‘Hesitation is how you hurt yourself’: Olympian Keegan Palmer’s golden advice

Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we’re told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they’re given. This week, he talks to Keegan Palmer. The Australian skateboarder, 19, won the Skate Australia National Park Championship in 2020 before taking the sport’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo. He was awarded an OAM in the 2022 Australia Day Honours.

“I just want to be known as a kid who always had a lot of fun and was good at skating.” Credit: Alex Donnini

RELIGION

You were born in San Diego to an American father and South African mother before moving to the Gold Coast in Queensland as a one-year-old. Were you raised with religion? I was raised in a Christian home, for sure. I went to a private Christian school and we went to church on Sundays.

Any specific denomination? Anglican, Baptist, Catholic … To be honest, I don’t know exactly!

What about nowadays? Do you still go to church? Since we moved back to the US [Palmer is now based in Southern California], it’s been a lot harder and more hectic. When we have a second to breathe, we do a lot of family stuff. But I’d definitely say that there is a God and I do believe in Jesus.

Is there a relationship between your spirituality and your skateboarding? Definitely. There have been a couple of contests where I’m, like, on my last run – it’s my only try left – and I’ll say a quick prayer. Like, “I need some help here! I need to pull something out of my arse!”

There are 10 Commandments. What are your commandments for skating? Make sure you put in the time and effort. You can be good at anything if you put in the time and effort. Go hard. Train hard. Practise a lot.

To what extent was winning gold at Tokyo a spiritual experience? It was probably one of the craziest experiences of my life. To this day, I’m still trying to grasp the concept. My body and mind are still in shock. We were talking about this for so long, and it actually happened. I’m still lost for words.

What’s the meaning of life? Being able to wake up with a huge smile on your face. If you can wake up, put on a smile and take one step at a time, you’re going to be all right.

BODIES

Your official bio says you’re a “goofy-footed professional skateboarder”. What does “goofy-footed” mean? ”Goofy foot” is when you put your right foot forward on your skateboard and your left foot is at the back.

So it’s skating’s equivalent of being left-handed in tennis or something? Yeah, it’s just like golf or tennis. Some people prefer to use their left hand, some people prefer to use their right hand. I just prefer to skate goofy. That’s how I surf, that’s how I snowboard. I’m right-handed, but maybe I’m ambidextrous.

You’ve broken nine bones over the course of your life and you’re only 19. What has been your worst injury? The right femur, for sure, was the biggest one.

How did you break it? I was in California skating in the Combi bowl in Orange County. I was doing this trick and I just landed on the flat bottom [of the bowl] with my legs straight. It just snapped. Now I have three pencil-size lines down my leg where they put in a titanium plate and six screws.

Oh god! After that sort of injury, how do you get yourself in the headspace to get back onto a ramp? Well, it got to the point where I was sitting on my arse doing nothing for so long. For me personally, I get so much joy out of skating, so it’d be hard for me to just let it go, even after an injury. I’m just like a 12-year-old who only wants to be able to skate.

Does skating at this level almost require that level of injury and pain? You can be a lucky motherf…er and not hurt a single thing but, in skating, the risk is always there. You’ve gotta accept the fact that injury is part of skating; you gotta be ready for it.

One move in your final run at Tokyo that really impressed judges was an incredibly difficult kickflip body varial 540, in which you and the board executed a 1.5 rotation in midair. What’s required of your body to pull off something like that? It’s a combination of being mentally strong and focused, and being physically strong so your body can take the impact. It’s a commitment to the trick – going for it – and not being scared that you’re gonna get hurt, because [hesitation] is how you hurt yourself.

What part of your body are you unhappy with? I can never get my hair the way I like it. That’s why I wear so many hats!

DEATH

Are you old enough to have experienced grief? Actually, yeah. My mum’s dad passed away a couple of years ago and I was in Australia for a Vans Park Series event [in Sydney’s Five Dock]. I was on my way to the skatepark when I got the call.

I’m so sorry. Lead me through the experience of having to perform and compete just after you get the news you’ve lost a loved one. I felt super sad, and then, like five minutes later, I snapped out of it and was like, “No, I’m gonna win this contest, let’s f…ing do this, let’s win it for him.” I just told myself to do something for him; don’t make it be for nothing. And I ended up winning that day.

How do you want to be remembered after you die? I just want to be known as a kid who always had a lot of fun and was good at skating [Laughs].

Describe your ideal final day on this planet. Probably smoking weed in the forest! But to be honest, that’s a long time away! And I live my days one step at a time.

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