Skating champions take to the ice

Skating champions take to the ice

Australia’s leading speed-skating champions took to the ice in Docklands last month, to battle it out at the national championships.

The Australian Open Speed Skating Championships were held at the O’Brien Group Arena on September 25 and 26.

Former Olympian Lachlan Hay made his return to ice at the championships after earlier retiring from the sport.

“It was exciting being back on the ice,” Hay said. “I was a bit nervous after taking two and a half years off – I had quite a bit of catching up to do.”

“But I’ve come back up to speed really quickly and it’s good to be back with the guys and back with the team.”

The 29-year-old 2006 and 2010 Olympic Winter Games athlete picked up first place in the 1000m and second place in both the 1500m and 3000m races.

Pierre Boda, a 2014 Olympian also performed well at the championships, placing first in the 1500m and second in the 1000m and 500m.

The pair join Keanu Blunden, Alex Bryant, Andy Jung and Liam O’Brien on the 2015/16 Australian World Cup team.

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