Skateboarding x Olympics: Tokyo Games Breakdown

Skateboarding in the Olympics, many thought the day would never come. But, in less than two months 80 individuals will compete for their country on a four-wheeled, wooden toy.

In preparation for the Tokyo Games, we are taking a look at what lies ahead for skateboarding's big debut. For a critical breakdown of how skaters qualified, who is set to compete, what's up with disciplines and formats, plus insight on the team uniforms to come… read on below!

For info on Olympic surfing, here is a separate breakdown on athlete qualification, the 6-round contest format and the first-ever olympic wave. 

Olympic Qualification: Who Will Be Skating?

For many Olympic sports the qualification process is quite convoluted, but for skateboarding it's rather simple. Individuals must be recognized by their national federation and then compete in sanctioned qualifying events to stack points and outrank their compatriots.

However, street has a unique caveat. The podium placing skaters from the World Skateboarding Championship are awarded direct tickets to Tokyo (regardless of World Skate rankings, which will be finalized on June 30th). Each country is allowed three skaters per discipline, and each discipline will feature 20 participants.

Additionally, an Olympic rule requires representation from every continent as well as allocated spots for the host nation in each discipline. For the complete list of who will be skating in the Tokyo Games, SCROLL DOWN!

Olympic Skateboarding Disciplines + Formats

Skateboarding at the Olympics will include street and park disciplines for both men and women. The rules for each reflect those used in qualifying events such as Street League Skateboarding and Dew Tour, meaning all of the skaters are familiar with the flow.

The Park format is very straightforward and utilizes a large, enclosed bowl-like design featuring different sizes of quarterpipes and banked wall transitions that connect through corners and hips. Each skateboarder is allotted four, 45-second runs, but if you fall your run is over. Runs are scored on a scale from 1-100. After four runs, only the single highest score will be used to determine the results.

The format for Street is a little bit more complicated and takes place on a course of rails, ledges, stairs and other obstacles found in urban environments built into plaza setting. Referred to as a 2:5:4 format; each skater takes two, 45-second runs, five individual trick attempts, and then the best four scores get combined to determine the results. Each section is judged on a point scale of 1-10.

Olympic Skateboarding Team Uniforms

Believe it, skateboarders will be wearing team uniforms at the Olympic Games. Don't be totally worried, though. The uniforms are not as basic as jerseys and athletic pants.

Imagine a color scheme and an abstract pattern that runs thematically across different outfit components. Individuals can then mix and match whatever pieces to suit their style and needs. That is basically what Nike did for Team USA.

Each country is sponsored separately, but it is up to the International Federation (IF) to determine what is considered uniform vs athletic equipment. Skateboarding's IF, World Skate determined that shoes are the only piece of apparel that will not be considered as part of the uniform.

Basically, for skateboard equipment (shoes and hardgoods) athletes may use their existing personal sponsor’s variety, but everything else will be Team uniform.

If nothing else, watching the world's best skaters wear semi-synchronized team outfits will be enough of a tune-in factor for most. Also, the skateboarding should be pretty entertaining.