Roller Skating Roller Skating is a Special Olympics sport with many different facets. Athletes are given the option to compete in artistic events, speed events or roller hockey. Gordon Errington, Special Olympics Jamaica, warms up prior to his gold-medal winning performance in freestyle singles competition at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games. [Photo by Brendan Murphy, IRELAND OUT] In addition to the choice of sport, athletes may choose to use in-line or quad skates, depending on their strengths. For artistic competition, men and women compete separately. The competition is further divided into four levels, each level progressively more difficult and requiring different elements. Speed events offer a variety of distances for all skill levels, as well as relay and slalom events. Special Olympics offers individual skills competition to allow athletes to train and compete in basic roller skating skills. The development of these key skills is necessary prior to advancing to track and team events. Special Olympics athletes can also participate in Unified Sports® relay and team competition. Unified Sports is a program that combines Special Olympics athletes and athletes without intellectual disabilities (partners) on sports teams for training and competition. As in all Special Olympics sports, athletes are grouped in competition divisions according to ability level, age and gender. Roller Skating Facts Roller Skating was inaugurated at the 1987 Special Olympics World Summer Games held in Indiana, USA. Roller skating competition at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin, Ireland (note, all roller skating events were held in Belfast, Northern Ireland ) consisted of 91 athletes from 14 Programs. As of the 2005 Special Olympics Athlete Participation Report, 29,839 Special Olympics athletes compete in roller skating. Roller Skating Events Artistic Competition School Figures: Levels II, III and IV Free Style Singles: Levels II, III and IV Free Style Pairs: Levels I and II Dance, Solo and Team: Levels II, III and IV Unified Sports Dance Team: Levels II, III and IV Unified Sports Free Style Pairs: Levels I and II Speed Competition Track: 100, 300, 500 and 1000 Meter Relay Race: 2 x 100, 2 x 200 and 4 x 100 Meter Unified Sports Relay: 2 x 100, 2 x 200 Meter and 4 x 100 Meter Hockey Competition Team Play, 5-A-Side Unified Sports Team Competition, 5-A-Side The following events provide meaningful competition for athletes with lower ability levels: Level I: School Figures; Free Style Singles; Dance, Solo and Team (Artistic) 30 Meter Straight Line Race (Speed) 30 Meter Slalom (Speed) 15 Meter Ball Dribble (Hockey) Shoot round the Goal (Hockey) Related Links Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports