Inline skates (often called Rollerblades after the popular trade name) are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates have four or five wheels arranged in a single line. Some inline skates, especially those for recreation, have a "stop" or "brake" which is used to slow down while skating; most have a heel stop rather than the toe stop, particularly indispensable for inline figure skating.
The modern style of in-line skates was developed as a substitute for ice skates, for use by a Russian athlete training on solid ground for Olympic long track speed skating events. Life magazine published a photo of American skater Eric Heiden, training for the 1980 Olympics, using such skates on a Wisconsin road.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Rollerblade, Inc., a company founded by Scott and Brennan Olson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, widely promoted inline skating; they were so successful that their trademarked name Rollerblade became synonymous with inline skates.