Skateboarding at the 2024 Paris Olympics

The rise of teens and tweens

Skateboarding is back for the second time in Olympic history. In 2021 it grabbed headlines as many of the medal winners weren’t even old enough to drive. So if you want to compare what 14-year-old you was up to while these rockstars chase the gold, this is the perfect sport. There are 88 athletes competing in 4 events. The “street” events happen on days 1 & 2 of the Games, while the “park” events are in week two.

The Basics

The world’s greatest skateboarders will face each other at the Olympic Games, competing in the two most popular and spectacular disciplines: park and street. Athletes must carry out their most impressive tricks, meeting criteria for the degree of difficulty, speed and range of moves.

The events consist of two rounds: prelims and finals.

The park competition takes place on a varied course combining bowls and numerous bends, which the athletes use to gather speed and perform tricks mid-air.

The skateboarders are judged by the height and speed of the tricks they carry out during jumps, as well as their capacity to use the entire surface and all obstacles. They perform three 45‑second runs, with the best of three counting as their final round score.

Street events take place on a straight ‘street-like’ course with stairs, handrails, etc. set up to resemble the urban environments where skateboarding started out. Athletes perform a range of tricks and are also judged on how they control their board during the two 45‑second runs and five tricks they carry out.

The Format

In the Street event, 22 skaters throw down 2 qualifying runs, and then 5 tricks. Everything is scored on a scale of 0 to 10. Out of the 7 possible scores, only the best 4 are kept. The top 8 advance to the final. The final plays out the same way, with 2 “runs” and then 5 tricks. The best 4 scores are kept. The 2021 Men’s Street Champion scored a 37.18 out of a maximum 40.

In the Park event, 22 skaters throw down 3 qualifying runs (45 seconds each). These are scored on a scale of 0 to 100. Only the highest scoring run is kept. The top 8 advance to the final. The final plays out the same way, with 3 more runs, only the best run matters. The 2021 Men’s Park champion put down the only 2 runs in the whole competition that scored 90 or higher (94.04 & 95.83).

What Countries Did Well in 2021?

Considering Japan added the event for their home Olympics, it should come as no surprise they won 3 of the 4 gold medals up for grabs. They also won a silver and bronze. Brazil picked up 3 of the 4 possible silver medals. Perhaps more significant was the age of the medalists. Sorted from youngest to oldest, the ages of the 12 medal winners from 2021 were 12,13,13,13,16,18,19,20,22,.22.26.27. Being above the age of 22 makes you a senior citizen in this sport.

Schedule

July 27th: Men’s Street

July 28th: Women’s Street

August 6th: Women’s Park

August 7th: Men’s Park