2004 Seoul World Inline Cup

2004 Seoul World Inline Marathon
Seoul, Korea, April 11, 2004
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The World Inline Cup's first race of 2004 started fittingly at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. South Korean skaters showed that they have reached international calibre in record time by claiming a podium spot and numerous top twenty placements.

Course officials may have dropped the ball by leading a six-man chase group off course for 500 meters and allowing a three-man breakway to build their lead halfway into the race, but that's no excuse for the end result. Instead of organizing a chase, the major teams not in the break (Salomon, Rollerblade, Bont, Mogema, K2,Empire Speed) dawdled for 20K and never caught the eventual winners.

The race was marred by some serious crashes, notably Remy Chait who "pulled a Dan" by skating into a concrete pillar. Yet the mood remained festive and the expo afterwards was swarming with skating fans who were able to get up close and personable with the stars of the sport.

The women got some well-deserved attention when they started ahead of the men! The course marshals did a fine job keeping them to the side and making sure they didn't hop on to the pro men when everything did finally come together.

This was not a Mickey Mouse event, but a real race to write home about. Now let's just hope that South Korea can shoot everybody in the arm and export all the excitement and hoopla to the rest of the world. South Korea, we need you big time!

Betancur	Street skating	Roadies
RB	Tunnel skate	Botero
Women pros	Jessica	Briand
Hi Mom!	Go girls!	Whoops
Cranking	Supersonic	Catch 'em

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