Dutch people like skating.

There are two necessary conditions for skating: ice and skates. The Netherlands is not short of both. As a country of canals, only the capital Amsterdam has 165 canals with a total length of 100 km. China has more than 6,000 kilometers of navigation channels, not to mention small river ditches. Holland is cold enough, too. Its latitude is close to Heilongjiang in China, and the temperature is low enough in winter. During the Little Ice Age (about 1450- 1850), the temperature in the Netherlands was much colder than it is now, and ice and snow were more common. Modern skates using metal skates were invented by the Dutch in the Middle Ages. Thousands of years before that, humans made skates from animals' shins and skates for skating. Because of its favorable weather and geographical location, skating has been popular in the Netherlands for a long time. But at first, it was not a sport, but the way people traveled in winter. A Dutch historian said: "In winter and summer, the canal that drives windmills to irrigate farmland has become a frozen road, which is convenient for people to travel."

Lidwina, the guardian of Catholic skaters, is a Dutch girl. She was born in Stan in 1380. She broke her rib while skating in the canal when she was 15 years old, and she never recovered. After the injury, she began to fast, eating only apples, dates and other fruits and drinking diluted red wine every day, which magically possessed the ability to treat people.

Skating also played an important role in the establishment of Holland. /kloc-Before the 6th century, the Netherlands was in a feudal regime for a long time. From 65438 to 0568, the Dutch started a war against Spanish rule, which lasted for 80 years. 1572 At the beginning of the year, two fleets confronted each other at sea near Amsterdam. At this time, the temperature plummeted and the ship was frozen on the sea. Spanish soldiers disembarked and walked, ready to attack Amsterdam. These soldiers from southern Europe obviously didn't adapt to the cold weather and stumbled on the ice. At this time, the Dutch soldiers quickly slid to the distance where they could shoot, and then quickly slipped away after shooting. The Spaniards were caught off guard, leaving hundreds of bodies behind and hurriedly retreating to the ship. But they also killed some Dutch soldiers and seized their secret weapon-skates. They sent skates back to China for imitation and began to train soldiers to skate. However, after all, the Spanish who are praying for Buddha's feet are no match for the Dutch who have always maintained the advantage of fighting in the ice rink. In the end, the Dutch defeated the Spanish and established their own country. Since then, Dutch military strategists still rely heavily on skating as an housekeeping skill. During World War II, when the Dutch had a premonition that the Nazi invasion was inevitable, they bought all the skates on the market in the autumn of 1939, and prepared to take another surprise victory in the war, but this time the Germans didn't give them a chance. Today, the Dutch still like to use paul simon's lyrics to laugh at the Spaniards of that year: "The closer you get to the goal, the more you keep slipping away."

In February, 20021,a severe snowstorm hit the Netherlands. Although the bad weather has brought inconvenience to people's lives, almost all the people in the country are eagerly looking forward to a lower temperature, because it can hold an ice marathon.

The ice marathon is a legendary sports event in the Netherlands. Its official name is "Eleven City Roller Skating Competition". Participants set off from Leuven, the capital of Frisian province, at 5: 00 a.m., glided across 1 1 cities in the province in one day and then returned to Leuven, with a total distance of 199 km. Because the schedule is quite challenging, it is also called the "Tour de France" in skating.

According to the earliest existing records, as early as 1760, skaters skated all over this1/city in one day. 1890, a man named Pim muriel came up with the idea of turning skating 1 1 year into an organized activity. 1909, this idea came true, and 22 people participated in the first competition. Since then, the "Friesland 1 1 City Association" was established and the competition was hosted by it. Participants must be members of the association. At present, it has 30,000 members.

There is no fixed time for the ice marathon. It is up to God to decide whether to hold it or not. According to the rules, competitions can only be held when the ice thickness is above 15 cm, so so far, only 15 sessions have been held. The most famous one is 1963. * * * There were 65438+ 100000 participants, but due to the extremely bad weather, the temperature was-18 degrees Celsius, and it was windy and snowy. In the end, only 69 people finished the competition. The champion Rainier Papin couldn't see the finish line clearly in the sprint because of snow blindness. Many people got frostbite in the competition. So that game was also called "1963 hell". 1986, the then Dutch prince william alexander completed the competition under an alias. 1997, Peter Klein, the gold medal winner of speed skating in the Winter Olympics, took part in the competition. But he was disqualified because he didn't stamp a city according to the rules, even though the video showed that he did slip there. The last ice marathon was on June 4th, 1997.

The ice marathon is also a national carnival for the Dutch. The day before the competition was called "Loire Night", and audiences from all over the country gathered in the streets to sing and dance, which was a hot spot of the competition. On the day of the competition, 9 million people (Netherlands 1 70,000 people) will watch the live broadcast in front of the TV, and more than110,000 people will watch it live. After the game, the king will personally put a wreath on the champion. The pointed hat worn by the champion will be collected in the Frisian Provincial Museum, and the name will also be engraved on the monument of Louvain Stadium.

20 12 February, the persistent low temperature in the Netherlands put an end to the appetite for holding an ice marathon. The hotels in Loiden are fully booked. Prime Minister Rutte also said with interest: "Every few years, our country is no longer under the jurisdiction of The Hague, but under the jurisdiction of the leaders of Frisian province 1 1 cities." Unfortunately, the game was forced to be cancelled because the ice thickness was not up to standard. In the past two years, people have been lamenting that the ice marathon may never be held again because of global warming.