Interview with Huang Qiang, Secretary General of World Skate Asia

President Bach of the IOC promoting rluer skating

As one of the events of the Hangzhou Asian Games, roller-skating is trendy, energetic, and popular among the young.

In the Hangzhou Asian Games, four disciplines of roller skating will be run, namely, speed track, artistic skating, freestyle skating, skateboarding. Sixteen gold medals will be awarded, the largest in number in the history of the Asian Games. Located in the Hangzhou Qiantang Competition Zone, the Qiantang Roller Sports Centre, with the design concept of "roller-skating spin", and a fusion and superimposition of two numeral "6"'s. When viewed from above, they appear like a "whirlwind gyroscope", symbolising the speed, artistry and beauty of the sport.

A journalist from Hangzhou Asian Games interviewed Huang Qiang, the Secretary General of World Skate Asia, to learn more about the development of roller-skating and its appeal to the young as a competition.

It has a traditional advantage in Asia

"Roller-skating can not only strengthen people's physical fitness, but also help cultivate people's brave and tenacious character, and their sense of competition, cooperation and fairness." Huang pointed out that roller-skating competitions are of great benefit in promoting sports.

In 2014, Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, spoke highly of the roller skating event at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games." Each kid at some stage has practised roller sports but what we see here is close to perfection. Roller sports is really breath-taking".

According to Huang, roller-skating is widely developed in Asia, and almost all countries have set up national roller-skating federations. Roller skating clubs, which focus on youth training, are all over the cities, reaching into communities and schools. Driven by roller-skating competitions, training and equipment production, the roller-skating industry has expanded rapidly, and its growth momentum remains robust despite the three years of the Covid pandemic. According to an incomplete calculation, the scale of the roller-skating industry in China alone has exceeded 10 billion yuan every year.

The highly appraised Qiantang Roller Sports Centre and its first claro equipment

A rich and colourful sport Roller-skating has a total of 12 disciplines. In addition to the Asian Games competitions, there are Inline Hockey, Rink Hockey, Roller Derby, Aggressive Skating, Inline Downhill, Inline Alpine, Scooter, and SkatingX. Each event presents a wonderful aspect of the sport thanks to the different field equipment and competition rules.

Since 2017, the World Roller Skating Association has promoted the event reform in which a biannual event now combines different events that were held separately into an "all-event world championships", known as the "Roller Skating Championships". The first roller-skating games were held in Nanjing, China, with nearly 4,000 participants, making it a record in roller skating history.

While in Asia, the biennial Asian Roller Skating Championships, a multi-sport event, has been held for 18 consecutive years. On this basis, a variety of events, including individual Asian Cup, International Open, and so on, have been launched to meet the needs of different regions and people. At the same time, World Skate Asia has strengthened the construction of special committees, and set up special committees for 12 disciplines in 2022. A coaching team was sent to West Asia to help train roller skating coaches and promote the balanced development of the sport in various regions.

The women's 20km roller skating at the 2018 Asian Games, where Guo Dan won a siliver medal.

"Fast and Furious"

In Huang's opinion, China, ROK and Japan have maintained their traditional advantages in roller-skating. The sport has made great stride in recent years in the Southeast Asia and West Asia. The athletes represented by Indonesia, India and Iran have acquired competitiveness.

These are the highlights to expect: Artistic roller skaters "dance" to the music, which will surely evoke the childhood memories of those who were born in 1970s and roller-skated in small towns; in Mixed Inline Freestyle Skating Slalom Pair, the spectators look forward to see the stunning show of the Chinese champion combinations; Japanese skateboarding represent the highest level in the world, so the Asian Games finals will see their Olympic champions delivering unmatched performances.

Huang spoke highly of the Qiantang Roller Skating Centre. To maintain the speed of the athletes in the curves, HAGOC has built the world's first indoor hyperboloid track speed skating venue following the latest international rules.

"A comprehensive event will play an immeasurable role in promoting the development of the sport. The entry of roller skating to the Asian Games really adds credit to the grand event. I am looking forward to seeing athletes from all over the world in their fast and furious pursuits for the sports excellence," enthused Huang.