Editing Inline skating (section)

==History of skating==
[[File:Skf-speedy-inline-skates.jpg|thumb|SKF-Speedy, 1978]]

An inline skate appeared in a Paris patent in 1819, but were overtaken in popularity by [[quad skates]].<ref name="sportshistoryweekly">[https://www.sportshistoryweekly.com/stories/rollerblading-inline-skating-x-games-recreational-sports,1104 The Rise & Fall of Rollerblading]</ref>

The German branch of [[SKF]] developed and produced inline skates in 1978 with wheels designed for hockey rinks and streets. The product was discontinued after one year as the management did not want a consumer product in its portfolio.

Other inline skates were developed as a substitute for ice skates. In 1980, a group of ice hockey players in [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]], were looking for a way to practice during the summer. Scott and Brennan Olson formed the company Rollerblade, Inc., to sell skates with four polyurethane wheels arranged in a straight line on the bottom of a padded boot. They sold the company in 1984 to Bob Naegele jr., who advertised to the general public and sold millions.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Gale Encyclopedia of Fitness|last=Moy|first=Tracie|publisher=Gale, a Cengage Company|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4103-6304-6|location=Farmington Hills, MI|pages=529–532}}</ref> ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine published a photo of American skater [[Eric Heiden]], training for the 1980 Olympics, using such skates on a Wisconsin road.

The sport became popular in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, with tens of millions of participants. In 1996, [[Jason Lewis (adventurer)|Jason Lewis]] completed the first solo crossing of the United States on inline skates, part of [[Expedition 360]], a successful attempt to circumnavigate the globe using only human power.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-individual-circumnavigation-of-the-globe-using-human-power
|title=First individual circumnavigation of the globe using human power
|website=Guinness World Records
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112014024/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-individual-circumnavigation-of-the-globe-using-human-power
|archive-date=2019-11-12
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Global HPC – Human Powered Circumnavigations
|url=http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/hpc.shtml
|website=AdventureStats by Explorersweb
|access-date=2013-07-12
|archive-date=2016-04-24
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424024252/http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/hpc.shtml
|url-status=usurped
}}</ref> En route he was hit by a car in Colorado, breaking both legs. After nine months he completed the journey from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco. In 2012, [[Kacie Fischer]] became the first woman, and the fastest person, to inline skate across the United States; she skated from California to Florida in 47 days.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/record-360229-roads-days.html
|title=O.C. woman breaks record for skating across U.S.
|work=The Orange County Register
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226193333/http://www.ocregister.com/articles/record-360229-roads-days.html
|archive-date=2015-02-26
}}</ref> [[Aggressive inline skating]] events were featured in the [[X Games]] from 1995 to 2005. Popularity waned in the 2000s, with parental concerns over injuries and the rising popularity of soccer, lacrosse, and skateboarding. There was a revival sparked by the need for socially distanced recreation during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name="sportshistoryweekly" />