US Roller Speed Skating Injuries and Protection against them

Injuries in speed skating are a very common thing and there is not much you can actually do to fix it. All speed skaters don’t wear anything that would protect them against a fall besides a helmet. This allows us to stay aerodynamic but makes a bigger risk in case we fall. If a skater falls, especially at the speeds we are going, we can get major injuries from basic burns to broken legs and arms. Mostly, because we wear a helmet, it helps protect us from head injuries. 

There hasn’t been an argument, at least in the league I am currently in, about getting new gear to protect us better in cases of falls. It makes sense though. We haven’t had issues with injuries and usually if there is a bad fall, they get sent to the hospital and we don’t think much of it and just hope for the best for the person that fell. 

My view on the small issue is that we are great for the current moment of time. Yes, we will have bad falls here and there but adding gear to wear incase we fall will lower our times and not make the sport as fun as it is now. I would also say the majority, at least in my league, of the people would not support in making skaters wear more protective equipment and just stick with wearing a helmet. Everyone is not needed and a waste of money. For example, we just got a new timing system that allows skaters to put a thing around their ankle and the system on the floor will track your times. In some cases it was great to see who placed what and get an actual representation of their times but for others, their times could have been very off. My times were actually pretty accurate of how I skated that meet of about an average of 13 to 14 seconds a lap. However, one of our new skaters skates about 40 to 50 seconds per lap and the timer said she went 8 secs per lap which is national level fast. 

Now I know this example isn’t an example about protective gear but more about making it more convenient to see times, however I believe with this incident it will make people even more likely not to support new equipment and then having to buy them. I don’t ever see a proposal happening to make speed skating more safer as it is because it is as safe as it can be already.