Those Olympic Speed Skater Glasses Are Not Part of the Uniform for Their Style

For some sports fans, asking why Winter Olympics athletes in the speed skater category wear glasses is like asking why a pitcher wears a glove, or why a basketball player needs the right sneakers on the court. But it's hard not to wonder what the point of the glasses are, and really, the whole getup that has people asking questions every four years when they watch these Olympic Games.

Unlike figure skaters in the Olympics, speed skaters are there for speed and movement that helps them glide faster. Figure skaters have an emphasis on their sparkly outfits, graceful spins and turns, jumps, and, of course, the music.

Speed skaters are a bit more hardcore, and they couldn't be that way if those glasses weren't part of the ensemble.

If you've ever watched the Winter Olympics and noticed speed skaters zooming across the ice in glasses and those tight suits with hoods, it isn't because they are auditioning for the 75th annual Hunger Games. Nope, those outfits are necessary for the athletes to move properly as they try to win a medal during the Olympics.

According to NBC Olympics, speed skaters have to wear glasses or goggles to help keep their eyes from tearing up as they whip around the ice and deal with the wind that comes from moving that fast.

Think of skiers or snowboarders who wear those large goggles. It's in the same vein as wanting to have optimal vision and fewer physical distractions.

Without those glasses, speed skaters might be left with wind-whipped and tearing eyes. Per Red Bull, speed skaters can reach speeds of 30 to 35 miles per hour. However, it is possible to go even faster than that, since Dutch speed skater Kjeld Nuis got up to 64 miles per hour in 2022.

From the glasses to the aerodynamic suits, speed skaters have a specific look that has nothing to do with fashion.

Transitioning between speed skating and figure skating is not as easy as throwing on the same pairs of skates and heading to the ice. According to NBC Olympics, there is a difference between the skates used for each Olympic sport. Once again, the difference, and the need for the difference, has to do with the purpose of the game.

The skates that speed skaters use on the ice have less of a curve than figure skates. They also have a blade on the bottom that has a 90-degree angle for optimum speed as the speed skater teams move through their routines on the ice. The skates and glasses worn by speed skaters in the Olympics are hard to miss, especially for those who might not be familiar with the gear needed for the sport.

One Olympic Games viewer wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "I can't take speed skaters seriously because of their glasses."

Another joked, "Speed skaters look like crime scene cleaners in hazmat suits. Then they unzip their hoods and take off their glasses and supermodels show up."