Roller skating

📖 In short

Roller skating is a sport and pastime where you wear boots with little wheels underneath to glide over smooth ground, in parks and squares or on special rinks, sometimes to music.

🤩 Did you know?

Joseph Merlin invented roller skates in 1760.
Competitions are held indoors on a 100-meter track.
Some sports are played on skates, like roller hockey and artistic skating.
Some outdoor races range from 300 meters to 20 kilometers.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 Two kinds of skates

Some skates have four wheels, two at the front and two at the back, and some have wheels in a single line, which are faster and look like ice skates.

🔍 An old invention

A Belgian maker of musical instruments invented the first roller skates more than 260 years ago. He showed them off at a party while playing the violin, but he didn't know how to stop and crashed into a mirror!

💡 Learn step by step

Start by standing and balancing, then push with one foot and glide, and learn to stop with the brake at the front or back of the skate. Falling is part of learning, so don't give up!