Have you ever tried rollerblading? It’s also called inline skating. The skates resemble ice skates, with three or four wheels aligned under the boot. Not the sport for me. I prefer the old-style 2-by-2 roller skates and a nice wooden rink where I can roll around in a controlled little oval for hours. When it comes to ice? Yeah, no. When I play ice hockey I’m the goalie because you don’t have to move much and they expect you to “fall down” on the puck to stop the opposing team from scoring!
Inline skating is a great aerobic activity. Many people skate around their neighborhoods as a daily exercise. Some even visit skate parks to share space with skateboarders and Razer scooter riders. Watching someone who is good at inline skating can be invigorating. They are fast and versatile, and a good inline skater can do death-defying tricks while strapped into their skates. We sure have come a long way since the days of old metal wheels we strapped onto our saddle shoes!
When we saw the skater in the TikTok below, it brought our attention to this sport, and to World Skate competitions happening around the globe. World Skate is the entity that governs any sport using skating wheels. This includes inline skating, traditional rollerskating, Razer-style scootering, and skateboarding. They have worked tirelessly over the years to get skating sports into international competition.
One of the goals of World Skate has been to introduce skating events to the Olympic Games. They have enjoyed some success in their pursuit. In 1992 in Barcelona, Rink Hockey was a demonstrative, non-competitive activity. It was 22 long years later (2014) before the decision to include Skateboarding and Inline Speed Skating in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. The two sports also got a position in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Skateboarding is in both the 2024 Olympics in Paris and the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. World Skate continues its efforts to introduce new categories for inline skating and other skating sports.
Whether you are an inline skating practitioner, or you just enjoy watching the skill of skaters, we’re sure you’ll enjoy this skater’s agility. As he traverses a mini-cone course, you can see the concentration on his face. At the end, check the timer. He was zooming!
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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