The skatepark for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics at La Concorde Urban Parc. GETTY IMAGES

Skateboarding —along with surfing, its fellow Olympic newcomer— boosted the COVID-delayed Tokyo Games' viewership with brands eager to capture a share of the sport's youthful fan base. The urban sport is set to captivate a global audience once again with some of the youngest Olympians at the Paris Games.

Once a subculture sport emblematic of countercultural movements, skateboarding has now skated its way onto one of the grandest stages of global sport with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) including it as a "core sport" in the Olympic programme from Los Angeles 2028.

"The quality of skateboarding, the talent level, the amount of people doing it across the globe at such a high level is remarkable," Jeff Landi, the head of skateboarding communication at governing body World Skate, told Reuters.



While some veterans of the sport, including skateboarding great Tony Hawk, had feared the Olympic spotlight could detract from its rebel street cred, the Tokyo Games succeeded in building a larger global community, said Landi.

"Particularly the growth of women skateboarding even from just the Games in Tokyo to now is phenomenal. And seeing the different faces come in ... it's just incredible. Obviously you can attribute that to skateboarding's involvement in the Games,” he added. 



Skateboarding has some of the youngest athletes competing in this year's Games and has attracted thousands of young spectators during its Olympic qualifiers. GETTY IMAGES
Skateboarding has some of the youngest athletes competing in this year's Games and has attracted thousands of young spectators during its Olympic qualifiers. GETTY IMAGES



In Paris, skateboarding will unfold in the iconic Place de la Concorde. Many of the sport's heavy hitters from Tokyo are set to return and promising young talent are set to make their Olympic debut. Teen sensations like Australia's Ruby Trew and Britain's youngest medallist Sky Brown are expected to be among the names to watch. 11-year-old Zheng Haohao and 12-year-old Vareeraya Sukasem are also set to compete in the Games.



"It's a demographic that everyone wants. You want young people and that they're young, they're vibrant, they're innovative and they like to see themselves. And so of course that's great for ratings,” said Neftalie Williams, an assistant professor of sociology at San Diego State University whose academic work covers the culture of skateboarding.

Williams, who was the U.S. State Department's inaugural envoy for skateboarding, said the sport's designation as a future permanent Olympic discipline showed it had "gone global.”

"It's not that this is ... this American export that we've tried to give to everyone - it's that young people all over the globe have made skateboarding their home," he said.