BBC - Southampton - Sport - Euroblade 2002

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Monday, October 14, 2002 10:00
Euroblade 2002

Euroblade 2002

Hundreds of skaters took to the streets of Southampton on a wet October Sunday morning to experience European-style street-skating during Euroblade 2002.

SEE ALSO

Euroblade Photo galleries
Blade-cam

WEB LINKS

Euroblade 2002
Ville du Harve (French site)
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

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Around 1,000 enthusiastic in-line skaters braved the rain for Euroblade 2002. The streets around the city centre were specially closed off to allow the skaters free rein around the 8.5km circuit which took in the Common, the Avenue, the city's parks and high street.

Have a click through our Euroblade 2002 Photo Gallery

The event brought together both local enthusiasts along with 500 counterparts from

In-line skaters having fun

Southampton's twin-town of Le Havre who made the cross-channel trip over specially for the festival.

Euroblade 2002 was not a race and all ages and standards of skaters took part - some with a selection of wigs, unusual outfits and colourful roller-blades.

A continental breakfast gave the bladers enough fuel, served up at the Guildhall before the official start at the Titanic Memorial at 9am. It took about an hour and a half for all the skaters to complete the course, many had to kerb their speed because of the heavy rainfall.

Get a 'skater's eye view' of Euroblade 2002 with our Blade-cam.

A similar event was held two years ago, which once again brought together hundreds of enthusiasic skaters from across the Channel.

The French were out in force

In-line skating or 'roller blading' was developed by the Dutch as a means of ice skating without the ice - totally different to those day-glo skates which had two pairs of wheels per skate and which spawned such concepts as the 'roller disco' in the 1970s!

The Rollerblade Inc company developed the design in the 1980s and took in-line skating to a mass market.

It has grown massively in popularity, not least because of its fitness benefits. In-line skating

The Eurobladers head up The Avenue

burns as many calories as running and is easier on the joints.

Street skating is nothing new to French bladers - The Pari Roller takes place every Friday from Gare Montparnasse in the French capital and there are numerous similar events in regional towns and villages.

It's hoped that Euroblade event will be repeated in Southampton in forthcoming years.

Download the official Euroblade 2002 route map from Southampton City Council (PDF file)

In-line Skating Webguide

Citiskate In-line UK (UKISA)
Off Beat Sportz
Great to Skate
London Skaters
International Inline Skating Association (USA)
National Skate Patrol
Roller Blade.com
Get Rolling.com
Pari Roller
BBC Health - In-line skating
BBC News - Night of a 1,000 rollers
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.