MORE ABOUT INLINE SPEED SKATING

The inventor of the inline roller skate is thought to be John Joseph Merlin from Belgium. In the 1760s, this inventor and instrument maker wore the skates he made as a way to promote his museum. However, Merlin’s skates had no brakes, which caused lots of problems.
In 1910, a three-wheeled inline skate was created for roller hockey players in New York. The skates were designed by the Roller Hockey Skate Company.
In 1937, the first Roller Speed Skating World Championship was held in Monza, Italy.
In 1979, brothers Scott and Brennan Olson from Minneapolis modified a pair of older inline skates. They attached four-wheeled inline skate frames to a pair of hockey boots. They also installed a rubber toe-brake so the skater could stop more easily. Their skates were meant for ice hockey training during the off-season, but their idea took off and became known as Rollerblades—the modern inline skates many use today.
Inline roller speed skating, also called inline racing, has been a part of the World Games since 1981.
During the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, inline skate rink hockey, using quad skates, was performed as a demonstration sport. It was the first time that roller skating athletes were part of the Olympics.
By 1997, inline skating had become a billion-dollar business, with more than 25 million Americans participating in it.
In 2021, at the Inline Speed Skating World Championships, the nation of Colombia won 59 out of a possible 126 medals. The United States won just one bronze medal overall.
Today there are a number of competitive inline skating sports. In addition to inline speed skating, there’s inline alpine, inline downhill, inline freestyle, and inline hockey.
Inline speed skating and ice speed skating are similar enough that some athletes compete in both sports. Five years after switching from inline speed skating to ice speed skating, U.S. skater Erin Jackson was the top-ranked ice speed skater in the world at the 500-meter event. She won gold in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Have you ever wondered how fast it’s possible to go on inline speed skates? The average speed of an inline speed skater is anywhere from 6 to 20 miles (9.7 to 32.2 kilometers) per hour. Elite athletes may reach up to 31 mph (50 kph). Skaters can go as fast as 40 mph (64.4 kph) while skating downhill!
Some people use inline skating as a form of exercise. Skating at a speed of 8 to 9 mph (13 to 14 kph) can burn more than 300 calories an hour.
Aggressive inline skating (also known as rollerblading, blading, skating, street skating, rolling, roller freestyle, or freestyle rolling) is a type of inline skating in the “extreme sports” category. Aggressive inline skates are modified to be able to do grinds and jumps similar to skateboards.
Roller speed skating races are held on rinks with banked walls or on closed roads. A maximum of five wheels are allowed on racers’ skates, and cannot be bigger than 110mm. For long distances, skates can have 125mm wheels. In professional events, no brakes are allowed!