Roller skating on four wheels, indoors or out, ranges
from children skating in the park to speed skating and
marathons.
History
The first roller skates were probably an adaptation of
ice skates and used for transportation rather than
sport.The first recognized inventor of roller skates was
a Belgian manufacturer of musical instruments named
Joseph Merlin, who produced the first roller skates with
metal wheels in 1760. Roller skates debuted on stage in
1849, when Frenchman Louis Legrange wore them to
simulate ice skates in the play Le Prophete; he mounted
tiny rollers down the center of ice skates. By that time,
others had joined Merlin in producing skates; none had
solved their major problem—skaters could neither
control nor stop the skates.
A New Yorker, James Plimpton, solved the problem
of controlling roller skates in 1863. Plimpton’s skates
used a rubber cushion to anchor the axles. This cushion compressed when the body was leaned, enabling
the wheels of the skate to turn slightly when the skater
shifted his or her weight. Plimpton’s design is considered the basis for the modern roller skate.
The first world championship of roller hockey was
held in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1936. The first world
speed roller skating championships occurred just a
year later in Monza, Italy. Competitive artistic roller
skating existed at the same time, although the first
artistic roller skating world championships were not
held until 1947 in Washington, D.C.
World championships in all three recognized disciplines of competitive roller skating—artistic, speed,
and hockey—have been held annually (for the most
part) ever since.
Rules and Play
All three types of roller skating are governed in the
United States by the United States Amateur Confederation of Roller Skating (USAC/RS). The sport is governed internationally by the Fédération Internationale
de Roller Skating (FIRS).
Artistic skating is further broken down into dance,
singles and pairs freestyle, and figures. Dance skating
requires athletes to perform preannounced skating
dance programs, a detailed series of steps at various
points around the floor. Artistic skating—both singles
and pairs—is very similar to ice figure skating, where
athletes perform difficult routines set to music. Figures
stresses skating fundamentals; competitors must trace
painted circles on the floor.
Speed skating is one of the fastest sports in the
world where speed is generated by human energy. It is
a noncontact sport, requiring skaters to maneuver
cleanly through the pack and into winning position.
Speed skating is divided into indoor and outdoor
varieties, with indoor racing being an almost exclusively American pastime. Indoors, speed skaters take
on a flat, 100-meter (110-yard) track in individual and
relay events. Indoor speed skaters may wear either conventional four-wheeled skates or in-line skates.
Outdoor speed skating, the internationally accepted
version of the sport, is competed on both banked
tracks and road courses. The banked track is usually
about 200 meters and has parabolic curves. A road competition is held on a flat course, either a closed
course or an open stretch of road. Distances of 300,
500, 1,500, 3,000, 5,000, 10,000, and 20,000 meters are
competed on the track, which also includes a relay. On
the road, the same distances are run, with the relay being replaced by a marathon.
—ANDY SEELEY
Bibliography: Phillips, Ann-Victoria (1979). The Complete
Book of Roller Skating. New York: Womman.