JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As we welcome the 2024 Olympic Summer Games, we wanted to highlight some of the newer sports to the games. One of those is Olympic skateboarding, which has not only evolved since the last Olympics but has also grown.
Olympic Skateboarding is fairly new. It was introduced to the Olympics in 2020. Then, more doors were opened.
"So many different cultures and different kids and people across the world in places that would never have known what skateboarding is without it being in the Olympics," said Neal Mins, Olympic skateboarding coach.
This is what you can expect to see. The world's best skateboarders will compete in two disciplines. Consider them like categories.
"One's park, one's street," said Mins.
In park, skateboarders have three 45-second runs to give five judges their best tricks.
"Vert skating and backyard pool skating together on top of making it very unique with different obstacles within a bowl setting," Mins explained.
In street skateboarding, athletes get two 45-second runs.
"More rails, and stairs, and ledges, flat ledges, down ledges which we call hubbas, and there's a little bit of transition," said Mins.
Typically, skateboarders only do one discipline, not both. Each country has 12 skateboarders.
"So you got three female street, three male street, three female park, three male park," said Mins.
Athletes will be judged on their runs and given a final score.
"They're looking for flow, style, technical ability. In the park, it's going to be amplitude, and on street, it's going to be speed and execution," Mins explained.
Skateboarding begins on July 27 and will continue until August 7.