Artistic roller skating

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Artistic roller skating

A competitor during Artistic Skating World Championship
Highest governing body	World Skate
Nicknames	Roller skating
Characteristics
Team members	Individuals, duos, or groups
Mixed-sex	Yes
Equipment	Roller skates
Venue	Sports rinks
Presence
Olympic	No
World Games	1981 – present

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Artistic roller skating.

Artistic roller skating is a competitive sport similar to figure skating but where competitors wear roller skates instead of ice skates. Within artistic roller skating, there are several disciplines:^[1]

• Figures: the individual follows the figure circle line on a specific edge. Figures become progressively more complex with the addition of turns and the use of the third circle (similar to compulsory or "school" figures on ice).
• Free Skating: Individual skaters perform solo routines with jumps varying from singles to doubles, triples and quads, and spins to their chosen piece of music. They compete with a Short Program (usually around 2:45 minutes long) and are then classified in Top 10 and Less Top 10 categories depending on their rankings in the Short Program to compete in the Long Program (also known as a Free Program and usually around 4 minutes long).
• Duo Free (also called Pairs): two individuals perform jumps, spins, and lifts to their chosen piece of music.
• Couples Compulsory Dance: two people perform a dance consisting of a set sequence of steps in a pattern around the rink to a piece of music to a given tempo. There are no jumps or spins.
• Solo Compulsory Dance: an individual performs a dance consisting of a set series of steps in a pattern around the rink to a piece of music to a given tempo. There are no jumps or spins.
• Quartet: A themed routine performed by a team of four skaters. Team skating, similar to synchronized skating on ice.
• Club Show: A club of skaters perform a themed show routine.
• Original dance: the individual dancer or dance couple performs a routine to a musical medley with a set theme. The original dance includes a section that is a set compulsory dance but the rest of the routine is original choreography in keeping with the given theme. In national and international championships at the Junior and Senior level, original dance has replaced compulsory dance.
• Solo dance: the individual dancer or dance couple performs a routine to their chosen piece(s) of music. Solo dancers first compete with a Style Dance which includes a Pattern Sequence corresponding to the required steps from a compulsory dance and three of: Travelling Sequence, Cluster Sequence, Footwork Sequence and Artistic Footwork Sequence. Only three of the four elements are presented depending on the requirements for the year implemented by the World Skate Technical Commission. After the Style Dance, skaters compete with a Free Dance routine including all four elements in addition to a Choreographic Sequence. In couples free dance there are restrictions on the types of lifts allowed. In this discipline, skaters are allowed to perform one to two single-rotation jumps and/or a basic spin.
• Large Show Group: A group of sixteen (16)to thirty (30) skaters (women and/or men) with a maximum of four (4) extras. ^[2]
• Small Show Group: A group of six (6) to twelve (12) skaters (women and/or men) with a maximum of two (2) extras. ^[3]

Artistic roller skaters use either quad or inline skates, though quad skates are more traditional and significantly more common. Generally, quad and inline skaters compete in separate events and not against each other. Inline figure skating has been included in the world championships since 2002 in Wuppertal, Germany.^[4]

The sport is similar to its counterpart on ice, with some differences in moves, technique, and judging. Many ice skaters started in roller skating or vice versa. Famous champion ice skaters who once competed in roller skating include Brian Boitano, Tara Lipinski and Marina Kielmann. Artistic roller skating is often considered to be more difficult because ice allows the skater to draw a deep edge to push off from when performing jumps such as a Lutz or an Axel and roller skates are heavier than their ice equivalents, making jumping harder.

Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Skate banned Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from its competitions, and will not stage any events in Russia or Belarus in 2022.^[5]