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. 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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