The first skateboarding Olympics in Tokyo 2021 will go down as one of the most historic days in skateboarding history, as it changed skateboarding forever and put our favorite sport on a pedestal like never before.
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 that the future of skateboarding is female, 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. And you won’t want to miss out! 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:
- What We Know About the 2024 Paris Olympic Games
- How to Qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games
- How Skateboarders Will Be Judged
- When are the 2024 Olympic Games?
- The Paris 2024 Olympic Skateboarding Schedule
- Where to Watch Olympic Skateboarding?
- How to Watch Olympic Skateboarding?
- Contest Formatting
- What Countries Will Perform in the Olympic Skateboarding Competitions?
Keep reading our bonus section to find out how your child can become the next Olympic Skateboarding Gold Medalist!
What we know about the 2024 Paris Olympic Games:
What do we know about the 2024 Paris Olympic Games? For starters, all the world’s greatest competition skateboarders will be in one place going head to head in two spectacular contests: Park and Street.
With the two events of Park and Street, these events will consist of two rounds, prelims and finals. However, many of these skateboarders will have completed an intense amount of pre-qualifying contests via Street League Skateboarding and X Games. In fact, at the recent X Games Rome competition in June 2023, over 272 skateboarders were vying for a chance to boost their Official World Skate Ranking, and earn points from the wider Olympic Community.
Nonetheless, these athletes will be positioned to bring out the biggest and most skilled tricks possible and come from a wide demographic of countries. Skateboarding is inherently unique in that these skateboarders will all be rooting for each other, but ultimately we should all expect a fiercely competitive 2024 Paris Olympic Skateboarding.
How to Qualify for Skateboarding at Paris 2024 Olympics
There is quite a peculiar road for skateboarders to make it to the 2024 Paris skateboarding Olympics but it begins with being listed by name in the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings as of 24th of June 2024.
As listed by the National Olympic Committee, there are several competitions that count towards a skateboarder’s Global Ranking:
- World Championship
- 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 be included in the qualification strata. Once skaters make it to the top 100 rankings in the National Olympic Skateboarding rankings they accumulate in the Olympic Qualifier Series.
The Olympic Qualifier Series, a newly launched three-event qualifier will be taking place between March and June 2024, where the last decisive points will be at stake from the best skaters in the world competing head to head for a chance to land in Paris. As of 2022, there has been three seasons of Olympic Qualifiers:
- 2022: June 22nd – December 31st
- 2023: January 1st – December 31st
- 2024: January 1st to June 23rd
There will be a select few athletes who will be selected by name and will be decided by June 2024.
Here are some examples of Paris 2024 qualifying events.
- Street Skateboarding Rome Pro Tour, Italy June 26th 2023
- Rio World Park World Championships Rio De Janeiro, Brazil October 9th 2022
- World Skate Street World Championship Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, October 16th 2023
How Skateboarder’s Will be Judged:
Within the two events of Street and Park, are two unique skate courses constructed by various obstacles. In the Park competition, a series of bowls, quarter pipes, unique bends, transfers, gaps and particular areas where the heigh, size, steepness, and grindable coping vary to create waves, drops, sheer walls, and spine transfers. This allows skateboarders to really show off their creative prowess and unique style of skateboarding. In addition, skaters will be judged on height and speed of the tricks they carry out during airs, as well as their capacity to skate the entire course and obstacles.
Here is a brief recap on how skateboarders will be judge at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games:
- Height and Speed of Tricks
- Capacity to Skate Entire Course
- Style and Cleanliness of Trick
- Trick Difficulty
While we will go over the contest formatting in detail below, the Park participants will perform three 45-second runs, with the best of the three runs counting as their final round score.
For the Street participants, the event will take place in a “urban-street course” featuring stairs, handrails, ledges and other plaza obstacles resembling authentic street spots. Generally, there is a “big” section with a large stairs and handrail where many skaters focus their training to land the largest scores possible.
Street Athletes will also perform a range of tricks and will be judged on the control of their board during the two 45-second runs and 5 tricks they land.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Skateboarding Schedule
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.
Who Will Be in the 2024 Skateboarding Olympics?
When you take a look at the first Olympic Skateboarding event in 2021, there will be 88 athletes to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympic Skateboarding contests. Not to make you do a math problem but there are 22 athletes per events for men and women’s street. It is believed there will be 8 more athletes than the Tokyo Olympics.
As with tradition for Olympic Games, the host country France will have four quotas for each men and women’s, meaning that the other 80 quotas will be allocated amongst the skaters with the best rankings. However, no more than 12 can be represented by a country as per the National Olympic Committee.
With Japan taking home 5 medals, 3 golds and 2 silvers, it is safe to say that Japan is going to be represented in the 2024 Paris Olympic skateboarding. Brazil, the United States of America, and Paris are the other countries guaranteed, with a high probability from Canada, Germany and China. Check back for more when this article gets closer to the date.
Where to Watch 2024 Paris Olympic Skateboarding
Over the decades, NBC has enjoyed the privilege of being the official televisor of The Olympics in the US, with plans to host over 7,000 hours of Olympic Game coverage in just two weeks.
We invite you to tune in daily to your local NBC stations, NBC sports, or NBCOlympics.com starting at 6:55 a.m. EST to watch the opening ceremonies. Additionally, you can listen on the radio or visit YouTube for recaps.
How to watch 2024 Paris Olympic Skateboarding for Free Online on a Computer?
What we know for certain is that NBCUniversal owns exclusive rights to extend any content to the internet. Additionally, NBC has its own streaming service in Peacock.Thus, Peacock will be the exclusive online streaming service for The Olympics.
That being said, most of the Olympics will be broadcasted on Peacock’s free tier. You might have to watch commercials but you will be able to watch the Paris 2924 Olympic Skateboarding contests for free.
How to watch 2024 Paris Olympic Games via Amazon, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV or Android TV:
If you have a smart TV or the ability to connect your computer via bluetooth or HDMI – you can connect to the official Olympic Channel App for free.
Via the Olympics.com, “The official Olympic Channel app is available on connected devices, including Apple and Android TVs, Amazon Fire TV, and the Roku platforms. This is also true for other smart appliances like mobile phones and tablets. A reminder it is free even without a subscription.
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. 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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