Alau Ice Palace
Template:Infobox stadium The Alau Ice Palace (Template:Lang-kk; Template:Lang-ru) is an 8,000-seat speed skating oval in Astana, Kazakhstan. Besides of speed skating it is also used for other sports. It was opened in 2011. The center hosted the speed skating events at the 2011 Asian Winter Games.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2015, it hosted the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was ranked first among the world’s speed skating stadiums according to the Dutch AD Sportwereld publication’s ranking.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
For judo it was the venue for the 2015 World Judo Championships in August 2015.
History
Construction of The Oval began in 2007, nearly four years after Astana and Almaty had been designated host of the 2011 Asian Winter Games. Construction was completed by the end of the summer of 2011, officially opening in December 2011, two months before the beginning of the Games. The Alau Ice Palace was designed as the first covered speed skating oval in Kazakhstan, and as the second ever speed skating venue after Medeo. Being domed, this would give the facility the ability to control climate conditions inside to produce the highest quality ice possible.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Alau is an artificially frozen indoor skating rink with a standard speed skating track of 400 meters to the lap. The radii of the inner and outer competition lanes are 26 and 30 meters respectively. The width of each competition lane is 4 meters with an inside training lane of 4 meters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
When not hosting speed skating competitions, The Oval is open to public skating and family day events.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Track records
| Men | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event. | Time | Name | Nation | Date | Ref |
| 500 meters | 34.52 | Dai Dai Ntab | Template:NED | December 3, 2016 | <ref name="OR2002">Template:Cite book</ref> |
| 2 x 500 meters | 70.000 | Joji Kato | Template:JAP | February 2, 2011 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| 1,000 meters | 1:08.66 | Shani Davis | Template:USA | November 30, 2013 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| 1,500 meters | 1:45.06 | Denis Yuskov | Template:RUS | November 29, 2013 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| 3,000 meters | 3:39.36 | Wouter olde Heuvel | Template:NED | November 26, 2011 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| 5,000 meters | 6:13.83 | Sven Kramer | Template:NED | November 26, 2011 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| 10,000 meters | 12:50.40 | Jorrit Bergsma | Template:NED | December 2, 2012 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| Women | |||||
| Event | Time | Name | Nation | Date | Ref |
| 500 meters | 37.27 | Lee Sang-hwa | Template:KOR | November 29, 2013 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| 2 x 500 meters | 76.090 | Yu Jing | Template:CHN | February 2, 2011 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| 1,000 meters | 1:14.10 | Brittany Bowe | Template:USA | February 28, 2015 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| 1,500 meters | 1:56.10 | Christine Nesbitt | Template:CAN | November 26, 2011 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| 3,000 meters | 4:02.90 | Martina Sáblíková | Template:CZE | December 2, 2016 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
| 5,000 meters | 6:59.88 | Martina Sáblíková | Template:CZE | November 29, 2013 | <ref name="OR2002"/> |
