What are roller sports?
Roller sports are everything on wheels other than the skateboard: inline speed skating on tracks and roads, artistic roller skating (figure skating's wheeled twin), rink hockey played with quad skates and a ball plus inline hockey with a puck, downhill and freestyle skating — and, culturally distinct from all of it, roller derby.[1] [2]
Who governs them?
World Skate — the same IOC-recognized federation that governs skateboarding — oversees the roller disciplines and stages the multi-sport World Skate Games. Roller derby is different: revived in 2000s Texas as a flat-track, largely women's and skater-owned sport, it is organized by the WFTDA and its peers rather than by a traditional federation, and remains proudly independent.[2] [3]
Where are they strong?
Colombia and Italy dominate inline speed skating; Portugal, Spain, Argentina and Italy own rink hockey; artistic skating is strong in Italy, Germany and the U.S.; and roller derby's competitive centre is the United States, with leagues across Europe, Australasia and Latin America.[2] [3]
References
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Roller skating. Accessed August 2026.
- World Skate — official site. Accessed August 2026.
- WFTDA — Women's Flat Track Derby Association. Accessed August 2026.