What is Skateboarding?
Skateboarding is a sport and recreational activity that entails riding and performing tricks on a skateboard.
Riders stand on a flat wooden board, comprised of a deck, truck and wheels, and a combination of momentum and footwork to execute tricks.
By whom, where and when was Skateboarding invented?
Skateboarding first originated in 1950s California in the United States when surfers, looking for something to do when the waves were flat, attached roller skates to their boards.
No one person is credited with the invention of skateboarding, but the creation of the modern-day skateboard is attributed to former beach lifeguard Larry Stevenson. In 1963 Stevenson founded a skateboard company, Makaha, which revolutionised the rudimentary design of the board.
He created the short surfboard-like design and then later added a kicktail – upward curve – to the back of the board to help the invention of tricks.
A kicktail was later added to the front end of the board.
What are the rules of Skateboarding?
While the requirements of each skateboarding discipline are slightly different the premise of the contests is largely the same, athletes must execute their most impressive tricks, meeting several criteria including difficulty, speed, execution and style.
The park competition takes place on a course that resembles a bowl within which there will be several different obstacles so that athletes can gather speed and momentum to perform tricks in the air.
The competition for park consists of a preliminary round and a final round. In the preliminary round skaters get three 45-second runs and the best of the three will be used to judge who makes it through to the final round.
Like the preliminary round, skaters will once more have three 45-second timed runs with the best run score counting.
In the event of a tie, the second-highest run decides the tiebreak.
The street competition involves skaters performing tricks on a course that has features that resemble an urban environment including stairs, rails and gaps.
Like the park contest, there is a preliminary round and a final round.
Street skaters begin by performing two 45-second runs and the best score will be carried over to the overall result.
Then there is the best trick section where skateboarders get five attempts to perform their best tricks. The top two scores are then combined with the best run score to form a total score.
Skateboarding and the Olympics
After making its debut on the Olympic stage at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, skateboarding, was one of the five sports to make an Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
It featured the disciplines of street and park and had separate competitions for men and women.
Best Skateboarders to watch
From the powerhouse nations of United States, Brazil and Japan be sure to watch out for Olympic medallists Horigome Yuto, Nishiya Momiji, Rayssa Leal and Jagger Eaton who rocked the street division in Tokyo. Meanwhile in park, Australian Olympic champion Keegan Palmer, Yosozumi Sakura, Pedro Barros and Sky Brown are all names that you can expect to deliver big performances.
With new talent constantly emerging in the sport staying on top can prove particularly challenging in skateboarding.
The rising stars in street skating include France’s own Aurelien Giraud, Australia’s Chloe Covell and Onodera Ginwoo of Japan. Over in the park division, Brazil’s Augusto Akio and Great Britain’s Lola Tambling are both skateboarders looking to break into the top ranks.
