The full low-down on skateboarding at the 2021 Olympics

For the first time ever in Olympic history, the best of the best in the realm of skateboarding will head to Tokyo in their quest for a gold medal.

Alex Conrad

2 min read

July 24, 2021 - 11:30PM

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If you did a double-take when finding out that skateboarding would be one of five new additions to the Olympic Games, you’d be forgiven.

But now, the youngsters who grew up idolising the legendary Tony Hawk will now get their opportunity to shine on a global scale that’s even bigger than the X Games.

The Australian skateboarding team consists of five our best skateboarders, with all of them bar one aged 21 or under, with our youngest member, Kieran Woolley, just 17 years of age.

As it’s a totally new sport in the Olympic landscape, the five Aussies with a skateboard in hand will have a chance to write themselves into not just national history, but Olympic folklore forever.

We lay out everything you need to know before the Olympic skateboarding gets underway.

Hayley Wilson getting a practice session in ahead of her street course event on Monday.

What is the competition format?

In Olympic skateboarding, there are two disciplines: street and park.

On the street course, it will resemble exactly what you’d see out on, well, the street.

There will be stairs, handrails, curbs, benches, walls and slopes throughout the course and the riders can choose whatever route they please.

A time limit will be set, but that is the only main regulation in place.

Skaters will get two 45-second runs, along with a chance to do five tricks to impress the judges.

The way the street course will be scored is through a combination of the difficulty of the tricks being attempted, originality, execution, composition, speed and height.

As for the park discipline, it will be similarly free-range to the street course as competitors are free to do whatever tricks they want, and will be scored on the difficulty and originality of the tricks on display.

The course for the park discipline will be more structured than the street course.

The park course gives skaters three 45-second runs that will count toward their final score.

The skateboarding will take place at the Ariake Urban Sports Park.