ROLLER-SKATING

recreational and competitive sport in which the participants use special shoes fitted with small wheels to move about on rinks or paved surfaces. The invention of roller skates has been traditionally credited to the Belgian Joseph Merlin in the 1760s, but the first practical four-wheel skate was designed in 1863 by James Plimpton of Medford, Mass., U.S., and thereafter the first great recreational roller-skating craze swept the United States and western Europe, where many rinks were built. By the late 20th century, the wooden or metal wheels traditionally used in skates had given way to lightweight polyurethane plastic wheels that grip the riding surface better. Another innovation was in-line (Rollerblade) skates, in which a single row of wheels is used in place of the standard four-wheeled rectangular configuration. As a sport, roller-skating speed events began in the 1890s and were popular through the first quarter of the 20th century. Later, professional speed-skating teams performing in roller derbies on banked tracks became a spectator sport in the United States, although these events were as much prearranged spectacle as sport. Major speed roller-skating events for men, women, and relay teams involve racing counterclockwise around an oval track or on the open road. The rules and techniques for these competitions are much like those established for ice skating. Figure dancing and figure skating on roller skates, introduced in 1910 and 1923, respectively, correspond in most ways to the parallel ice-skating events; similar systems for judging competitions and for proficiency tests are employed. International competition in artistic, hockey, and speed roller-skating is governed by the International Roller Skating Federation, founded in 1924. The first world championships were held in 1937.