My name is Juan Pablo Arango.
I am 17 years old.
I'm from Colombia and I practice roller speed skating.
My greatest goal would be
to classify for the Olympic Games.
It would fill me with pride,
because of how important it is.
(JUAN PABLO IS ONE OF
(THE WORLD'S TOP YOUNG SPEED SKATERS)
(HEROES OF THE FUTURE)
Well, Juan Pablo Arango
is one of my most special students,
for many years now. He came to me...
when he was almost a baby.
He's been a national champion
and he's tried every category
from the time he was seven.
(HIS GOAL IS TO WIN A GOLD MEDAL
(AT THE YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES)
Currently, he's one of the best
skating prospects in Colombia.
He already managed to be at his first world championship,
last year. And he got a medal.
He's definitely a great prospect
and a great human being as well.
(MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA)
Speed skating is Colombia's most successful sport,
so I'd say that it is
one of the this country's most representative sports.
Currently, we are the best at speed skating in the world.
We have eight consecutive world championships.
That's why skating in Colombia has become a...
national sport.
Including skating in the Youth Olympic Games
was a huge undertaking for every country.
One man and one woman can go there and compete
for the Olympic Games.
Speed skating covers every aspect,
every requirement to be an Olympic sport.
This sport requires a lot of training,
the races are exciting, and people love it.
It's been one of the most wonderful news we've had.
As an athlete, I consider myself in love with skating.
A responsible athlete, one who knows what he's doing,
and has clear goals.
And I enjoy speed skating to the fullest.
What I like the most,
besides it being a very healthy lifestyle,
that you find truly valuable friendship playing this sport.
I always enjoy running in my skates
and the speed is one of the things I love the most.
(THE CURRENT WORLD RECORD FOR 200M
(IS 15.879 SECONDS)
You feel a certain freedom while skating.
You forget all your troubles. You forget everything,
and you can simply...
enjoy the contact of the wheels with the track.
And that's the most important, to enjoy what you do.
There's not a lot of time to think at speed events.
You need to sort out everything
before you enter the track.
And during group races and speed races
you need to have a strategy and carefully plan how to get
always the same results.
I'd say one of the key factors is technique,
both for skating and pushing.
It's the most important, even from an early age.
And of course, strength also plays a key role.
Specially for speed.
Skating, as a sport, has...
a lot of contact, a lot of physical friction.
So let's just say that when they fall
it's really rough and you often see them
breaking their collarbones.
It's quite similar to road cycling.
You often end up without any desire
to go back to training and wearing the skates,
but you know, every athlete
trying to accomplish something
needs to make huge sacrifices. But...
at one point, you need to
learn to deal with it and enjoy it.
Juan Pablo, as a racer, is what we'd call
in skating jargon a "cold skater".
When it's time to go running, he measures his rivals.
He knows who he's facing.
He's not afraid of the competition.
So you could say it's an extraordinary compliment
to his physical and technical aspects.
I'm sure every sportsman
always wants to get to the podium,
to reach the top.
It's really satisfying, because that's the reward
for all of the effort you put into training every day.
Winning motivates you a lot.
I think that an Olympic medal is...
the greatest achievement an athlete can obtain,
no matter the discipline.
It's the most important event in the world...
when it comes to sports.
And it would truly be a reward
for all of the effort I've put in
ever since I was four years old.
And I think it would be something historic,
because I'd be the first to achieve this in skating.
I've always given the best of me,
and always wanted to be the best,
and to get the best possible results.
(HIS TIME IS NOW)