Last night we were watching the Olympics with a bunch of family members, one of which is a bit off his nut (c’mon, there’s one in every family). As soon as the Zamboni malfunctioned prior to the last round of speed skating competitions, he was quick to jump to the conclusion that it was “because it was green”. For some reason this has been the reason for failure that everyone has latched onto. Here is what actually happened:

Fact #1: It was an Olympia, Not a Zamboni.
See the Olympia ice resurfacer product page for more. The model in question was the Ice Bear, a battery-powered ice resurfacing machine.

Fact#2: It Ran on an Electric Engine, Which Did not Cause the Malfunction
The Ice Bear Olympia runs on batteries, and the power of its engine was not the issue. The issue was problems with the lever that lowers the blade to resurface the ice and leave it smooth, something that could have happened just as easily on a non-green machine.

In the end, it was the manufacturer’s design that caused the issue, but not because it was “green” but because it was faulty. Public opinion is likely to cause a negative attitude towards green ice resurfacers in the future, unless Zamboni can invent a good one.