"An excellent presentation" So Rogge, IOC President, has described the proposal made on the 15th June in Lausanne by the delegates FIRS for the inclusion in the Olympic Games. The team, the same that last November made sure that our beloved sport gained the Program Committee of the IOC, was promoted once again “with flying colors”: the video has aroused the enthusiasm and excited the IOC Executive Board; my speech, that of FIRS Secretary General Roberto Marotta, and those of our exceptional Testimonial, Derek Parra, have made clear to all presents our features and our motivations.

We have strengths, that make us the ideal candidates for the entry at the Olympics in 2016:
Roller Speed skating is a fresh and dynamic sport, spread in all the 5 continents;
it is a simple sport to learn and practice: we do not need exorbitant structures, that are transformed into cathedrals in the desert at the end of the Games;
we guarantee equal to men and women: it is a fact and not an admirable goal, as with other sports;
we have the power of the objective result guaranteed by photo finish;

As if all this were not enough to consider positively our entry into the Olympic program, we add that, for our athletes, the Olympic Games represent the most important event in their sport and, above all this, the realization of a dream.

We believe we have done our best to let the IOC understand, with determination and clarity, that we are ready to join the Olympic family.

At this point, we have the awareness of having done a good job and let the step to political considerations.

The next important appointments towards the Olympic dream will be August 13th in Berlin, when the IOC Executive Board will decide the two sports that will be submitted for inclusion and October 9th in Copenhagen, when the IOC Assembly will decide their admission.

A sport hug to the whole world of roller skating,

FIRS President
Sabatino Aracu