Skateboarding Olympic team spans 20 years as 14-year-old X-Games winner is set for Paris debut
The Australian Olympic skateboarding team will span 20 years, with six Games debutants among the nine member squad locked in for Paris.
When Chloe Covell says it’s been a “childhood dream” to make the Olympics, it sounds fair given she’s been skateboarding for more than half her life.
But at just 14, it’s hard to think of Covell as much more than a kid herself.
As the youngest X-Games winner in history at the time - her record was broken by nine-year-old Perth prodigy Mia Kretzer at the weekend - and a world championship silver medallist though, Covell is not your average teen.
The Tweed Heads local is one of two 14-year-olds named in the nine-member Australian skateboarding team on Tuesday – and both are genuine medal chances.
Covell is not even the youngest team member.
That honour goes to her great mate Arisa Trew, who will be 14 years 86 days when she competes in Paris, becoming Australia’s youngest Olympian in 40 years.
Covell is a massive 85 days older.
But in a sport in which a 13-year-old won the street event in skateboarding’s Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021 and a 12-year-old claimed bronze in the park division, being 14 is no big deal.
“I guess it wasn’t (always) a big, big dream because I didn’t really understand it all,” Covell said of becoming an Olympian.
“But as I started to get better, do more competitions and then start doing the international competition, it definitely became a bigger and bigger goal and dream for me.”
Covell, the daughter of former Cronulla rugby league player Luke Covell, will join fellow debutants Haylie Powell, Liv Lovelace and Keefer Wilson in the street event, with the relatively ancient Shane O’Neill, 34, returning for his second Games appearance in Paris.
Gold Coaster Arisa Trew and 15-year-old Sydneysider Ruby Trew (not related) will make their debut in Paris in the park event, alongside Tokyo Olympic champion Keegan Palmer, who, like teammate Kieran Woolley, is back for his second Games.
Palmer made headlines in Tokyo with his gold medal-winning effort and is rated a good chance to defend his crown.
Palmer broke a Japanese stranglehold on the sport in 2021 – Japanese skaters won three of the four disciplines in Tokyo – but there are genuine beliefs Australia could be in a position to do the same in Paris, with our athletes rated among the strongest chances for gold in three of the four categories.
Arisa Trew and Palmer won the recent Olympic Qualifying Series in Hungary in the park event, while Covell is a 2023 World Championship street silver medallist.
Covell though is not putting pressure on herself to step on the top of the podium.
“We’re all really good friends. At the end of the day everyone, especially in the women’s, they’re all really young and are really good skaters – really nice people and it’s all really fun to hang out with them,” she said.
Covell and Lovelace, who missed selection for the Tokyo Games after breaking her arm, were at Tuesday’s team announcement on the Gold Coast.
“After today, I feel like it’s really real and I’m so excited,” said Lovelace, who literally broke out in goosebumps as deputy chef de mission and kayaking gold medallist Ken Wallace revealed the team.
“I’m nervous, but definitely excited to get better at skateboarding. I feel like my skateboarding has come a long way in the last year, I can’t wait to have fun with my friends and push myself and learn new tricks.”
We’re thrilled even more of our QAS athletes have been selected for the Olympics and Paralympics! 🛹🚣â€â™‚ï¸ Congratulations Keegan Palmer, Kieran Woolley, Arisa Trew, Chloe Covell, Haylie Powell, Erik Horrie, Tobiah Goffssassen + Susannah Lutze! #qldacademyofsport#AllezAuspic.twitter.com/OkqyZ9nIwX
— Queensland Academy of Sport (@QldAcademySport) July 2, 2024
The pair head overseas on Tuesday night where they will link with other members of the Australian team for training ahead of the Games.
Skateboarding will be held at Paris’s famed Place de la Concorde, part of an area in the heart of the city that will be transformed into an urban park for the Olympics.
The Skateboarding competition will be held at either end of the Games schedule, with street on July 27-28 and park on August 6-7.
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