KEY POINTS:
Think figure-skating, but on wheels.
That's the best way to get your head around inline free skating - an event in which Wellington's Sarah-Jane Jones hopes to become a world champion this year.
The 21-year-old is already a three-time world medallist in the event, but after a disappointing
fourth placing at last year's championships on the Gold Coast, she is determined to return to the podium with a vengeance in Taipei this year.
With three bronze medals from previous world events, Jones is the only Kiwi to have won more than one medal in artistic skating.
"For me to have three under my belt is a really amazing achievement," she said.
But you get the sense she will only be satisfied once the colour is gold.
After the disappointment of last year she says she is even more driven to claim the number one ranking this year. And she is acutely aware of what it will take to achieve it.
"I need to train really, really hard. I need to be strict with my fitness regime and give everything 110 per cent."
Jones has been hooked on the sport since she was four when she went on a kindergarten trip to the local roller-skating rink. She started skating when she was six and was winning national open titles by the time she was 14.
To say Jones dominates the field of artistic rollersports in her home country is an understatement.
At the nationals in Auckland last week she seemed to spend as much time at the top of the podium as she did in the middle of the rink.
She is the national champion in every event she competes in - free skating (on a traditional rollerskate), inline free skating, figures, solo dance and creative dance.
And until 2007 she held the Oceania titles in all five events before a serious injury suffered three days out from last year's championship meant she was unable to defend her crown.
Jones was practising with the precision team when she was struck on the face by a teammate's rollerskate.
The national champ broke her eye-socket and cheekbone and had to have surgery to insert a piece of titanium to hold her face together.
Amazingly, it only kept her off skates for three weeks - albeit at one of the most important times of the year.
Jones is widely tipped to regain the titles at this year's event in April with ease.
But being so dominant in the sport in this part of the world can also be a curse.
It's difficult to find quality competition at home and across the Tasman. She is rarely challenged until it comes to the world championships.
She believes this puts her at a major disadvantage to her European rivals.
"In Europe they have really tough competition all year round and have to constantly push themselves to be the best that they can be."
To ensure she has the best preparation for this year's championships, Jones will head to the United States in May where she'll have the opportunity to train under two leading coaches.
"I think that will give me a huge boost and it'll give me the chance to learn a few new things and keep improving."
She believes her time in California will not only help her development as an athlete, but also as a coach, which is still relatively new to her.
Jones imparts her knowledge and experience to some of the young skaters coming through as well as the odd veteran - her oldest skater is her father Basil, who at 65 still competes at masters level.
Having to drive his daughter to training in Palmerston North each week, Basil Jones took up the sport in 1998 after deciding he'd had enough of sitting around while his daughter trained.
"Instead of sitting at the rink doing nothing he decided to learn to skate," Sarah-Jane explains.
It's just as well her Dad is in to roller skating. With no sponsorship and limited funding, Sarah-Jane's sport costs the Jones family thousands of dollars each year. With a trip to the US in May and then the Taipei world champs in October, that bill isn't likely to get any smaller this year.
