Skateboarding
With thanks to Skateboard England for the use of this video.
Skateboarding is a new Olympic Sport!!!
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will feature skateboarding for the first time.
The GB Team have been training and competing hard to qualify.
Only last month, November 2019, the 5 strong Skateboard GB Team competed at the World Skate 5-Star event in Rio De Janeiro, aiming to gain vital points to push them closer to Olympic qualification.
The OI STU Open-Street/Park Skateboarding Event is the first global competition in season two of skateboard qualification series. It featured both street YouTube men’s street semi 1 highlights and park disciplines at the same event. YouTube Men’s park/bowl final highlights Skateboard C’ships 2019
With thanks to Skateboard England for the use of this video.
In her last international event, Sky Brown produced her best ever competition run, to win the bronze medal at the World Championships, in Sao Paulo and shooting her ranking retrospectively up to 3rd best in the world.
Sky’s achievements have resulted in her being shortlisted for the Sunday Times ‘Young Sportswoman of the Year’ award for her outstanding performance in sport in 2019, inspiring the next generation of skateboarders to pick up a board. She has also been shortlisted for the BBC Young Sports Person of the Year!
With thanks to Skateboard England for the use of this video.
Alex Decunha, currently ranked 30th in the world, competed in the street skateboarding event and is currently just a few points off the Olympic qualifying group.
With thanks to Skateboard England for the use of this video.
If he maintains a similar level this season it is likely that he too, will qualify for the Tokyo 2020.
With thanks to Skateboard England for the use of this video.
Skateboard England kindly shared an interview with Alex Decunha
How did you first get involved in skateboarding?
So one time when I was 6 years old I was with my parents in my local shopping centre in Milton Keynes. Eastpak had set up a half pipe and had some of their riders doing a demo. One of the riders was Lee Blackwell, saw him do some crazy stuff and 6 year old me wanted to start from there so my parents got me a setup. Years later I see Lee all over the place still and we’re good homies:)
Do you remember your first competition?
Haha my memory seems to be pretty awful. Maybe not the first but one of my main ones would have been Natural Born skaters. It was in 2006 so I would have been 9, it was my first competition win that I still have the trophy for.
How often do you skateboard?
I’m out skating wherever, it’s still just as fun as the day I started, I’m always trying to learn new things or improve what I already have. I go skate as much as I can, near enough every other day, completely depends on the weather.
Describe a typical day skating.
Do some warm up tricks and what not then just try play around on some ledges or anything that I’m skating to try figure out new things to learn. I like weird tricks
Best piece of advice you can give?
What every skateboarder will tell you it’s just to have fun, don’t overthink too much and just do what you like, there’s no rules in skateboarding. That’s what it’s all about. If you’re not having fun you’re not doing it right!
The Olympic qualification process allows a maximum of 3 athletes per country, per discipline to qualify. We won’t know if the GB Skateboarders have qualified for the Olympics until May 2020....
With thanks to Skateboard England for the use of this video.
Background to Skateboarding in the UK
Skateboarding is a growing sport, with more than 534,000 active participants in England and across the UK as a whole approximately 750,000.
Skateboarding is very accessible and so if you don’t like ‘traditional’ sports like football, cricket, golf, running, cycling, etc. skateboarding could be the sport for you..
With thanks to Skateboard England for the use of this video.
The majority of skateboarders are aged between 11 and 16 and skateboarding is very accessible and relatively cheap to take part in it Skateboarding is a fantastic sport for balance, coordination and strength. It increases self esteem and confidence and as you can train on your own or in a group you don’t need to feel pressured to be at a certain standard. You can learn at your own pace.
With thanks to Skateboard England for the use of this video.
How do you start?
To find out more about skateboarding visit www.skateboard-england.org .
There are over 1500 skateparks across the country and Skateboard England have launched a free app called myskate. This allows you to easily find the closest skatepark, indoor lessons or you can follow the G.B team events.
You can also visit their website www.theskateparks.co.uk and just pop in your postcode to see a map of skate parks near you.
Equipment
You will need a skateboard but these can be found quite cheaply or why not share one with a friend? You will also need a helmet and some knee and elbow guards.
