How Speed Skating Canada organized an international event in just one week.
By Sarah B. Hood
No one at Speed Skating Canada expected to relax last October 24, the day before they were due to host a new three-day event, the 2024 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Tour. But they didn’t foresee that an ISU representative would call them up to see whether they could host another major event just one week later.
The second leg of the tour was originally planned for November 1-3 in Salt Lake City. However, when ice-level safety padding at the Utah Olympic Oval failed to match current requirements, the event was swiftly relocated.
“This was a brand-new product. As Canada, we could not let them down,” says Speed Skating Canada CEO Joe Morissette. “Very quickly, we established a decision-making matrix. We sat down with our partners and asked: Is this in the best interests of the athletes, our organization and our sport? Once we had a firm yes, then it became very much an operational matrix: now we know we want to do it, can we do it?”
With an ISU guarantee that Speed Skating Canada would incur no financial risk, the team assessed all their resources. “We reached a point where the broadcast was our one question, but we had enough confidence in our team to turn around and say yes on October 24th. It was a busy day, a lot of meetings with key partners,” says Morissette, “but in the end, our partners were saying ‘yes, we’ll do it.’ We’re such gracious hosts here in Canada; it’s in our blood, and people got really excited that we were doing this in such a short period of time.”
Speed Skating Canada overcame numerous challenges through a combination of creativity and community spirit. “We had over 300 participants who changed their flights, who had been planning to go to Salt Lake City,” he says.
“We went from one hotel to three hotels. The City of Montreal and the staff of the Maurice Richard Arena really pivoted, with extra Zamboni drivers, security staff and maintenance staff. Because it was obviously being broadcast around the world, we had a great partner for the broadcast of the first tour. For the second one, we had to piece together equipment from two or three different suppliers. Instead of the 18-wheeler truck that usually pulls up, we literally had tents in the parking lot.”
To fill more than 2,000 seats, organizers offered 50% discounts to ticket holders from the first event and honoured those sold in Salt Lake City to fans willing to travel. Complimentary tickets were presented to community groups and, says Morissette, “the athletes were out there promoting ticket sales on their own social media.”
Volunteers returned for the extra week, participants took on extra duties and transit passes replaced shuttle buses for about 60 staff members. “Our president got put behind the wheel to drive athletes to the airport. Some of our junior athletes were the ice maintenance staff, and I think my entire Montreal-based staff did different roles, filling in the gaps,” says Morissette. On the plus side, national sponsors for the first round “essentially got bonus visibility for the second event; our sponsors were quite happy!”
“It was an amazing experience, really a team building experience for us, and I think it’s a story we’ll be telling for many years,” he says. “The ISU was very thankful, but the biggest reward was the thanks we had from our own athletes.”
ISU Short Track World Tour 1 & 2
October 25-27 and November 1-3, 2024
Maurice Richard Arena, Montreal
Budget: $725,000 (World Tour 1), $625,000 (World Tour 2)
Athletes: 187
Coaches, staff & officials: 121
Spectators: 4,200 (World Tour 1), 2,150 (World Tour 2)
Volunteers: 150
Volunteer hours: 1,250
Published March 2025
