Glenwood roller figure skaters aim to win world championship

GLENWOOD, Ill. (WLS) -- The sport of roller figure skating is trying to become an Olympic sport and two skaters in the south suburbs are trying to further that cause by becoming world champions.

"It's a place where I can be free," said Darius Sanders. "If I'm upset I can come here and skate it off. And I like when other kids come to skate and they watch me, and hopefully inspire them to be as good as I am or better than me."

Sanders has been skating since he was 4 years old, and is now part of a couples team that is ranked no. 1 in the country and ranked fourth in the world.

"It's an exciting experience because there are other skaters from countries that are there that I got to meet and see how well they skate," he said. "So, I'm used to skating in the United States but other countries I'm not used to seeing them. So it was an amazing experience."

Sander and Jonathan Golden are preparing for world championship qualifiers later this spring, with their sights set on making history: both want to become the first African American male to be crowned world champ.

"Well yea, I do want to inspire more African-Americans and when we have sessions I try to show off in front of people so they are like, 'do you ice skate?' 'No, I roller skate,'" Golden said. "And they say 'what's that?' and try to get into it. That's how most of our clubs started."