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Understanding the Sport of Inline
Speed Skating
"A description of
inline speed skating? NASCAR on skates."
John Monroe, Canadian Inline Speed Skating National
Team Coach
1999 Pan American Games; Winnipeg, Canada
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What's
the difference between an inline speed skater and a "Rollerblader"?
Inline
speed skating is a sport in which people race while wearing inline speed
skates. Rollerblade is a company that manufactures inline skates.
Unlike padded recreational skates, inline speed skates are low-cut
tight-fitting boots, with either four or five wheels attached to a
light-weight metal frame with specialized bearings. The wheels are
both larger and harder than recreational wheels.
Top inline
speed skaters routinely attain speeds of over 40km/hour. Racing in packs in order to reduce wind resistance,
however, inline speed skaters can attain race speeds of over 100km/hour (60
miles/hour) on downhill courses!
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"So it's
just like ice speed skating, right?"
Despite
their mutual attraction of high speeds on skates, inline and ice speed
skating are two very different sports. The sport of inline speed skating
differs from ice speed skating in several key aspects, including technique,
tactics, physical contact, race distances, and worldwide participation
levels.
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On ice, athletes sit low to
reduce wind resistance, pushing long and low to the side. The long strides
associated with long track ice don't work on inline, as the increased friction
of racing on asphalt negates the benefit of a long glide phase. If an inline
skater tried to maintain as long a glide phase as her ice counterpart, the force
of friction upon her wheels would actually cause the inline skater to slow down!
Due to having to maintain a higher leg tempo, most inline skaters subsequently
also "sit" in a basic skating position higher than that of most ice sprinters.
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When racing
upon ice, long track skaters tend to focus on either sprint (i.e. 1500m or
less) or distance (greater than 1500m) events. Inline speed skaters,
however, must master skills necessary to
race everything from a 200m individual time trial to full marathons of
42.4 km and beyond. When competing in the World Championships,
many inline speed skaters race most - if not all - of the following
distances: Track: 300m time trial, 500m, 1000m, 10000m points and
elimination, 15000m elimination, 5000m relay; Road: 200m time trial,
500m, 5000m points, 20000m elimination, 10000m relay; Marathon: 26.2 miles.
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Finally, in long
track ice competitions, skaters race either Olympic style - two skaters pitted
one against the other - or mass start. Short track ice competitions are all mass
start events. With the exception of the individual time trial, all inline
skating sprint events (1000m or less) involve heats of six as skaters are
eliminated down to the final six racers. In distance races however (5000m or
greater), all inline skating races are mass start. To an ice skater, "mass
start" means 4 to 8 skaters on the start line. To an inline skater, "mass start"
can mean anything from heats of 20-40 skaters on a 200m track with a five meter
width, up to several thousand skaters surging off the start line in some of the
world's largest inline skating events!
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In reality, inline speed
skating shares more similarities with track cycling than it does with ice speed
skating. Like track cyclists, inline speed skaters become masters of
deception, exceptional tacticians, and honed athletes capable of racing long
distances at high speeds while incorporating frequent tempo changes, maximum
effort surges, and the ability to recover at race pace. These abilities
become instinctual for elite inline skaters, as they are generally performed at
speeds surpassing 40km/hour in large packs of skaters staying as close to one
another as possible to decrease wind resistance.
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An inline skater's ability to
handle tempo changes while maintaining good position in the pack is best
evaluated by the 10000m points and elimination event. In a points race, the
first person to cross the line after the last lap may not necessarily be the
winner. Instead, points are allotted following set "sprint laps" occurring every
1-2 laps of the track. This race is inevitably a favorite for inline race
spectators, as each point lap brings skaters to the line in a full out sprint,
with the first and last skater in the field often separated by mere fractions of
a second. In a points lap, the first couple of skaters across the line receive
points based on their position in the pack. The last skater to cross the line
however, gets eliminated from the race. One by one, skaters are pulled from the
race until only six remain. These six then battle for the remaining points laps
and, ultimately, the overall title.
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On ice, speed skaters adhere
to a strictly enforced code forbidding any physical contact. In contrast,
physical contact frequently occurs in inline speed skating as skaters are
permitted to place their hands lightly upon other skaters when necessary to
maintain a distance between each other within a pack. Skaters are also often
seen using their arms to prevent other skaters from forcing their way into the
pack.
Staying on one's feet despite the accidental kicks, punches and other
inevitable body contact within a tight pack is simply a part of inline racing.
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Inline
Skating: North America's fastest growing recreational activity
In the past
twenty years, inline skating has exploded onto the Canadian fitness scene as
one of the Canada's fastest growing recreational activities. According to
the 2001 Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association of Canada market research,
sales of inline skates from 1996 to 2001 averaged over $447 million per
year. Close to 3.2 million Canadians currently participate in inline
skating, a figure far surpassing levels of participation in other popular
sports such as golf, baseball, tennis, bowling, and downhill skiing. By 2001, 22-25% of all American households owned inline skates, with 62% of
participants between the ages of 7 to 17 years old.
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Inline
Speed Skating: Global popularity
Despite the
popularity of recreational inline skating in Canada, inline speed skating is
still relatively new. This is in sharp contrast to many other regions of the
world where inline speed skating has been a longtime fixture. Currently,
inline speed skating occurs in over one hundred countries on six separate
continents. In the USA alone, the number of registered inline speed skaters
is five times that of registered ice speed skaters!
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The first Roller Skating World Championships occurred in 1937, with skaters
racing upon traditional "quad" skates. Quad skates continued to be popular up
until 1992, the first year that inline skates were accepted for use in
international competition. Now, inline speed skates have all but obliterated the
use of the much slower quad skates. In addition to the World Championships,
inline speed skaters can race in the Pan American, European, Asian or Oceanic
Games depending on their National Team designation. Inline Speed Skating also
has its own World Cup Circuit. The major World Cup races - held in Berlin,
Taipei, and Seoul as well as other cities around the world - routinely draw over
12,000 skaters. With talks occurring between the International
Federation of Roller Skating (FIRS) and the International Olympic Committee
(IOC), it is hoped that inline speed skating will become an Olympic sport.
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Cited
References
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