San Leandro, CA – Skate Industry News: Olympic Hopefuls On Their Way To Gold!

The Olympics is finally here!! The top skateboarders from each country begin to say their goodbyes and commence the pilgrimage to the mecca of sport stardom. This year the Olympic Mecca will be held in Japan, specifically Tokyo’s Ariake Urban Sports Park. There will be two skateboarding competitions for both men and women, Park and Street. 

‘Olympic Park skaters will navigate a course that somewhat resembles a bowl or an empty swimming pool. Skaters will launch themselves upward off the sides of the walls during their 45-second runs, performing tricks that are graded by a panel of five judges. In the preliminary rounds, 20 skaters will compete in four heats of five competitors, with the top eight advancing to the finals. Skaters will get three 45-second runs per round, and the judges grade each run on a zero-to-100 scale. The highest and lowest scores for each run are dropped, and the three remaining scores are averaged. A skater’s best score of the three will be the one that counts as the qualifying score.

In the Street skateboarding, competitors navigate a street-like course featuring stairs, handrails, curbs, benches, walls and slopes, using those obstacles to perform tricks that are scored by a five-judge panel. In each round, skaters perform two 45-second runs and five tricks, and the judges grade each run and trick on a zero-to-10 scale. The highest and lowest scores for each run and trick are dropped, and the remaining three scores are averaged to one decimal place, resulting in the final score. A skater’s qualifying score for each round is calculated by adding the four highest run or trick scores. The top eight skaters from the 20-person preliminary round advance to the finals.’ -states the Washington Post