University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2021-01-14 Chasing Giants: An Ethnography of Developments in Speed Skating Jacobs, Sarah Elizabeth Jacobs, S. E. (2021). Chasing Giants: An Ethnography of Developments in Speed Skating (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/113004 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Chasing Giants: An Ethnography of Developments in Speed Skating by Sarah Elizabeth Jacobs A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ANTHROPOLOGY CALGARY, ALBERTA JANUARY, 2021 © Sarah Elizabeth Jacobs 2021 Abstract In this ethnography I examine the many developments of speed skating, from the history of the sport, to the construction of the Olympic Oval and the development of young athletes seeking to make the Canadian national team. I also survey the development of sport studies, situating my research within almost a century of scholarship on play, games and sport. I account for these developments with an overarching interest in continuity and change, considering the processes and events that deliver particular historical moments, and the ways in which the past becomes a resource for the future. Throughout, I explore relationships between people, practices, ideas, material objects and formal organizations. In so doing, I draw on classical oppositions within social theory and the study of sport, such as structure and agency, or ritual and record. These contradictions serve as productive tensions, enabling and enriching one another, and framing the specific transformations of times, spaces and bodies that I document. Lastly, I conclude by offering some commentary on sport as it relates to play, routine practice and modernity, arguing that for those who chase giants, both their work and their world remains unfinished. This thesis is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, Sarah Elizabeth Jacobs. Fieldwork was approved by Ethics Certificate number REB18-0578, issued on August 01, 2018, by the University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board for the project titled, “Moral Fiber and Muscle Fiber: The Social Production of High-Performance Speed Skaters” Acknowledgements There are many people who supported and spurred this project. First among them, Dr. Charles Mather, who served as my supervisor and sounding board, and whose wit and creativity helped me see things in new ways. Thank you. And thank you to the other members of my supervisory committee, Drs. Sabrina Perić and Doyle Hatt, whose sound advice and thoughtful questions directed my research to better places, and to Drs. Ariel Ducey and Thomas Carter, who graciously agreed to serve as examiners. This research would not have been possible without the generosity of my study participants. I am indebted to the people at the Olympic Oval. No athlete will skate faster or train better because of what I’ve written. But I hope that those who read this will come to appreciate the dedication, fun, and agony that develops athletes. And I hope I have done justice to their joys and their struggles. Lastly, I wish to acknowledge the family and friends whose patience, support, and reassurances sustained me along the way. I am grateful to my parents for all that they have done to deliver me to this moment. And to Ali and Ben, my biggest supporters. You had to put up with me and my odd work hours, especially near the end. Without you, this wouldn’t have been possible. Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures i List of Abbreviations in Sport and Speed Skating ii Chapter 1 A General Accounting 1 Going in Circles (or is it Ovals?) 1 Research Methods 3 False Starts 4 Participant-Observation 6 Fieldwork in the Archives 8 Considering Theories 9 Masking Participants 10 Overarching Ideas: Continuity and Change 12 Time’s Arrow 13 The Oval as Space (and/or Place) 16 Body Matters 17 Thinking Through Things: Technology, Technique 19 and Technê A Piece of Ethnographic Writing 20 A Note on Style 21 Notes on Terms and Statistics 21 Concluding an Opening 22 Chapter 2 Face, Field and Framework 24 The Janus Face of Sport 25 Surveying the Field 27 The Serious Work of Play and Games 31 Defining Play: Homo Ludens 32 Games and the Sacred 34 Are Games and Sport Ritual? 35 Play and the Making of Society 39 The Athlete’s Physio-Moral Body 40 Gymnastic Cultures: Educating the Body/ 41 Education about the Body Muscular Christianity 44 Somatic Nationalism 46 Building the Body 47 Sport as Craft 48 The Genesis of Sport 50 Sport and the Civilising Process 51 Follow the Money: Sport as Competition 52 and Commodification Sport and Rationality 54 A Very Condensed History of the Modern 56 Olympic Games Frameworks and Boundary Work 60 Classificatory Regimes 61 Chapter 3 From Bones to Blades 63 The Development of Skates: Artifacts and Artifice 64 The Development of Regional Races and Games 66 Fen Skating 68 Dutch Styles 69 Colonials Skating in Canada 71 Skating’s Various Moves 72 The Path to Standardization and 73 Bureaucratization (1863-1967) National Sport Organizations 74 International Competitions 75 The Founding of the International Skating Union 77 Speed Skating Goes to the Olympics 79 Speed Skating Today 81 Contemporary Racing and Rules: Long Track 82 Contemporary Long Track Equipment 85 Contemporary Rules and Equipment: Short Track 88 Technique and Strategy 89 Allround Champions 92 Dutch Dominance 94 Fandom at the 2018 World Allround 95 Championships, Amsterdam Day 1 96 Day 2 99 Day 3 102 To the Marrow: The Sport of Speed Skating 105 Chapter 4 “The Fastest Ice in the World”: Olympic Imaginaries at Play 109 Institutional Legacies 110 Theoretical Considerations 112 Realizing Olympic Dreams 112 Chronicling Legacy: From Calgary 1988 Onwards 115 Drama on the Ice 116 The Oval Program 119 An Ordinary Day 120 Quotidian Variations 128 Peer Mentorship 131 “It’s an Iconic Building”: The Semiotics of Space 132 Peopling Institutions 139 Training Together 141 Brothers of the Wind: The Look, Feel and 144 Sound of Fast Ice Building Careers in Sport 149 The Oval is Imperfect and Ageing 155 Conclusion: The Oval and Olympic Imaginaries 159 Chapter 5 Transformations of Time and Potential 163 The Values of Time 164 Time Mastery 165 Putting in the Time 167 The Economics of Recovery 168 Aesthetic Evaluations: Beautiful Skating/ 170 Beautiful Skaters The Body as an Instrument of Horology 172 Translations of Time and Feeling 174 Indexing Time with Pain 177 Records and the Flattening of Time 180 The Long-Term Athlete Development Plan 181 “You can Smell the Potential” 183 Workhorses, Thoroughbreds and Mules 185 Cultivating Potential 186 Potential and Trajectories 188 Faith in the Work 189 Rhythms of Work: Alterations of Time and Self 190 Ambivalence and Ephemerality: 193 The Experience of Tapering Time’s a Wasting 195 Potential Can Look to the Past 197 The 2019 Canada Games 199 Watching the Races: A Study in Contrasts 199 Athlete Development and Speculation: Faith and Reason 203 Conclusion: Sensing Time and Potential 207 Chapter 6 Moral Fiber and Muscle Fiber 209 A Science-y Body of Knowledge 210 Training as Experimentation 213 The Normative Body 214 Data Collection and Monitoring 217 Measuring the Body 219 Fuelling the Body 222 Cleaning Eating 223 Dietary Advice 224 Weight Standards 225 Refining Bodies 226 Look Good, Skate Good 228 Looking Good off the Ice 229 “Your Mind is Stronger than Your Body” 232 “The Mental Game” 233 Nationalism: The Soft Power of Hard Bodies 235 Civic Duty 238 The Spirit of Sport 239 Passion: For the Love of Sport 241 Fortitude 242 Humour 243 Resilience 244 Grit 245 It Takes a Village to be Gritty 248 Finding an Edge: Working at the Margins 249 The Clap Skate 250 Skate Hackers 254 Risk and Tinkering 258 Edgework and Fatefulness 260 Conclusion: Sculpting Bodies 263 Chapter 7 Considering Continuity and Change 266 Chasing Giants 272 From Ordinary to Extraordinary 273 Improvements at the Margins 276 Skating is Fun and Creative 277 Thinking Through the Modernity of Sport 278 The Sporting Triumvirate: Bodies, Spaces and Times 281 Hiking Day 282 References 288 Appendix 333 i List of Tables and Figures Table 3.1 Cindy Klassen’s Adelskalender Calculation 78 Table 3.2 Speed Skating Combinations, 1893-2020 93 Figure 4.1 Architectural Model of the Olympic Oval 132 Figure 4.2 Artist’s Rendering of the Interior 133 Figure 4.3 Exterior Under Construction 133 Figure 4.4 View from the Stands 134 Figure 4.5 Le Patineur de Vitesse 134 Figure 4.6 Upper Hall Looking from Kinesiology Towards the Oval 135 Figure 4.7 Running Track with Offices Above 135 Figure 4.8 The Spire or “Paperclip” 136 Table 6.1 BMI Average of Dutch and Canadian Women’s 216 Speed Skating Teams ii List of Abbreviations in Sport and Speed Skating ACD Advanced Coaching Diploma BMI Body Mass Index CASSA Canadian Amateur Speed Skating Association; now SSC CODA Calgary Olympic Development Association CSI Canadian Sport Institute CS4L Canadian Sport for Life DPS Distance Per Stride FIMS