![Olympic Skateboarding – Schedule, Teams, Athletes, Favorites and More [Paris Olympics 2024]](https://www.goskate.com/top/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cc2-1000x650.jpg "Olympic Skateboarding – Schedule, Teams, Athletes, Favorites and More [Paris Olympics 2024]")
EDITORS NOTE: GOSKATE does not endorse or support the views presented in the Paris Olympics. This article is for informational purposes only.
Skateboarding for the second time returns to its biggest stage for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Here is everything you need to know in one article for the Schedule, Teams, Athletes, Favorites and More.
In the summer of 2021, skateboarding changed forever when the likes of Yuto Horiigome, Nyjah Huston and Jagger Eaton went head to head in skateboarding’s Olympic debut in Tokyo, Japan. What happened that hot and humid fateful day, evolved not only how skateboarding saw itself but how the world viewed skateboarding.
While different factions of skate culture voiced their opinion over the inclusion of skateboarding in the Olympic games, ultimately, the Olympic Games were a huge success – not only for skateboarders who took home medals – but for skateboarding and the skate industry as a whole.
We learned that the USA, although home to the most skateboarders per capita, were no longer on top of the skateboard contest world. We learned that Japan has taken it upon themselves to master the craft of skateboarding and we also learned about the growth of females in skateboarding, with tons of young girls making their debut and inspiring thousands around the world in the process.
Truly, the first Olympic skateboarding events were legendary, so the next Olympic Skateboarding Games in Paris won’t be any different. So without further ado, here is everything you need to know about the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
In this article we’ll be going over:
- How to Qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games
- Contest Formatting
- How Skateboarders Will Be Judged
- How is the Street Competition Judged?
- How is the Park Competition Judged?
- The Paris 2024 Olympic Skateboarding Schedule
- Where and How to Watch Olympic Skateboarding
- How Much Do Tickets Cost for Olympic Skateboarding?
- What Countries Will Perform in the Olympic Skateboarding Competitions?
- FAQs for 2024 Paris Olympic Skateboarding
How to Qualify for the 2024 Olympic Skateboarding Games
For the 2024 Paris Olympic Games skaters will be keeping an eye on their Olympic World Skateboarding Ranking (OWSR) and the events since 2022 that have helped them qualify.
The qualification system used for the first skateboarding Olympics proved to be effective in providing the world with the best competition skaters of our time. Not much has changed this year besides expanding and reducing certain elements.
For the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the qualification system will be based on the World Skateboarding Rankings built and maintained by World Skate. Essentially, skateboarders earn points through World Skate Sanctioned Events. Some of them include:
- World Championships
- Olympic Qualifying Series
- Pro Tour
- ‘5-Star Events’
- ‘3-Star Events’
Unlike the 2021 Tokyo Olympic qualifications, Continental Championships will now be ranked as 3-star events and National Championships won’t even be included in the qualification strata. Also unlike the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Skateboarding, once skaters make the top 100 rankings in the National Olympic Skateboarding rankings, they will be invited to the Olympic Qualifying Series. The Olympic Qualifying Series is a newly launched two year, three-season qualifier taking place between March 2022 and June 2024, where the final stretch of decisive points will be at stake for skaters to earn through contests.
The official seasons for the Olympic Qualifying Series are:
2022: June 22nd –December 31st
2023: January 1st –December 31st
2024: January 1st – June 23rd
As of June 24th, 2024, athletes will be selected by name from the OWSR following the conclusion of all the qualifying events. That being said, there exists a maximum quota of three athletes selected by the National Olympic Committee per gender, per event, until the number of 20th athletes is reached. This is why some skaters choose to skate for their parent country, such as Lizze Armonto for Finland instead of the USA. Since she will most likely qualify top 100, she will now have a higher chance of skating the Olympics without ranking competition from her US contemporaries.
“It’s crazy to think our students can skate with the goal of becoming an Olympian one day,” says Tanner Stevens, one of our Skate Instructors from Wisconsin. “We just wanted to be sponsored let alone win a gold medal.”
The final season of the Olympic Qualifying Series is about to wrap up this month with the top 100 Skaters in the world competing head to head to represent their country in Paris at the 2024 Olympic Games. This has been a very exciting time with lots of skaters and contests making headlines with the Olympic World Skateboarding Ranking (OWSR) shaping out for the final Olympic Roster.
Here are some of the contest examples of 3-star and 5-star qualifying events for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
- Street Skateboarding Rome Pro Tour: Italy, June 26th, 2023
- Rio World Park World Championships: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, October 16th, 2023
- World Skate Street World Championship: Rio De Janeiro Brazil, October 16th, 2023
- Sharjah Street 2024: 14th of June/21st of January 2024
Street World Championship Japan 2023: 10th of December/17th of December 2023 - WST: Sharjah Park 2024: 7th of June/14th of January 2024
World Skate provided a quota system for skaters to qualify as an Olympiad. Essentially there are 20 total quotas for each gender in each event with an additional number of athletes per NOC: Some skaters will overlap, like Team USA’s Jagger Eaton, who competes in both Park and Street. But there are a total of 40 quota places for each event. Lastly, there is a long standing tradition in the Olympic Games of University Places. One men’s and one women’s University place per cent is made eligible for NOCs at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Eligible NOCs can submit their requests as early as October 2023 but they must be ranked 50 or better in the OWSR.
As you can see the pathway to become an Olympic Skateboarder is extremely difficult and every skater who even makes it to the top 100 is truly one of the best skaters in the World. For an updated list of the World Skateboarding Olympic Ratings click here.
Paris 2024 Olympic Skateboarding Contest Formatting
The contest formatting is one of the most standard in skateboarding. However, what makes the Olympic journey truly unique is the qualifying rounds that take place months and even years before the Olympic Games.
Skateboarders have been qualifying via World Rankings, where the most major contests affect the ranking. Those skaters who are able to qualify will have a better chance in smaller countries but ultimately the best of the best will qualify for the prelims – and then ultimately, the finals.
From there, skaters who have made it to the finals will be branched out into two divisions, Men’s and Women’s and then divided into the disciplines of Street and Park.
For street, there are two 45-second runs on a street course, followed by 5 attempts at a BIG section, (essentially a best trick contest).
For Park, skaters will have three 45-second runs with the best run counting as their score. At this time, it is not known if there is a best trick contest for Park.
- Qualifiers and World Ranking
- Prelims
- Finals
- Three 45-second runs (Park) with the best run counting as your score
- Two 45-second runs (Street)
- Best Trick (5 Trick Scores)
Essentially, skateboarders will be scored between 0 and 100 with only the score of the best run counting as their final score. Then the skaters will perform five tricks on the big section or other obstacles for a best trick score, combining the two best tricks counting toward the mean score with the run. The total score is compiled by adding the score of the best run and the two tricks, for a score out of 300. The two tricks (100+100) with the best run (+100) out of (300).
The park format has not officially been released at the time of this article but there is high likelihood it will be similar to last year and the street formula depending on the course.
How Skateboarders Will Be Judged
World Skate International has established an International Skateboard Judging Commission or the ISJC, creating an official skateboarding judging criteria through a comprehensive system. The committee is made up of a diverse group of National Federation and Sport Organizer skateboard judging experts.
The IJSC’s most controversial aim is to standardize skateboarding judging criteria beginning with the 2020 Tokyo Games. It’s hard to imagine something as fluid and personal expressed as skateboarding can have a standardized method of award contest points. The IJSC claims the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was based on universally agreed and accepted skateboarding trends in all competitions. Nonetheless, here are some of the highlights the judging commission have expressed since 2020.
Brief Overview of The Rules
It’s no secret but now the world’s greatest skateboards will compete head to head at the Olympic Games for the chance to bring home a medal for their country. But this popular and incredible sport is going to be divided into two spectacular disciplines: Park and Street. Each of which have a different set of courses, promoting different styles of skating. While we have much more on this later in the article, to provide a brief context to how skaters will be judged on their respective discipline.
The Parkcompetition features a course of bowls with numerous variations of ramps, vert, pockets, and bends that skaters use to gather speed and perform tricks. Generally, this leads to more air based judging, with spins, grabs and flips with an emphasis on how much of the course is used and how creatively and consistently maneuvers are executed.
- Height and Speed of Tricks
- Capacity to Skate Entire Course
- Style and Cleanliness of Trick
- Trick Difficulty
The Streetcompetition features pretty standard street obstacles like large rails, hubbas, and pyramids. It is yet to be seen if there is a special addition to the course like those found in Street League events, like an elevated flat bar or revolving ledge. Generally, street contestes are about commitment and control, who can do the gnarliest trick on the biggest obstacle and who can do the most complicated trick with the smoothest and solid style. Athletes will be judged on such ability to control their boards in this way.
Both the Park and Street events consist of two rounds of prelims and finals, judged by 45-second runs before hitting the impact section of the 5 best tricks they can land. For those unfamiliar, this is essentially a combination of a best trick contest and a run based contest, the two most popular in skateboarding history.
How does the scoring work in Olympic Street Skateboarding?
Essentially, each skater’s run will be scored on a scale 1-100 points based on overall difficulty, execution and variety of tricks with consideration between use of the course and style. One run and two tricks are used to calculate each skater’s overall score, the maximum score an athlete can accumulate is 300 points. This has yet to be done.
During the best trick phase of the street contest, skaters will have the choice to disqualify a trick’s score if they wish to improve upon it. This gives them a zero for the previous trick attempt and allows them to repeat the same trick without being penalized.
Lastly, in the rare event of a tie between two skaters, the athlete with the highest run score will be ranked highest, and if still tied the higher scoring single trick will be ranked highest.
How does the scoring work in Olympic Park Skateboarding?
“I honestly love the Park contest when it comes to Olympic Skateboarding,” says Alex Riner, one of our skate instructors out of Pennsylvania. “The street course can only be so different from other contests, whereas the park obstacles are always insane.”
For Olympic Park Skateboarding, each skater will take three 45-second runs with the skaters being ranked according to their highest-single scoring run. Scores from the preliminary run do carry over to the Finals. Each competition has 22 skaters and includes two rounds of competition, preliminary rounds and finals taking place on the same day.
Each run will be based on a scale of 1-100 points based on overall difficulty, taking into account height, variety of tricks, the skater’s speed, flow and use of the course. In some ways since the emphasis is on Park the judging is reflected more on the course versus street skating.
It is also worth noting it is very rare for skaters to compete in both Park and Street. So while the competitions are both skateboarding, they are uniquely different and definitely with watching both.
If you’re asking what happened to Vert Skating? You’re not alone. The park competition has eclipsed Vert with its ability to incorporate vert elements with park elements for a more robust and creative contest.
When Are the 2024 Paris Olympic Games?
As we spoke about before, the events are broken up into Prelims and Finals. Those who place high enough in the prelims will go on to represent their respected country in the Finals, with some participants being reserves in case of injury.
The Prelims take place just before the Finals with a 1 and-a-half hour break in between.
Date
July 27th
July 27th
July 28th
July 28th
August 6th
August 6th
August 7th
August 7th
Event
Men’s Street Prelims
Men’s Street Final
Women’s Street Prelims
Women’s Street Final
Women’s Park Prelims
Women’s Park Final
Men’s Park Prelims
Men’s Park Final
Time (ET)
6:00 am – 9:30 am
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
6:00 am – 9:30 am
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
6:30 am – 10:00 am
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
6:30 am – 10:00 am
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
“It’s going to be a bit hard to watch at 3-am,” says Quinn Kesler, our skate instructor from San Diego. “But me and some friends are going to try and wake up for it, maybe Tivo it if we have too, laughs.”
NBC will be the exclusive Olympics broadcaster in the U.S. The network plans over 7,000 hours of Olympics coverage over the Games’ two weeks.
Tune in daily to your local NBC station, NBC Sports, or NBCOlympics.com starting at 6:55 a.m. ET/3:55 a.m. PT to see the ceremony.
How to Watch for Free Online on a Computer?
NBCUniversal exclusive rights extend to the internet. NBC owns the streaming platform . Peacock will be the exclusive online platform for the Olympics.
Most Olympic programming will be broadcasted on Peacock’s free subscription tier, including the skateboarding competitions.
How To Watch on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV or Android TV?
You can connect to the official Olympic Channel app for free.
According to Olympics.com, “The officialOlympic Channel app is available on connected TV devices for Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and the Roku platform (as well as apps for mobile and tablets)… for free and without subscription.”
How Much Do Tickets Cost for Olympic Skateboarding?
The ticket prices are broken up for the preliminary round and final round. The preliminary round ticket prices currently range for 24-120 euros or $26–$130 US dollars. For the Finals, ticket prices increase and range from 50–160 euros or $54 – $173 US dollars.
What Countries Are Participating in the 2024 Paris Olympic Skateboarding Games?
The preliminary rounds have officially been determined and while the finals will ultimately determine what countries are represented in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, here are the countries who made it to the preliminaries and the number of athletes representing them.
United States of America (USA) 12 Skaters
Brazil (BRA) 12 Skaters
Japan (JPN) 10 Skaters
Australia (AUS) 8 Skaters
France (FRA) 6 Skaters
España (Spain) (ESP) 5 Skaters
Canada (CAN) 4 Skaters
China (CHN) 3 Skaters
The Republic of South Africa (RSA) 3 Skaters
Great Britain (GBR) 2 Skaters
Argentina (ARG) 2 Skaters
Colombia (COL) 2 Skaters
Netherlands (NED) 2 Skaters
Portugal (POR) 1 Skater
Germany (GER) 1 Skater
Slovakia (SLV) 1 Skater
Morocco (MAR) 1 Skater
Finland (FIN) 1 Skater
Thailand (THA) 1 Skater
Italy (ITA) 1 Skater
Denmark (DEN) 1 Skater
As you can see, there are 21 total countries represented in the 2024 Paris Olympic Skateboarding Games. USA and Brazil are tied with the most qualifiers with 12 apiece, with Japan and Australia close behind with their respective 10 and 8 skaters.
What is particularly interesting about these qualifiers is the amount of local skaters France (6 skaters) will potentially have an edge over the visiting competition. Additionally, Spain has 5 skaters who are used to skating some of the hardest obstacles in the world and countries like Netherlands and Colombia having multiple skaters in the games as well this time.
Perhaps most worthy of noting is Japan took first qualifier in 3 of the 4 contests, with only Men’s Park being secured by the United States. As we all know, Japan dominated the 2020 skateboarding Olympics, which coincidentally (or perhaps home court advantage) was held in Tokyo, which saw them take home Gold in every event.
Will team USA finally take home an Olympic Gold Medal? Will Team France hold it down for their local country and stand upon the podium? Or will Japan continue its Olympic dominance and take home more medals?
Will shall see soon enough.
Who Made It To The Skateboarding Olympic Preliminary Rounds for Paris 2024?
Here are the lists for who made it to the skateboarding 2024 Paris Olympic Games via Street and Park contest and their two respected genders:
Men's Street
- Ginwoo Onodera (JPN)
- Sora Shirai (JPN)
- Yuto Horigome (JPN)
- Jagger Eaton (USA)
- Nyjah Huston (USA)
- Gustavo Ribeiro (POR)
- Chris Joslin (USA)
- Richard Tury (SVK)
- Matias Dell Olio (ARG)
- Aurelien Girard (FRA)
- Kelvin Hoefler (BRA)
- Giovanni Vianna (BRA)
- Cordano Russell (CAN)
- Matt Berger (CAN)
- Ryan Decenzo (CAN)
- Joseph Garbaccio (FRA)
- Felipe Gustavo (BRA)
- Vincent Milou (FRA)
- Jhancarlos Gonzalez Ortiz (COL)
- Mauro Iglesias (ARG)
- Shane O’Neill (AUS)
- Brandon Valjalo (RSA)
Women's Street
- Coco Yoshizawa (JPN)
- Liz Akama (JPN)
- Rayssa Leal (BRA)
- Funa Nakayama (JPN)
- Chloe Covell (AUS)
- Chenxi Cui (CHN)
- Paige Heyn (USA)
- Poe Pinson (USA)
- Wenhui Zeng (CHN)
- Yuanling Zhu (CHN)
- Roos Zwetsloot (NED)
- Pamela Rosa (BRA)
- Jazmín Alvarez (COL)
- Natalia Muñoz (ESP)
- Liv Lovelace (AUS)
- Keet Oldenbeuving (NED)
- Gabi Mazetto (BRA)
- Vareeraya Sukasem (THA)
- Mariah Duran (USA)
- Haylie Powell (AUS)
- Lucie Schoonheere (FRA)
- Boipelo Awuah (RSA)
Men's Park
- Tate Carew (USA)
- Keegan Palmer (AUS)
- Gavin Bottger (USA)
- Tom Schaar (USA)
- Augusto Akio (BRA)
- Kieran Wooley (AUS)
- Luigi Cini (BRA)
- Pedro Barros (BRA)
- Danny Leon (ESP)
- Viktor Solmunde (DEN)
- Keefer Wilson (AUS)
- Alex Sorgente (ITA)
- Hampus Winberg (SWE)
- Vincent Matheron (FRA)
- Steven Pineiro (PUR)
- Yuro Nagahara (JPN)
- Alessandro Mazzara (ITA)
- Thomas Augusto (POR)
- Alain Kortabitarte (ESP)
- Andrew Macdonald (GBR)
- Tyler Edtmayer (GER)
- Dallas Oberholzer (RSA)
Women's Park
- Kokona Hiraki (JPN)
- Arisa Trew (AUS)
- Sakura Yosozumi (JPN)
- Sky Brown (GBR)
- Hinano Kusaki (JPN)
- Raicca Ventura (BRA)
- Bryce Wettstein (USA)
- Ruby Trew (AUS)
- Dora Varella (BRA)
- Ruby Lilley (USA)
- Isadora Pacheco (BRA)
- Minna Stess (USA)
- Naia Laso (ESP)
- Heili Sirvio (FIN)
- Lilly Stoephasius (GER)
- Nana Taboulet (FRA)
- Lola Tambling (GBR)
- Fay Ebert (CAN)
- Emilie Alexandre (FRA)
- Julia Benedetti (ESP)
- Haohao Zheng (CHN)
- Aya Asaqas (MAR)
As you can see the top counties with the most Olympic Skateboarders are the United States and Brazil. There are 22 skaters per event and a robust pool of countries competing in the Olympic Games.
For the first 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Yuto Horigome took home the Gold Medal for Japan with many believing Japan has the best chance of winning both men and women’s street. However, at the time of this article, we would suggest keeping your eye on the Canadian Cordano Russell.
FAQs for the 2024 Paris Olympic Skateboarding Games
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games will be held in the summer months of July and August. Street skating will take place on July 27th and July 28th, whereas Park skating will take place on August 6th and August 7th.
When it comes to women skateboarding in the Olympics, most of the skaters are under the age of 16. But when it comes to men, most skaters are between the ages of 20-28. The majority of skaters have been skating for 10 years or more with many taking private lessons since they were very young.
The skateboarding Olympics is divided into two genders of Male and Female. Unfortunately, this has excluded some skaters like Leo Baker.
Last year’s contest saw 15 countries represented in the skateboarding Olympics. While the preliminary rounds have yet to officially determine which counties are in the 2024 Paris Olympic games, usually around 7 countries make the finals.
Skateboarding and other urban sports will be taking place at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France. The Place de la Concorde is located at the eastern end of Champs-Elysées, which is the largest public square in Paris. The iconic square features a 3000 year old obelisk that was erected almost 200 years ago, connecting this monument to the monumental moment in skateboarding history.
Keegan Palmer of Australia Won Gold for Men’s park
Pedro Barros of Brazil won Silver for Men’s park
Cory Juneau of the United States won Bronze for Men’s park
Yuto Horigome of Japan won Gold for Men’s Street
Kelvin Hoefler of Brazil won Silver for Men’s Street
Jagger Eaton of United States won Bronze for Men’s Street
Sakura Yosozumi of Japan won Gold for Women’s Park
Kokona Hiraki of Japan won Silver for Women’s Park
Sky Brown of the United Kingdom won Bronze for Women’s Park
Momiji Nishiya of Japan won Gold for Women’s Street
Rayssa Leal of Brazil won SIlver for Women’s Street
Funa Nakayama of Japan won Bronze for Women’s Street
They are judged the same and on the same 100 point scale. While this produced a bit of contention among somewomen who believed the judging should be a sliding scale, ultimately the competition committee of the IOC decided to keep all judging equal. Equality has arrived and women were scoring 40’s and 50’s while men were scoring 80s and 90s.
Nyjah Huston is always a high contender for any skate competition. Coming back from injury has been tough for Nyjah but he should place high enough to make it to the preliminary round. After which, anything can happen.
At the moment, Leticia Bufoni is in a similar situation to Nyjah but is less likely to make it to the top 22 skaters.
See your local sports gambling laws to determine if you are able to bet on the 2024 Paris Olympic Skateboarding games.
In order to create the fairest possible conditions for the contest, the IOC and the skatepark designers for the Olympics will not be releasing any data regarding the park or street sections of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The U.S. Olympic committee provides the prize money for gold medals at $50,000, $22,500 for Silver and $15,000 for bronze.
The ticket prices are broken up for the preliminary round and final round. The preliminary round ticket prices currently range for 24-120 euros or $26–$130 US dollars. For the Finals, ticket prices increase and range from 50–160 euros or $54 – $173 US dollars.
This year it is really hard to tell but many skaters have noticed how well Jagger Eaton has been skating as well as the defending champion Yuto Horigome. Rayysa Leal for women’s street is a top contender as well. Some suggest the skater whose home country it is has the best chance being the most at home and acclimated to the weather.
Below you can find the article we did in 2021 for Olympic Skateboarding in Tokyo.
Our favorite sport is about to be shared with the World.
Skateboarding is set to make its Olympic debut, making history before our very eyes. Now is the perfect time to learn Everything You Need to Know About Olympic Skateboarding. We can all enjoy this moment together.
As athletes from around the World prepare to represent their country, we reflect on the long and sometimes controversial road skateboarding took to get to the Olympics.
The Olympic Games were postponed and nearly cancelled due to the pandemic. Even so, with the widest network of certified skateboarding instructors, GOSKATE wants to share with you all bout the Olympics.
You will learn in this article:
- when is the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics,
- how Skateboarding became an Olympic Sport,
- how the contest format will be,
- which countries and skateboarders will be competing to make the podium.
Together, we can witness history in the making.
When are the 2021 Summer Olympic Games?
We all know The Olympics were supposed to happen in 2020, but the pandemic had other plans.
After being postponed a year, as of today, the opening day for The Olympic games is Friday, July 23rd, 2021. Skateboarding Games start July 25th at 9 AM.
Tokyo 2021 Olympics Skateboarding Schedule
Saturday, July 24th, 7:30 PM EST – 11:25 PM (8:30 – 12:25 AM in Tokyo)
- Men’s Street Preliminary Heats
- Men’s Street Final
- Men’s Street Victory Ceremony
Sunday, July 25th, 7:30 PM EST – 11:25 PM (8:30 – 12:25 AM in Tokyo)
- Women’s Street Preliminary Heats
- Women’s Street Final
- Women’s Street Victory Ceremony
Tuesday, Aug. 3th, 8:00 PM EST – 11:30 PM (9:00 – 12:30 AM in Tokyo)
- Women’s Park Preliminary Heats
- Women’s Park Final
- Women’s Park Victory Ceremony
Wednesday, Aug. 4th, 8:00 PM EST – 11:30 PM (9:00 – 12:30 AM in Tokyo)
- Men’s Park Prelims Heats
- Men’s Park Final
- Men’s Park Victory Ceremony
Complete Schedule of all games (including non-skate)
While normally, the Olympic Games are longer in many facets, this year the games will be shorter than normal, ending Sunday, August 8th, 2021.
How to Watch Skateboarding at The Olympics?
NBC will be the exclusive Olympics broadcaster in the U.S. The network plans over 7,000 hours of Olympics coverage over the Games’ two weeks.
Tune in daily to your local NBC station, NBC Sports, or NBCOlympics.com starting at 6:55 a.m. ET/3:55 a.m. PT to see the ceremony.
How to Watch for Free Online on a Computer?
NBCUniversal exclusive rights extend to the internet. NBC owns the streaming platform . Peacock will be the exclusive online platform for the Olympics.
Most Olympic programming will be broadcasted on Peacock’s free subscription tier, including the skateboarding competitions.
How To Watch on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV or Android TV?
You can connect to the official Olympic Channel app for free.
According to Olympics.com, “The officialOlympic Channel app is available on connected TV devices for Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and the Roku platform (as well as apps for mobile and tablets)… forfree and without subscription.”
How Skateboarding Became an Olympic Sport
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted unanimously to induct skateboarding into the Olympic Games on August 3rd, 2016.
You might be wondering why it took so long to get there in the first place? After all, Tony Hawk made skateboarding a household topic in 1999?
Many skateboarders resisted skateboarding’s classification as a sport.
The IOC finally recognized skateboardings ability ‘to inspire youth to discover tomorrow’. The commitee decidedly voted to induct the sport of skateboarding alongside the sports of Softball, Baseball, Karate, Surfing, and Competitive Climbing.
“This is not only a great opportunity for our sport and the skaters, but also for the Games,” said Tony Hawk, when asked about skateboarding finally being inducted into the Olympics.
“It is the biggest sporting event of the world and a unique platform to present our performances, passion, and culture to the world,” said Brazil’s Leticia Bufoni. Leticia is one of the leading candidates to bring home Olympic Gold for Women’s Street Skateboarding this year.
While there have been skateboarding contests since skateboarding’s conception, none have ever been as widely covered and international as The Olympics.
While some of the formattings might look familiar, it differs in certain unique aspects.
Contest Formatting
Olympic Skateboarding in Tokyo will feature two skate disciplines:
- Street (Women’s and Men’s)
- Park (Women’s and Men’s)
Each of the contests will have a warm-up period. Athletes under the age of 18 will be mandated to wear helmets.
Park (Men/Women) Competition:
The park competition will take place on ramps.
A hollowed-out course will feature a potent mix of dome-shaped bowls. The park requires immense heights to achieve any climbing of the curves or subsequent airs.
Great speed and performativity will be required to land a run worthy of a medal.
Street (Men/Women) Competition:
The street-like course will feature stairs, handrails, curbs, benches, walls, and slopes. Skateboarders will be able to perform a range of skills and tricks in this section.
Judges will score the skaters based on: the degree of difficulty of the tricks, height, speed, originality, execution and the composition of moves in order to award an overall score.
These are amazing skateboard parks. We are happy to report they are intended to remain for local use after the Olympics.
What Countries Will Perform in the Skateboard Competition?
Olympic qualifying is still underway. But we do know several countries who are qualifying Olympic Skateboarders with 205 countries participating in that process.
As of June 15th, 2021, 185 countries have qualified for the Olympic Games in total, including 10 Refugee Olympic Athletes and one Independent Olympic Athlete. But so far on the list of official skateboarding representatives are:
With 25 participating countries, skateboarding has proven itself worthy of the Olympic stage.
Brazil and the United States are tied with the most Olympian skaters at 12 each, with Japan close behind at 10 and Australia and France with 5.
Who Will Be Skating in the Olympics?
2021 Men’s Street Skateboarding Competitors
- Nyjah Huston (USA)
- Yuto Horigome (Japan)
- Sora Shirai (Japan)
- Kelvin Hoefler (Brazil)
- Gustavo Ribeiro (Portugal)
- Aurelien Giraud (France)
- Jake Llardi (USA)
- Jagger Eaton (USA)
- Vincent Milou (France)
- Matt Berger (Canada)
- Manny Santiago (Puerto Rico)
- Shane O’Neill (Australia)
- Angelo Caro Narvaez (Peru)
- Felipe Gustavo (Brazil)
- Yukito Aoki (Japan)
- Giovanni Vianna (Brazil)
- Micky Papa (Canada)
- Axel Cruysberghs (Belgium)
- Luis Jhancarlos Gonzales Ortiz (Columbia)
- Brandon Valjalo (South Africa)
While Nyjah Huston (USA) and Yuto Horigome (Japan), are favored to win Olympic Gold, any one of these skaters could take their spot on the podium. Skateboarders like Shane O’Neill (AUS), Jagger Eaton (USA), or Manny Santiago (Puerto Rico) have all won Gold Medals in the past, while wildcards like Micky Papa (Canada) and Aurelien Giraud (France), could easily have an incredible, medal-worthy contest.
2021 Women’s Street Competitors
- Pamela Rosa (Brazil)
- Rayssa Leal (Brazil)
- Aori Nishimura (Japan)
- Leticia Bufoni (Brazil)
- Momiji Nishiya (Japan)
- Mariah Duran (USA)
- Roos Zwetsloot (Netherlands)
- Candy Jacobs (Netherlands)
- Hayley Wilson (Australia)
- Funa Nakayama (Japan)
- Alexis Sablone (USA)
- Keet Oldenbeuving (Netherlands)
- Margielyn Arda Didal (Philippines)
- Alana Smith (USA)
- Wenhui Zeng (China)
- Lore Bruggeman (Belgium)
- Julia Brueckler (Austria)
- Charlotte Hym (France)
- Asia Lanzi (Italy)
- Boipelo Awuah (South Africa)
If you’ve ever watched women’s skate contests, you know they are some of the highest caliber competitions in skating. The Brazilian phenoms that have since become household names like Leticia Bufoni, Rayssa Leal, and Pamela Rosa, are always going to be at the top of the bracket. But fan favorites Alexis Sablone (USA) and Margielyn Arda Didal (PHL) are expected to do well.
There will be a host of newcomer women skaters making their debut this Summer as well. Be sure to tune in for what is sure to be an invigorating and inspiring Olympic Games.
2021 Men’s Park Skateboarders
- Heimana Reynolds (USA)
- Cory Juneau (USA)
- Luiz Francisco (Brazil)
- Pedro Barros (Brazil)
- Zion Wright (USA)
- Keegan Palmer (Australia)
- Oskar Rozenberg (Sweden)
- Pedro Quintas (Brazil)
- Ivan Federico (Italy)
- Steven Pineiro (Puerto Rico)
- Alessandro Mazzara (Italy)
- Vincent Matheron (France)
- Jaime Mateu (Spain)
- Kieran Woolley (Australia)
- Ayumu Hirano (Japan)
- Tyler Edtmayer (Germany)
- Danny Leon (Spain)
- Andy Anderson (Canada)
- Rune Glifberg (Denmark)
- Dallas Oberholtzer (South Africa)
Men’s Park is always one of the most unpredictable contest series for any venue; The Olympics will certainly not be any different.
With so many power skaters like Zion Wright (USA), Pedro Barros (Brazil) and transition innovators like Oskar Rozenberg (Sweden) competing alongside legends like Rune Gliffberg (Denmark) the podium is really anybody’s for the taking.
2021 Women’s Park Skaters
- Misugu Okamoto (Japan)
- Sakura Yosozumi (Japan)
- Sky Brown (Great Britain)
- Poppy Starr Olsen (Australia)
- Lizzie Armanto (Finland)
- Kokona Hiraki (Japan)
- Bryce Wettstein (USA)
- Dora Varella Brazil (Brazil)
- Isadora Rodrigues Pacheco (Brazil)
- Brighton Zeuner (USA)
- Jordyn Barratt (USA)
- Yndiara Asp (Brazil)
- Julia Benedetti (Spain)
- Lilly Stoephasius (Germany)
- Xin Zhang (China)
- Madeleine Larcheron (France)
- Amelia Brodka (Poland)
- Josefina Tapia Varas (Chile)
- Bombette Martin (Great Britain)
- Melissa Williams (South Africa)
When it comes to Women’s Park, there might not be a more competitive contest in all of the Olympic Games. With Olympians as young as 11-years old, the very contest itself makes history with some of the youngest contestants in all of the Olympics.
It’s nearly impossible to anticipate who might be on the Podium. From Finland’s Lizzie Armanto to China’s Xin Zhang, this will be a contest watched by the entire world.
Don’t miss out!
Your Child Could Be An Olympic Skateboarder
In all aspects of life, nothing truly great is ever achieved alone. At GOSKATE, we’ve been teaching and training young people to achieve their skateboarding dreams for over 12 years.
Since 2009, GOSKATE has completed over 20,000 lessons with over 8,000 students in 3 countries, and with skateboarders as young as 11-years old competing in the Summer 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Your child could be well also on his or her way to achieving their Olympic dreams.
While most of the Olympic Skateboarders are in their twenties, skaters like Sky Brown qualified for the Olympics at just 11-years old.
She quickly has become a viral-household sensation as one of the youngest Olympic Athletes ever to compete in the games.
If you ever wondered, Should I Let a Young Girl Skateboard? You can check out our article or gain inspiration from Sky.
Sky began receiving lessons from trusted local skate instructors at the age of 4, and is now inspiring young girls around the world to step on a skateboard for the first time.
These types of stories are why we started GOSKATE in the first place.
Cultural Controversy - Should Skateboarding be in The Olympics?
It might surprise readers to discover that skateboarding’s induction into the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics was met with austere controversy from the skateboarding community.
Opposition to Skateboarding Joining The Olympic Games
In fact, a large portion of skateboarding’s prominent media outlets will regularly express their discontent with the Olympic Games. However, this particular sect of skateboarders generally do not support skate contests in general.
It is the Olympics skeptics’ belief, “No one can ‘win’ at skateboarding.” There has been an ongoing debate of whether skateboarding in The Olympics should be celebrated.
Tony Alva, one of the most popular names in skateboarding, said this about Olympic Skateboarding in 2016: “I’ve always said the Olympics need us a lot more than we need them.”
Is Skateboarding a Sport or an Art?
Alva also says, “Skateboarding as a creative art form needs to disassociate with political corruption and a greedy IOC association.”
Generally, Pro skaters echo a sentiment that reaches somewhere in the middle like Tony Ferguson, Professional Skateboarder says: “[Olympic Skateboarding] will give skateboarding more exposure on a global level, and I believe it will help the skateboard industry in general.”
Ferguson also stated, “There has been so much backlash and hating, personally I’m not into it, but I don’t think it will hurt skateboarding…”
Support For Olympic Skateboarding
In contrast, prominent Pro Skaters like Sean Malto had this to say: “I always thought it was funny when people would say skateboarding in the Olympics would ruin skateboarding. I’m like, really?
You’re going to let skating being in the Olympics ruin it?
I thought we all got into skating because we loved skateboarding. I’m just trying to skate and have fun whatever setting I am in.”
Now that you have learned Everything You Need to Know about Olympic Skateboarding, you’re all set to tune into history in the making!
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