| Men's free skating at the XVI Pan American Games | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||
| Venue | Pan American Skating Track | |||||||||
| Dates | October 23–24 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 7 from 7 nations | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
«2007 2015» | ||||||||||
| Roller sports at the 2011 Pan American Games | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Speed | ||
| 300 metres time-trial | men | women |
| 1,000 metres | men | women |
| 10,000 metres | men | women |
| Artistic | ||
| Free skating | men | women |
The men's free skating competition of the roller skating events at the 2011 Pan American Games was held between October 23 and 24 at the Pan American Skating Track in Guadalajara. [1] The defending Pan American Games champion is Marcel Sturmer of Brazil.
Roller skating is the traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreational activity as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. In fact, as the United States readied for World War II, the government entertained the notion to add roller skates as essential equipment to move infantry around Europe to save gas. Skates generally come in three basic varieties: quad roller skates, inline skates or blades and tri-skates, though some have experimented with a single-wheeled "quintessence skate" or other variations on the basic skate design. In America, this hobby was most popular first between 1935 and the early 1960s and then in the 1970s, when polyurethane wheels were created and disco music oriented roller rinks were the rage and then again in the 1990s when in-line outdoor roller skating, thanks to the improvement made to inline roller skates in 1981 by Scott Olson, took hold.
The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, Puerto Vallarta, Lagos de Moreno and Tapalpa. It was the largest multi-sport event of 2011, with approximately 6,000 athletes from 42 nations participating in 36 sports. Both the Pan American and Parapan American Games were organized by the Guadalajara 2011 Organizing Committee (COPAG). The 2011 Pan American Games were the third Pan American Games hosted by Mexico and the first held in the state of Jalisco. Previously, Mexico hosted the 1955 Pan American Games and the 1975 Pan American Games, both in Mexico City. The 2011 Parapan American Games were held 20 days after the Pan American Games have ended.
Guadalajara is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is in the central region of Jalisco in the Western-Pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,460,148 inhabitants, it is Mexico's second most populous municipality. The Guadalajara metropolitan area has a reported population of 5,002,466 inhabitants, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in Mexico, behind Mexico City. The municipality is the second most densely populated in Mexico, the first being Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl in the State of Mexico. It is a strong business and economic center in the Bajío region.
