Whether you're using them to play street hockey, get to the corner cafe or just blow past that old granny tottering along the sidewalk - inline skating, otherwise known as rollerblading, is one of the most convenient ways to move yourself around and one of the most popular extreme sports in the world.
It all started more than 250 years ago in Belgium. A man named Merlin took a pair of skates and attached some wheels to the bottom of them. The idea, great as it was, didn’t catch on immediately but by 1840 roller skating was a big hit in Europe.
Rollerblading, a faster version of roller-skating, was invented in 1980 when two American brothers redesigned the roller skate – adding a braking system and changing the wheel system to emulate ice-skates - so they could train for ice-hockey in the summer. Out of that came the modern day inline skating system.
Rollerblading tends to be more popular, both as a pastime and a professional sport, in countries with large areas of flat, empty land – trying to skate uphill is no joke - and South Africa’s hillier terrain has hampered the development of the sport somewhat.
But amongst the local extreme sporting fraternity, rollerblading is right up there with kite-surfing and skateboarding in the popularity stakes and numerous skating parks have opened up across the country in recent years.
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