When the ancient Greeks gathered every four years to participate in athletic games, could they ever imagine that many centuries later people would carry on the tradition? The Olympic Games became one of the most popular and long-standing sport events in the world. And though the main idea behind the tournament remained the same, the Games kept evolving throughout the time, with rules, venues, and even participating sports changing.
The number of sports that were played in the arena in Ancient Greece was far lower than what the modern spectators can enjoy. The sports ancient Greek athletes competed in included boxing, chariot racing, running, wrestling, pankration, which was a very brutal, no-limits combination of boxing and wrestling, and a three-section event that included long jump, javelin and discus throwing.
With new sports emerging on the global arena and gaining popularity, the programme of the modern Olympic Games that were first held in 1896 in Athens keeps expanding to include new categories. The 1896 Summer Olympics, while not as diverse as the Games of the 21st century, still included more disciplines than Ancient Greece. Athletes competed in athletics, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis, weightlifting, and wrestling.
For comparison, here is a full list of sports presented at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics:
- Artistic swimming
- Diving
- Marathon swimming
- Swimming
- Water polo
- Archery
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Basketball (basketball & 3×3 basketball)
- Boxing
- Breaking
- Canoeing (slalom & sprint)
- Cycling (BMX freestyle, BMX racing, mountain biking, road, track)
- Equestrian (dressage, eventing, jumping)
- Fencing
- Field hockey
- Football
- Golf
- Gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic, trampoline)
- Handball
- Judo
- Modern pentathlon
- Rowing
- Rugby sevens
- Sailing
- Shooting
- Skateboarding
- Sport climbing
- Surfing
- Table tennis
- Taekwondo
- Tennis
- Triathlon
- Volleyball (volleyball & beach volleyball)
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling (freestyle & Greco-Roman)
Skateboarding: From Street Culture to Olympic Sport
A rudimentary form of skateboarding has existed for far longer than many would imagine. In its modern form, skateboarding is associated with the surfing culture that began rising in California between the late 1940s and early 1950s. “Sidewalk surfing” as it was called back at the time was supposed to occupy surfers when the waves weren’t favourable.
This activity became immensely popular, attracting even those who weren’t engaged in surfing. In the 1980s it was an indispensable part of the street culture associated with freedom, risk taking, and rebellion against strict rules. With skaters developing more and more intricate techniques and competing with each other, it was only a matter of time before skateboarding became a competitive sport with a set of rules and various disciplines, like street and park. Currently, there are a number of international competitions for professional skateboarders.
First Appearance at Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics
Skateboarding made its debut at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. The appeal to include the sport in the next edition of the Games was approved in August 2016, along with sport climbing, surfing, and karate.
Both men’s and women’s teams competed in two categories: park and street. Courses for both categories were specifically designed to meet gender and stance peculiarities and ensure equal evaluation.
25 National Olympic Committees sent a total of 80 athletes as per allocated quota. 20 athletes competed in each category: three selected through qualifications in the World Championships, 16 from world rankings, and one place given to the host country, Japan. Athletes were evaluated for the complexity of their tricks, speed, and range of moves.
The champions of the Tokyo 2020 skateboarding tournament will forever remain in history as the world’s first Olympic medalists in this sport.
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men’s park | Keegan Palmer (Australia) | Pedro Barros (Brazil) | Cory Juneau (US) |
| Women’s park | Sakura Yosozumi (Japan) | Kokona Hiraki (Japan) | Sky Brown (Great Britain) |
| Men’s street | Yuto Horigome (Japan) | Kelvin Hoefler (Brazil) | Jagger Eaton (US) |
| Women’s street | Momiji Nishiya (Japan) | Rayssa Leal (Brazil) | Funa Nakayama (Japan) |
Skateboard Olympics 2024: Know Your Way Around
Skateboarding returned to the Olympics in Paris 2024. Taking place between July 28 and August 7, the events will be held at the largest square of the French capital, Place de la Concorde. Same as the previous year, it will include two events, park and street, both for men’s and women’s teams.
The number of spot quotas is slightly higher this year, growing from 80 to 88, compared to Tokyo Olympics 2020. However this time, only 23 National Olympic Committees (“NOC”) sent their representatives, unlike 25 in the previous edition of the Games. Each NOC could enter up to 6 athletes per category (three women and three men), bringing the total number of participants per NOC to a maximum of 12. France, as the host country, automatically qualified for 4 spots, one per category per gender. Here is a full list of participating nations and the number of athletes that will represent them.
- Argentina (2)
- Australia (9)
- Brazil (12)
- Canada (4)
- China (4)
- Colombia (1)
- Denmark (1)
- Finland (1)
- France (7)
- Germany (2)
- Great Britain (3)
- Italy (2)
- Japan (10)
- Morocco (1)
- Netherlands (2)
- Portugal (2)
- Puerto Rico (1)
- Slovakia (1)
- South Africa (3)
- Spain (5)
- Sweden (1)
- Thailand (1)
- United States (12)
How Skateboard Athletes Are Evaluated
Evaluation differs between street and park events. In the street tournament, athletes compete with each other on the ground that looks like a standard urban environment, with numerous stairs, handrails, and other obstacles. Each athlete needs to perform two 45-second runs and five tricks. The range of tricks and the level of control over the skateboard are taken into consideration.
Park competition consists of various bends and bowls that the skaters use to gather speed and momentum for performing mid-air tricks. The judgement criteria include height of the jump, speed of the performed tricks, as well as the ability to cover as much surface and include as many obstacles into their performance as possible. In this category, skaters complete three 45-second runs. The best result out of the three is counted as their final score.
Skateboard Olympics 2024: Current Standing
At the time this article was published, both women’s and men’s street categories had been completed, with 6 out of the total of 12 2024 Summer Olympics skateboarding medalist names known.
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men’s street | Yuto Horigome (Japan) | Jagger Eaton (US) | Nyjah Huston (US) |
| Women’s street | Coco Yoshizawa (Japan) | Liz Akama (Japan) | Rayssa Leal (Brazil) |
Yuto Horigome (Japan) repeated his success at Tokyo 2020, adding another gold Olympic medal to his name. Jagger Eaton (US) showed a better performance this year and now owns bronze for Tokyo 2020 and silver for Paris 2024. On the other hand, Rayssa Leal (Brazil) who won silver in the same category last year only got third place this time.
Women’s and men’s park events are scheduled for Tuesday, 6 August and Wednesday, 7 August respectively.
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