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 for 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 ended that article stating that skating didn’t need the Olympics. The last Olympics had an impact on skating, with more skate parks getting built. In some areas, particularly in Japan, skateboarding has experienced a surge 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 outdoor 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 in the demeanor and performance of most of the skaters. I read articles afterwards from non-skating journalists who thought it boring. Usually, the skaters of that caliber are more consistent, even with the complicated tricks. I conducted some research by visiting AccuWeather, and according to their data, Paris in summer is milder than Tokyo by a projected 10 degrees, with lower humidity. So, if the Olympics continue 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 that both the women’s street and park skateboarding were great, and I think they 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 surrounding skateboarding, where parents often prefer girls to participate in sports like soccer, tennis, track, and volleyball, or any other 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, 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 the support network through schools. People who excel at running or track can pursue a college education, often influenced by coaches and the entire 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, Tony Hawk stated he got bullied in high school, despite being the top skater in the world at the time. 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 could help.
There are nonprofits with forward-thinking mentalities, like the Harold Hunter Foundation, that aim to improve the lives of skaters of all ages based in NYC. And there are a few other nonprofits 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 nonprofits, but the last I’ll mention is Skateistan, which provides education to some children in countries that deny them access.
In Northwest Ohio, Bowling Green, a university town, has a little skate park. I hope that in the future, every college town will have a skate park. It’s great that the industry and nonprofits 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.
