An offshoot of ice skating, roller skating developed as a sport of the summer. A
Belgian named Merlin is credited with having invented the first roller skates in 1760.
However, a roller skates with ball bearings was a development of the late 1800s.
The Roller Skating Federation of India (RSFI), affiliated to the Federation International
de Roller Skating (FIRS), was established in 1955. A founder of the Confederation of Asian
Roller Skating or CARS, the RSFI holds the national roller skating championships in eight
age groups in three categories of events. The events are speed, artistic and roller
hockey. The speed event comprises two rink races and two road races, while the artistic
event includes free fancy and figure acrobatics (jumps and spins). Roller hockey, similar
to ice hockey, is played between two teams comprising five players each including the
goalkeeper. One substitution is allowed per team.
An international standard skating rink measures 80 metres by 40 metres with the
circumference around the four conical pins being 125 metres.
Since 1989 an All India Invitational Roller Staking meet under the name of Field Marshall
K. M. Cariappa is being conducted in Bangalore under the auspices of the Sports Lovers
Club, Bangalore.
One of India's great achievements, which has earned a mention in the Guinness Book of
World Records, is that of whiz kid, R. Vishwanath, who skated under a horizontal bar just
six inches above the ground when he was seven years old. Vishwanath also went on a fund
raising spree for the Maharashtra earthquake victims by skating from Madras to Bombay.
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