Icemaker has thin margin for error during 2010

By Jim Morris, THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Imagine the diameter of a dime.

It may only be about a centimetre and a half but for some Olympic athletes, that tiny measurement could be the difference between gliding on glass and slogging through sand.

It could also be the difference between a good day and a bad day for Kam Kameron.

A centimetre and a half is about the difference in ice thickness the icemaker will have to contend with during the short-track speedskating and figure skating competitions at the 2010 Winter Games.
...
"There is a significant difference," Kameron said in a recent interview. "Short-trackers want the speed. On the straights they want hard, fast ice.
...
Venue staff will also have to deal with some quick turnarounds. There will be days when crews have just two hours 45 minutes between a short-track practice ending and a figure skating competition beginning. In that time, the speedskating track will be torn down and the ice repaired.
"The track is no big deal," said Kameron. "It's more the holes and the ruts. Figure skaters don't like ruts. Short-trackers don't like holes The big thing for us is to patch all the holes."
Read more ...