Fifty athletes, race officials, volunteers and spectators attended the ceremony held on the historic, newly-modernized Olympic speedskating Oval.

The speedskating championship is the first major international race held in Lake Placid since the 1991 Speed Skating Country Match. The event will have races every day, with Saturday being the final day of racing.

“Lake Placid is such a remarkable place in the history of the Olympic movement and FISU,” FISU Acting President Leonz Eder said during his opening ceremony remarks. “To all the persons involved in this championship, I wish all the best. I hope you will carry on with the positive spirit and help us to promote the values of university sports.”

Eder noted that because of the coronavirus pandemic, this championship is just the second on-site FISU sport event since March 2020, when Amsterdam, Netherlands hosted the fifth FISU University Championship Speed Skating event.

Speedskaters from Poland hold up the flag of Poland during the FISU World University Championship Speed Skating Opening Ceremony on the James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval in Lake Placid on Tuesday. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

“Last week we were lucky to start the season with the successful championship in ski orienteering in the Czech Republic,” Eder said.

As light snow fell, coating the 400-meter outdoor oval, the event celebrated Lake Placid’s rich speedskating legacy. A video showed the story of the oval’s history, from Americans Jack Shea and Irving Jaffee each becoming two-time Olympic speed skating gold medalists during the 1932 Lake Placid Olympic Winter Games to hosting the 1972 FISU World University Games’ speedskating events and American Eric Heiden winning an Olympic-record five individual gold medals during the 1980 winter Games.

The Athlete’s Oath was given by Poland’s 11-time men’s National Champion Szymon Palka, while David Sheffield, second cousin to James C. Sheffield, raised the FISU flag. Chairman of the Essex County Board of Supervisors, Shawn Gillilland, highlighted the oval’s modernization and declared the championship open.

Adirondack Sports Council Chief Executive Officer Ashley Walden challenged the collegiate speed skaters to seize the opportunity to secure their place, not only in FISU history, but as a Lake Placid legend.

The event, which is free and open to the public, began Wednesday with the women’s 1,000-meter and 3,000-meter and the men’s 1,000-meter and 5,000-meter races beginning.

The men’s and women’s 1,500-meter races are slated for today, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Friday’s schedule includes the men’s and women’s 500-meter races and both the men’s and women’s team pursuit. Racing starts at 10:30 a.m.

Competition will wind down Saturday with the mixed team sprint and mass start events, beginning at 10:45 a.m.

The nations competing in the 13 medal events include the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States.