Uralskaja Molnija, Ice sports complex in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Uralskaja Molnija is an ice sports hall in Chelyabinsk with a temperature-controlled arena where speed skating, ice hockey, bandy, figure skating, and curling take place. The venue accommodates roughly 1600 spectators and serves both competitive events and training sessions year-round.
The ice palace opened on 28 December 2004, timed to the 40th anniversary of Lidia Skoblikova's four gold medals at the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics. It was Russia's second covered 400-metre speed skating track with artificial ice, after Krylatskoye in Moscow. On 15 February 2013 the Chelyabinsk meteor explosion damaged the building.
The name honours Lidija Skoblikowa, nicknamed the "Ural Lightning" for her origins in the Chelyabinsk region; she won all four speed skating golds at the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics. The hall opened on 28 December 2004, the 40th anniversary of that feat. Inside, a speed skating museum — one of only two in Russia, the other in Kolomna — displays the sport's history.
The arena has two unfrozen zones with rest areas, a skate-changing area and a buffet open during public skating. Evening sessions and weekends are reserved for public skating, with 600 pairs of skates, protective gear and instructors available. The ice surface covers 10,540 m².
At the 2011/12 World Cup opener, the Norwegian trio Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen, Kristian Reistad Fredriksen and Sverre Lunde Pedersen set a junior world record in the team pursuit on 20 November 2011, clocking 3:47.45 over eight laps.
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