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18th January 2009:
European Short Track Skating Championships, Torino

	The European Short Track skating championships came to Turin and, always being ones to try something new, we went along for a fun afternoon out. Short Track skating is on an Ice Hockey sized rink and, although slower than Speed Skating it is certainly more frantic and dramatic.
	The highlight and point of maximum confusion was the relay. 4 skaters from each country can swap every half lap, and do so by moving infront of their team-mate and getting push off. Therefore, there are dozens of skaters circulating at the same time, most of whom are not currently racing, only you have no idea which are which. The day finished on a high, as Italy won the men's relay. Although we had taken a Union Jack with us, we only had a couple of chances to wave it as GBR didn't make it to the finals. It didn't matter, we just pretended to be Italian, and cheered with everyone else!