Of course, I waited a long time for the 2021 Olympics since it was the first to include skateboarding. Skaters were skeptical of the Olympics, stating it wasn’t core skating, or other reasons. That includes me. At the bottom of this article is the link for something I wrote for Hackwriters in 2007 that is still online. I end that article stating skating didn’t need the Olympics. The last Olympics did have an impact on skating in that more skateparks are being built, and in some areas, mostly Japan, skateboarding exploded in popularity. In this post I’ll state why the 2024 Olympics may be more exciting, and have an impact compared to the last one. I’ll also mention how over time the Olympics could be a good thing.
All competitions thrive on a live audience. Skateboarding is no exception. I believe many of the sports in the last Olympics were dystopic without an audience, and only the announcers. When someone made a trick, you could hear only a few claps. Skateboard audiences can be wild, and I’m sure the skaters prefer the validation with yells and cheers when they succeed from the crowd. Tony Hawk, the Nine Club podcast, and others thought the announcers were horrible too.
I’m not sure why if gymnastics is always indoors skateboarding is an outside event. For whatever reason it was out in the hot and humid Tokyo sun. For the men’s street contest, it was a particularly hot and humid day. The fatigue showed on the demeanor and performance of most of the skaters. I read articles afterwards from non-skating journalists that thought it boring. Usually, the skaters of that caliber are more consistent, even with the difficult tricks. I did some research by going to accuweather and Paris in summer is milder than Tokyo, by a projected 10 degrees, and less humidity. So, if the Olympics continues to make skateboarding an outdoor sport, the performance all around will be better if the weather is nice. I hope they get better announcers too.
In my opinion one of the best things from the past Olympics was both the women’s street and park skateboarding were great, and I think encouraged a bunch more people to get into it. Chris Roberts of the Nine Club didn’t like the low scores for the women’s skateboarding compared to the men’s, but the actual skating was consistent and fun to watch. Everyone feeling able and welcome to skate is good for the future of the sport. In the United States there is still a stigma on skateboarding that parents prefer girls do sports like soccer, tennis, track, and volleyball, or any sport. And boys do sports like baseball, football, basketball, and more. People should be able to choose what they want to spend their time on. Granted the team sports in general have the support of high school and collegiate teams. In my speculative novel set in the year 2380, I have characters on a college skateboard team. It would be ideal if as the popularity of skateboarding grows so does support networks through schools. People good a running or track can get a college education and are influenced to do so by coaches and the whole school.
When I was young school and skateboarding were two separate things. Many skaters of my generation did not go to college. At the recent Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen talk I went to Tony Hawk stated he was bullied in high school, and at the time he was the top skater in the world. Things have changed since then, but have they changed enough? I think exposure from the Olympics can help with taking care of skateboarders. Jenkemmag, has done recent articles reporting it’s difficult for pro skateboarders to make money. Interest from the larger corporate market world could help that.
There are non-profits with foreword mentalities, like the Harold Hunter Foundation that’s trying to better the lives of skaters of all ages based in NYC. And there are a few other non-profits that give college scholarships to skateboarders. The Skatepark Project, started by Tony Hawk, raises funds to build skateparks in low-income areas. There are more non-profits but the last I’ll mention is Skateistan that gives some kids an education in countries that deny them.
In Northwest Ohio, Bowling Green, a university town, has a little skate park. I hope for in the future every college town has a skatepark. It’s great that the industry and non-profits promote skating as a positive thing. But if high schools and universities backed it like other sports, that would change the game. And the only way for that to happen is a huge popularity boost, and being part of the Olympics over time might be one way for that to happen.
My article from 2007:
https://www.hackwriters.com/skaters2.htm
Links of non-profits I mentioned:
https://www.haroldhunter.org/
https://www.collegeskateboarding.com/scholarships
https://www.skateistan.org/
https://skatepark.org/
