Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track". The International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of competitive ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating".
The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 days. The World Games are governed by the International World Games Association, under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.
The Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports was the world governing body for roller sports, including skateboarding, rink hockey, inline hockey, inline speed skating, inline alpine, downhill, roller derby, roller freestyle, inline freestyle, aggressive inline skating, inline figure skating and artistic roller skating. It was established in April 1924 in Montreux, Switzerland by two Swiss sportsmen, Fred Renkewitz and Otto Myer, who had close connections to the International Olympic Committee.
USA Roller Sports (USARS), formerly the United States Amateur Confederation of Roller Skating, is the national governing body of competitive roller sports in the United States. It is recognized by the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS) and the United States Olympic Committee.
Roller sports are sports that use human powered vehicles which use rolling either by gravity or various pushing techniques. Typically ball bearings and polyurethane wheels are used for momentum and traction respectively, and attached to devices or vehicles that the roller puts his weight on. The international governing body is World Skate.
The 1981 World Games were the first World Games, an international multi-sport event, and were held in Santa Clara, California, United States. The games featured sports that were not included in the Olympics, including tug-of-war, racquetball, baseball and softball, artistic roller skating, roller hockey, roller speed skating, finswimming, karate, women's water polo, bowling, bodybuilding, waterskiing, casting, badminton, trampoline, powerlifting and taekwondo. Best estimates for attendance figures were that about 80,000 spectators witnessed the first World Games.
Roller hockey, rink hockey or quad hockey is a team sport played on roller skates. It is a quad-skate team sport where two teams face-off against one another, trying to drive a hard ball with their sticks into the opposing teams' goalnet. Each team has five players on the rink at a time, four of whom are skaters and one who is the goalkeeper. The ball can only be put in motion by a stick, not the skate, otherwise a foul will be stated. The game has two 25-minute halves, with 15-minute halftime intermission, plus up to two 5-minute golden goal periods to settle ties with the clock stopping when the ball becomes dead. If the tie persists, a penalty shootout will determine the winner. Players – including the goalie – use quad skates, whereas inline skates are used in inline hockey. The sticks are similar to those in bandy and shinty. Excessive contact between players is forbidden in rink hockey, unlike inline hockey.
Finswimming has featured as a trend sport at the World Games since the inaugural 1981 World Games held in Santa Clara, California.
Badminton was introduced and only played at the 1981 World Games. The badminton events of World Games I were held on July 25–28, 1981, at the San Jose Civic Auditorium in San Jose, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara. China, in its first summer multi-sport event since the 1936 Summer Olympics, competed in badminton only, winning four of the five gold medals. Seventeen of the countries at these Games participated in badminton, making it one of the most represented sports. The players executive of the International Badminton Federation, Ciro Ciniglio, expressed disappointment at the lack of media coverage of badminton, saying, "We have many world champions competing here and ... were hoping all these great players would draw crowds. ... The United States over the years has had very good players, some of the finest. It was our hope to help the sport gain popularity in the United states by showcasing all this fine talent."
The World Skate Games are an international biennial multi-sport event, comprising all the world roller sport disciplines as regulated by the World Skate international federation. The games involve 11 World Championships in one multi-sport event.
Medal events in both men's (4) and women's (2) bodybuilding were included in World Games I. They were held on July 30–31, 1981, at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose, California. The 1981 Games were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were held in California's Santa Clara Valley. In the bodybuilding competition, the preliminary rounds featured two-on-two competition. Point scoring was based on mandatory posing and optional posing determined by the athlete. 26 of the countries at these Games participated in bodybuilding, making it one of the most represented sports.
The World Games I baseball competition was held on July 27–30, 1981, at San Jose Municipal Stadium in San Jose, California. The 1981 Games were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were held in California's Santa Clara Valley. Teams from the United States, Australia, South Korea and Panama participated.
Roller hockey was one of the sports featured in World Games I. The 1981 Games were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were held in Santa Clara, California in the United States. Roller hockey or its more recent variant, inline hockey has appeared in all editions of the World Games to date, except 1997.
The artistic roller skating events of World Games I were held on July 27–30, 1981, at Cal Skate Roller Rink in Milpitas, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara.
The road speed skating events of World Games I were held on August 1, 1981, in the vicinity of Marriott’s Great America amusement park in Santa Clara, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara. This was the first time that the marathon and half-marathon road events were conducted in international competition. Both events were held on the city streets of Santa Clara. Tom Peterson of the United States set an American record in winning the marathon.
The karate events of World Games I were held on July 25–27, 1981, at the Toso Pavilion on the campus of Santa Clara University in California, United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of city of Santa Clara. It was anticipated that Japanese athletes would perform well at karate. They did so by winning 12 medals among the nine events, including five gold medals.
The powerlifting events of World Games I were held on July 25–26, 1981, at Marriott's Great America amusement park in its Grandstand Pavilion in Santa Clara, California. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara in the United States. The powerlifting events apparently had a dearth of competitors, as there were no bronze medals awarded in eight of the nine events, and lifters representing the United States won 15 of the 18 medals awarded. In the -100 kg class, Jim Cash of the U.S. set world records in both dead lift and total lift.
The trampoline gymnastics events of World Games I were held on July 29–30, 1981, at the San Jose Civic Auditorium in San Jose, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara. Athletes from the United States won 17 of the 23 trampoline medals awarded.
The track speed skating events of World Games I were held on July 29–31, 1981, in Parking Lot J of Marriott’s Great America amusement park in Santa Clara, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara. The course was a 400-meter triangle-shaped track. Italian athletes won 11 of the 18 track speed skating medals.
World Skate is the only governing body in the world for all sports performed on skating wheels. The organisation is the successor of the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS) founded on 21 April 1924.
Patrizio Sarto (ITA)
Scott Constantine (NZL)
Donald Van Patten (USA)
Carlos Penagos (COL)
Lo Wei-Lin (TPE)
Jang Su-Chul (KOR)
Simon Albrecht (GER)
Gwendal Le Pivert (FRA)
Johan Guzmán (VEN)
Lucas Silva (CHI)
Bart Swings (BEL)
Kevin Webb (AUS)
Ken Kuwada (ARG)
Livio Wenger (SUI)
Alejandro Paez (MEX)
Araceli Larrea (ESP)
Guo Dan (CHN)
Jorge Bolaños (ECU)