PARIS, France – Skateboarding debuted at the Olympics in Tokyo 2020, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you already understand how it works. And since the opening ceremony is in just a few days now (Friday, July 26), now is probably the best time to start thinking about how the competition is held, who’s competing, and how to watch.
There are four events for skateboarding in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Men’s street, men’s park, women’s street, and women’s park.
The PARK EVENTS, as one might expect, take place in a pretty traditional looking skate park. A large bowl contains several different obstacles and features for competitors to perform tricks on and off and to help them gain speed. Both the men’s park and women’s park include a preliminary round where skaters receive three 45-second runs, the best of which is used to determine who makes it into the finals. The finals are run pretty much the same, with athletes getting three 45-second runs to put down their best efforts. The person with the best run wins gold, simple as that.
In the STREET EVENTS, rails, stairs, and gaps work to create an urban environment for skaters to show off their skills. In both the preliminary round and finals, athletes have two 45-second runs to rack up the best score possible. Then they’re given five attempts to perform their best tricks. The top two scores from their five best trick attempts combined with the best of their 45-second runs makes up their overall score, determining if they move on to the finals or, in the finals, win a medal.
Skateboarding in Paris will take place in the Place de la Concorde, an urban park in the heart of the city. The venue will also host the BMX freestyle competition, 3×3 basketball, and breaking. Street skateboarding will take place on July 27 and 28, while park will take place on August 6 and 7.
For Team USA, Nyjah Huston, Jagger Eaton, and Chris Joslin compete in men’s street, while Paige Heyn, Mariah Duran, and Poe Pinson make up the women’s street. For park, Gavin Bottger, Tate Carew, and Tom Schaar make up the men, while Minna Stess, Bryce Wettstein, and Ruby Lilley make up the women. Of course, athletes representing Brazil, Japan, Australia, and many other countries will be worth keeping an eye on.
