Olympic Status
Attempts by the world governing body for roller sports, the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS), to gain Olympic status for any of its disciplines were distinctly insufficient in the closing decades of the 20th century. Most notably, it failed to capitalize when rink hockey (a form of roller hockey) appeared as a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Efforts by FIRS to obtain Olympic status became more coherent in about 2000, with inline speed skating promoted as the roller sport best suited for the Olympics. However, the federation faces competition from approximately 20 other sports also seeking entry into the Olympics, while at the same time the president of the International Olympic Committee has expressed a desire to reduce the size of the summer Olympic Games. Roller sports was a candidate sport for the 2016 Summer Olympics, following the drop of baseball and softball, but the Olympic Committee eventually chose rugby sevens and golf instead.
Notably, roller speed or in-line speed skating has been an included sport at the World Games since their inception in 1981.
Read more about this topic: Inline Speed Skating
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—Joseph Heller (b. 1923)
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—Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen. Excerpted from, Gender Grace: Love, Work, and Parenting in a Changing World (1990)