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The June Store guide to Skateboarding in the Olympics

The June Store guide to Skateboarding in the Olympics

Wait, skateboarding’s in the Olympics?

Yep! The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wanted the Olympics to appeal to a younger audience. So for the first time ever, skateboarding (as well as surfing, and climbing) will be part of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In fact, there will be two skateboarding disciplines: ‘Street’ and ‘Park’, with separate competitions for men and women.

Wait, no vert? I thought I saw Tony Hawk there?

Nah, vert’s dead. Tony just needed a vacation. He’s also there for goodwill, and to encourage them to include vert in the 2024 games.



I thought skateboarding was only for outlaws, renegades and punks?

Actually, skateboarding is for everyone. And it beats watching triathlons or dressage.

Interesting. So how do they do the scoring?

In ‘street’, each skateboarder completes two 45 second runs, followed by five attempts at a ‘best trick’.

Points are awarded for the difficulty of the tricks, as well as height, speed, originality, execution and the composition of moves.

The top four scores for each skater are taken into account, and whoever has the highest score gets the gold medal.

The ‘park’ discipline is a bit more complicated. Skaters get three runs, and judges give a score out of 100.00 for each run.

The highest and lowest scores are then discarded, and the average of the remaining three scores is the final score.

Ok, I’m in. So who’s in the GB Skateboarding team? Tom Knox? Kyle Wilson? Darby Gough?

Not quite. Only two British skateboarders actually qualified for the Olympics, 13-year-old Sky Browne and 14-year-old Bombette Martin. You can watch them compete in the Women’s park discipline on Thursday 5 August.



Sounds great, when can I watch it?

Due to the time difference, the finals take place in the middle of the night. But you'll be able to catch the highlight on iPlayer (or Instagram):

  • Sunday, July 25 – Men’s street: prelims and final (01:00-05:55)
  • Monday, July 26 – Women’s street: prelims and final (01:00-05:55)
  • Wednesday, August 4 – Men’s park: prelims and final (01:00-05:40)
  • Thursday, August 5 – Women’s park: prelims and final (01:00-05:40)

Do say: “Wow, Skye nailed that McTwist"

Don’t say: “The winner is whoever has the most fun, man”

 

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