Palmerston North speed skater Peter xxx is preparing for the biggest annual
speed skating event - the World Speed Skating Championships which are being
held in Cali, Columbia in August.

Peter has been skating his whole life and this will be his fifth time to a
world championship competition.

"This will be my third senior world champs and I went to two  junior world
champs before that.

"Every year my results are improving and I'm getting more experience so this
year I am aiming to win medals."

He says his best events are the 200 metre and 300 metres sprints which are the
two events he is concentrating his training on and if he is performing well
when he gets to the worlds he may get the 500 metres as well.

Peter's best results so far at the world champs have been sixth place in the
300m time trial for both the senior and junior champs.

"I've put in years and years of hard work. I definitely feel I'm one of the
strongest speed skaters out there so there's no reason not to bring medals
home."

Skating is a tradition for Peter's family.

"My grandmother had a lot to do with it years ago and both my mum and aunty
were speed skaters and figure skaters and my sister was as well but I'm the one
who stuck to it."

Peter says there are two competitions held during the year that are used to
select the New Zealand team. The first is the New Zealand National
Championships on road and the second is the Track National Championships.

This year Peter is the only senior male New Zealand team member who is still
training in New Zealand. He trains at Massey University at the new carpark
there and also at the new purpose built track at memorial park. Peter says he
trains up to 30 hours a week.

"Most days it's twice a day - it's like a full time job."

He says speed skating can be a really expensive sport. "Its really hard to get
funding but the New Zealand Academy of Sport has been better the last couple of
years."

The world champs are the biggest competition of the year for Peter so this year
he will head to Cali a month early to acclimatise and do wheel testing before
racing begins.

Once he returns from the champs he will get back into base training.

"I've done a lot of cycling as cross training over the last 10 years and I've
started to get into that more seriously over the last few months."