Inline skates
Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating . Unlike quad skates , which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates typically have two to five wheels arranged in a single line. Some, especially those for recreation, have a rubber "stop" or "brake" block attached to the rear of one or occasionally both of the skates so that the skater can slow down or stop by leaning back on the foot with the brake skate. The modern style of inline skates was developed as a substitute for ice skates, for use by a Russian athlete [ who? ] training on solid ground for Olympic long track speed skating events [ citation needed ] . Life magazine published a photo of American skater Eric Heiden , training for the 1980 Olympics, using such skates on a Wisconsin road. [1] During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Rollerblade , Inc., a company founded by Scott and Brennan Olson in Minneapolis, Minnesota , widely promoted inline skating through the regis