entire Olympic Oval's quality, efficiency and safety. Our team facilitates the ice surfaces, operates the refrigeration plant and diligently supports all other facility operational needs. This includes any custodial, building mechanical upkeep and preventative maintenance required.
Operations was able to work on several maintenance projects throughout the year including a significant compressor replacement project.
Partner Development & Guest Relations combines marketing,
communications, and the Guest Relations team.
April 1, 2023
Ice-Out Season Begins
The ice-out season is a time for major non-ice events, maintenance and repair.
April 12, 2023
2023 Alberta Gymnastics Provincial Championships
April 12-16, 2023
Sporting Event
Sept. 1, 2023
Pride & Glide
Sep. 01, 2023
Recreational Public Skating Event
Oct. 26, 2023
Oval After Dark
Oct. 26, 2023
Recreational Public Skating Event and Haunted Experience
Oct. 29, 2023
Halloween Family Skate
Oct. 29, 2023
Recreational Public Skating Event
Nov. 18, 2023
Holiday Market & Skate
Nov. 18, 2023
Recreational Public Skating Event and Holiday Shopping Market
Dec. 10, 2023
Skate With Santa
Dec. 10, 2023
Recreational Public Skating Event
Jan. 15, 2024
Blue Monday Skate
Jan. 15, 2024
Recreational Public Skating Event
March 16, 2024
Spring Market & Skate
Mar. 16, 2024
Recreational Public Skating Event and Spring Shopping Market
The Oval's non-speed skating events reached new heights with over 30,000 guests in attendance during the season. The 2023 Volleyball Canada Nationals welcomed over 10,000 athletes and spectators over 10 days making it the busiest event of the season.
During the 2023/2024 season, media outlets covered or wrote 86 stories about the Olympic Oval, speed skating, our athletes, recreational public skating, World Cups, and special events held during the season. It was another spectacular news cycle of coverage.
A group of students got a private tour with a Team Canada speed skater Thursday. Stephanie Thomas reports.
CTV News covers the Olympic Oval in a 'Beat the Heat' story.
Some big skates to fill: What to do when your mom is an Olympian: Nineteen-year-old Yankun Zhao's mother coached Clara Hughes and Cindy Klassen. No pressure.
Student-athlete Rachel Mallard benefits from new financial initiative created by Olympian Vincent De Haître.
Read the UToday story by David Vink covering the Oval's first-ever Holiday Market & Skate.
Olympic Oval-based Carolina Hiller flew through the long-track speedskating season, breaking her 500m personal best and smashing the team sprint national record to help her team take gold at the world championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands, in early March.
The Olympic Oval continues developing and improving its web and social media presence and YouTube streaming content. The 2023/2024 season increased viewership on all fronts. The Oval works alongside the Faculty of Kinesiology, Active Living, and the Outdoor Centre to enhance its social media content, subscriptions, and website engagement.
The Olympic Oval's programs have grown to more than 150 athletes and employ more than 10-speed skating coaches (full and part-time). Pathway athletes range in performance from the provincial team level to the National Team level. Athletes worldwide continue to train in the Olympic Oval speed skating programs.
The short and long track Olympic Oval programs remain leaders in sport development and research. In this program, athletes have had tremendous success in setting world records, winning medals at the Olympics, World Championships, World Cups, and qualifying for National teams.
The Olympic Oval has been operating since 1989. It was previously called the Oval Program, but the name evolved to fit the Pathway model. For the 2023/2024 season, the Elite Athlete Pathway had 109 full-time athletes, of which 34 were short track athletes, and 75 were long track athletes. Our athletes come from all across Canada to train at the Olympic Oval. In addition, we had eight international athletes from Norway, the Netherlands, China, USA, Chinese Taipei, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia.
The short track season proved to be exceptional. Here are a few highlights:
Aaralyn McGill qualified for the 2024/2025 NextGen team, earning 4 bronze medals and finished 3rd overall at the Junior Canadian championships. She also participated in all three Junior world cups and the Junior world championships for Short Track.
Annabelle Green placed 9th at the Canadian Championships in September and qualified for the Four Continents Championships. She withdrew from the competition as she made the decision to represent her fathers home country of Great Britain. She participated in her first world cups in February and placed 11th in the 500m at World Cup in Dresden, Germany.
Max Poulin qualified for Junior World Cups 1-3 after placing 4th overall at the Junior Canadian Championships, winning gold in the 1500 (2) and silver in the 1500 (1). He won a bronze medal in the relay at the Junior World Cup 3 in the Netherlands. He also qualified for the Junior World Championship in Long Track, winning gold in the team pursuit, silver in the team sprint, and 8th in the 1000m.
Mikka Eaves won silver in the 1000m at the Junior Canadian Championships and placed 5th overall, being named as the first alternate for the Junior World Championships team, as Ryan St. Rose won silver in the 500m at the Junior Canadian Championships.
The long track season also provided exceptional results for long track athletes. Here are a few highlights:
Jalen Doan won the Bronze in the 500m and 1000m.
Yin Qi won Gold in the women's 1000m Silver 1500m and Women’s Mass Start as well as Bronze Team Pursuit.
Carolina Hiller: Gold in the Women’s 500m and Silver in the Womens’s 1000m
Jenna Larter: Silver in the Women’s 500m
Darby Beeson: Silver in the Women’s Mass Start
Vincent De Haitre: Bronze in the Men’s 1000m
Heather Carruthers: Gold in the Women’s 500m
Jenna Larter: Bronze in the Women’s 500m
Vincent De Haitre: Gold in the Men’s 1500m and Silver in the Men’s 1000m
Ryan Kulbacki: Silver in the Men’s 1000m
Daniel Hall: Bronze in the Men’s 10000m
Lina Hiller: 2 X Gold in the Women’s 500m
Jenna Larter: Bronze in the Women’s 500
Daniel Hall: Silver in the Mens 5000m and Silver in the Men’s 10000m
Jalen Doan: Bronze in the Men’s 1000m and Silver in the Men’s 1000m
Frank Roth: Bronze in the Men’s 500m
Luca Veeman: Silver in the Men’s 1500m
Ryan Kulbacki: Bronze in the Men’s 1500m
Innovation played a critical role in the 2023/2024 season. We implemented new technologies, including a video competition timing system, training system timing enhancements, video replay enhancements, and CSIS developments.
The Oval hosted 25 competitions during the 2023/2024 season. These competitions included eight short track (Canadian Junior and Neo Junior Short Track Championships, three international, two regional, and one local), twelve long track competitions (2024 World Speed Skating Championships, 2023 Canadian Long Track Championships, Canada Cup Final, Special Olympics Canada Winter Games, seven international, and one regional competition), and five time trials.
The Olympic Oval was chosen as the host venue for 2024 ISU World Speed Skating Championships Feb 15-18, 2024.
The ISU World Speed Skating Championships is the premier long track speed skating competition in non-Olympic seasons. The winners of each distance are crowned as World Champions. Events raced were the 500m,1000m,1500m, 3000m(women), 5000m, 10000m(men), team pursuit, mass start, and team sprint. This was the first time in 25 years that the Olympic Oval was host these championships.
The 2023 Canadian Long Track Championships featured the country’s top long track speed skaters and crowned national champions in each individual distance. The results from this event were used to select the skaters who represented Canada at the Fall World Cups.
The 2023 Canadian Junior and Neo Junior Short Track Championships featured the country’s top junior and neo junior short track speed skaters. Junior athletes competed to represent Canada at ISU Junior World Cups and Championships.
The Olympic Oval was proud to host the short track speed skating events for the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games. We were honored to welcome competing athletes from across the country taking part in this tremendous multi-sport event.
The Olympic Oval Classic Series is designed to create fun and meaningful racing opportunities across multiple age categories throughout an entire competition season. The Classic Series utilizes a point system to award the winners of each event and the top 3 overall from the best-combined results from the four events in the Classic Series. A leaderboard of each category and distance was updated throughout the season. All 4 of these events are listed on the ISU Calendar.
The Skate-Tec Western Elite Circuit is a short track competition circuit focused on developing young speed skaters. It provides challenging opportunities for skaters to develop tactical awareness and execute learned skills. The circuit offers a fun racing atmosphere and is an introduction for most skaters to the high-performance competition stream.
Varsity athletes continue to use the Oval daily. This season, the number increased to 924 users (a 6% increase). We also had 223 track & field club (junior/high school) athletes train in the Oval.
The teams who train here include; Basketball (men and women), football, women's hockey, women's rugby, soccer (men and women), swimming (men and women), track & field (men and women), including pole vault, volleyball (men and women), tennis (men and women), and wrestling (men and women). Additionally, individuals from men's hockey, men's golf, and women's golf had access to the facilities.
The Dinos made headlines throughout the 2023/2024 season. Have a look below at some select stories.
We want to hear from you!
The 2023-2024 season was another spectacular season for our athletes, staff, volunteers and guests. After 37 years, the Oval continues to break records for what a legacy Olympic facility can truly be.
Mark Messer
Director, Olympic Oval
