Milan, Italy – – As the Olympic Games in Milan Cortina enter their final days, the U.S. Speed Skating team is poised to make a strong push in the Team Pursuit event, armed with a revolutionary technique borrowed from the world of NASCAR. What began as a quiet, almost secretive project dubbed “Slippery Fish” has become a game-changer, transforming the American team from underdogs to potential medal contenders.
The Team Pursuit, introduced as an Olympic sport in , pits two teams of three skaters against each other, racing around a 400-meter track. For years, the U.S. Struggled to find consistent success in the event. That changed when U.S. Speedskating national team coach Ryan Shimabukuro commissioned a study to evaluate the team’s potential for medaling at the Beijing Games. The result was a collaboration with sports aerodynamicist Ingmar Jungnickel, and a radical rethinking of race strategy.
Jungnickel, leveraging an AI-powered simulation tool funded by a grant from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, discovered that a technique known as “bump drafting” – commonly used in NASCAR racing – could dramatically improve the team’s speed. The concept is simple: instead of skaters taking turns leading and cutting through the wind, they maintain incredibly close proximity, with each skater actively pushing the skater in front.
“And we could show that pushing is substantially faster,” Jungnickel explained. “And in fact, so fast that you can go from eighth in the world to first in the world using this technique.”
The initial reaction from coaches was skepticism. The idea of skaters physically pushing each other at speeds approaching 30 mph seemed counterintuitive, and potentially dangerous. “They were concerned the lead skaters would tire out, and they weren’t sure what it would be like to be pushed around a track,” NPR reported. However, as the team began to see results in training and competition, the technique was fully embraced.
The current U.S. Team Pursuit squad – consisting of Giorgia Birkeland, Brittany Bowe, Mia Manganello, and Greta Myers – has fully integrated the push technique into their training regimen. Birkeland, who skates in the third position, described the level of trust required. “You have to read their body language. You have to get used to their skating style and their strokes. You have to be so close to them. Trust is a huge thing,” she said.
The close proximity is, to say the least, intense. “Consider be as close as humanly possible to the gluteus maximus,” Birkeland quipped, highlighting the incredibly tight formation required for the technique to be effective. In fact, the third skater in the formation can barely see, relying entirely on the skaters in front to maintain pace and direction.
The success of the U.S. Team has not gone unnoticed. What began as a uniquely American strategy is now becoming the standard across the international speed skating community. “To be successful, most teams have to rely on this technique,” Shimabukuro stated. “I feel like you’re probably going to see most teams doing it in the Olympic Games.”
The shift in strategy represents a significant evolution in Team Pursuit racing. Traditionally, skaters would rotate the lead position to share the burden of wind resistance, similar to the drafting formations seen in cycling. Jungnickel’s research, however, demonstrated that the constant pushing provided a more efficient transfer of energy, resulting in faster lap times. He likened the technique to “ballroom dancing with knives on your feet,” acknowledging the inherent risk involved in skating so closely together at high speeds.
The American team’s embrace of innovation extends beyond the push technique. They are also utilizing an app designed to optimize aerodynamic efficiency, reducing drag and maximizing speed. While details about “Slippery Fish” remain closely guarded, the results speak for themselves. The U.S. Team is now a legitimate contender for a medal in the Team Pursuit, a testament to their willingness to challenge conventional wisdom and embrace new technologies.
With the Olympic Games drawing to a close, all eyes will be on the U.S. Speed Skating team as they attempt to translate their innovative training and strategic adjustments into Olympic glory. The team, featuring veterans like Brittany Bowe – a four-time Olympian – and rising stars like Giorgia Birkeland, represents a new era for American speed skating, one built on data, trust, and a little bit of NASCAR-inspired ingenuity.
