How the Olympics helped a generation of girls fall in love with skateboarding

Every Friday, weather permitting, Mila McDonald heads to her local skate park before school. Having recently perfected her “air out” – a trick that involves getting air when coming off a ramp or half-pipe – after two years of practice, McDonald has a lot to be excited about when it comes to her favourite hobby.

The nine-year-old started skating during COVID pandemic lockdowns, which also happened to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics, where skateboarding made its debut. When her brother Rocco, 14, started skating, McDonald was desperate to follow his lead, even though none of her friends skated at the time.

Mila McDonald, 9, doing an air out at Bondi Skate Park.Credit: Janie Barrett

An increased interest in skateboarding, particularly among girls, has been noticed Australia-wide. It’s something professional skateboarder Chloe Covell took note of after the 2020 Olympics, as more and more kids started skating at her local park.

Covell started skating when she was six. Growing up in Tweed Heads, it was a boy living across the street who got her into skating. Now 14, she is hoping to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics – and it’s a lot more than just a pipe dream.

At 12, Covell won the bronze medal in women’s street at the X Games Chiba in 2022. And after winning gold at the X Games California in Ventura, she became the first athlete with two X Games podium finishes before turning 13.

Tweed Heads local and Olympic hopeful Chloe Covell, 14, attends the “Nike on Air” global event in Paris last month.

While the Instagram bios of most teenagers are kept relatively bare (except for an emoji or two), Covell’s features a reminder that she’s the youngest gold medallist in X Games women’s street skateboarding history and a Nike athlete.

At the “Nike On Air” global event, held at Palais Bronginart in Paris last month, Covell took her rightful place on stage alongside some of the world’s best athletes including Serena Williams, Eliud Kipchoge, Sha’Carri Richardson and Sam Kerr.

According to Tania Paton, co-owner of Henrietta Skate in Sydney’s Manly, the trend of young girls wanting to get into skateboarding is obvious from parents shopping in her store and booking skate lessons. “Five-year-old girls are coming in and wanting to get into it. And it’s not just kids, adults as well. I think the parents are a lot more nervous than the kids.

“Back in the day, you used to think skateboarding was a boy thing – a dude thing – but that’s changed,” says Paton, who attributes much of this perception shift to social media, where girls can watch professional female skaters like Covell doing tricks and winning medals.

This trend is something that the Totem Collective director Nigel Cameron has also noticed with the group’s free community programs. The collective designs and delivers free skateboarding-focused projects for state and local governments and youth and community services across Australia.

“Female involvement has increased by around 26 per cent from 2020 to today, with around 33 per cent female participation and non-binary participants at 0.5 per cent,” Cameron says. “I can see female participation increase with each tour we run.”

Totem Collective works with two female coaches including Felicity Turner, another Paris Olympics hopeful. For girls wanting to start skating, finding a female coach or girls-only event can make all the difference.

Caroline McDonald, Mila’s mum, says one of the nicest surprises about her daughter’s interest in skateboarding is how welcoming the community has been.

“Even if Mila is the only girl at the park, they all include her,” she says. “They do this thing where they do air outs together, then put their boards on top of each other, and all clap each other on. It’s really nice.”

While Covell and McDonald were both inspired to take up skating by boys in their life, a new generation of girls will be introduced to their skating idols at the Paris Olympics.

And as she waits to find out if she will qualify for the Paris Olympic Games, Covell is already making a difference to her sport and girls around the country.

“When I go to the skate park, little kids will come up to me and get a photo,” she says. “It makes me really happy because I’m one of the people who are inspiring other people to start skating.”

The writer travelled to Paris as a guest of Nike.

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