Reston Speedskater Wins National Title

sixth grader Maame Biney returned from Green Bay, WI last weekend with a great souvenir: many medals.

Biney, 12, was the overall winner for the Midget Ladies group at the the 2012  U.S. Speedskating Short Track Age Group National Championships. She won all of her races (333, 500, 777, and 1000), was awarded the over winner for  age group (Midget Ladies).  She also broke a record in the 500 meters. 

"I was jumping up and down, I was so excited," Biney said of learning she had broken the previous record, set four years ago.

Biney also won five gold medals and her age group (Pony Ladies) in 2011, making her an up-and-comer on the speedskating circuit.

Naturally, Biney has a goal of making it to the Olympics. Meanwhile, she is training to be a champion right here in Reston, where she works with her coaches Jimmy Jang and ChoiKwang-Bok Dominion Speedskating Club at

Biney, who was born in Ghana, first stepped on the ice at age 5. Her father, Kweku, enrolled her in a beginner's figure skating class.

"I did figure skating for about five months," said Maame. "But the coach told my dad I was going a little too fast. They said maybe I should try speedskating."

Kweku started taking his daughter to the Kids on Ice Learn to Speedskate  program at Fort Dupont Ice Arena in Washington, D.C. The Bineys were living in Wheaton at the time.

Kweku, who works at a Reston IT company, grew up playing soccer and participating in track and field in his native country. In Ghana, there is no such thing as an ice rink, he says.

"When they say 'ice' in Ghana, they mean ice water or ice cold beer," he says. "But the first day she got out there, I was really surprised. She really took it in stride. She had never seen an ice sheet like that."

These days, Maame is at the rink six days a week. She also does dry land training to boost speed and endurance.

Biney's role model  is Apollo Ono, who won eight Olympic medals. She says she can get excellent coaching here in Reston as she continues her quest for more age-group medals.

"I have great coaches," she says. "Both of them have coached Olympians."

Jang is a former U.S. Olympic Development Coach of the Year, a Choi is a former Korean National and Olympic Team Coach.

Biney says practice and concentration are the keys to being a top speedskater.

"Sometimes I have to think to myself 'don't fall,' she says of making the tight turns that short track speedskating demands. "The coaches teach us to focus and to not get distracted."