A 14-year-old student at St. Michael’s Episcopal School, Richmond, VA is spending his Thanksgiving in Portamao, Portugal, representing the USA in the World Roller Skating Championships.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports:
Roller skating isn’t a very popular sport in the United States. But Moore is satisfied with his talent.
“I don’t think about that very much,” Moore said. “Everyone has something they do well at.”
Moore, the youngest member of America’s Junior team, is taking his first trip to the world finals. It’s possible he’s the youngest competitor in his event, compulsory figures.
While Moore has skated only since he was 11 years old, some of his opponents had their whole lives to improve. And some will be as old as 19….
…Because roller skating isn’t an Olympic event, the World Championships is as high as Moore can go. While some skaters, like Apolo Ohno, begin as roller skaters before switching to ice, Moore isn’t interested in becoming an ice skater. There’s too much of an adjustment, he said.
Plus, he thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to compete in a sport that gets almost no publicity.
“I don’t want to be super famous,” Moore said. “I think that would be kind of annoying.”
Read the rest here.