I quite enjoyed Skateboarding’s debut, but I guess I’m in the minority on here. I thought both street comps were of a high level.
I would agree with the some of the criticism around the scoring system and competition format. World Skate might want to reevaluate those things before Paris 2024.
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela
Cool to see Eaton get a medal. I remember watching him when I was 9/10 years old when he made his X Games debut as a 9/10 year old in Big Air. It was cool seeing someone my age competing, and so I’ve always cheered for him.
Nice to see Horigome win at home as well.
All in all, I’d say this was a fantastic and successful debut for Skateboarding at the Olympics.
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela
In none of these sports 11 yo children are training like seniors. Gymnasts might be training hard for their age but they are still 5 years away from being eligible to compete and the difficulties that they train are much lower than any elite senior gymnast. The minimum age requirements work well, it would not make sense to teach children dangerous skills years in advance.
I don't even get why the IOC did not push for an age limit to have at least only teenagers and adults competing- from a public relation point of view if an accident like this happened at the Olympics they'd be accused to be child exploiters and murderers.
So do the 13 year old divers and figure skaters we see just magically get good at 13 then? No, they’d be been training like an elite athlete for years. Same goes for all the teenage gymnasts we see at every Olympic Games. Skateboarding also doesn’t require ultra-physical training. It’s more about building up skill, and being to lace together multiple skills over a given time period.
Also, if we’re talking about risk, I think it’s important to highlight the following. There is an inherent risk to sport. Sports ask athletes to push their bodies and minds to the extremes. If we reacted to every accident the way you have reacted to this one, there wouldn’t be a lot of sport left.
One of the best things about Surfing, Skateboarding, etc. is that they are counter culture sports. They don’t have all these arbitrary rules, which in some cases, ruin sport in my opinion. They aren’t sports that who can participate. They encourage athletes of all abilities to come together at the same venues and help each other out. There is a ton of support for younger skaters, that comes directly from their older peers.
I understand why minimum age requirements are important in other sports, but Skateboarding has a different culture. We would be taking away some of that culture to institute those rules.
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela
For example people who start in Dakar or Isle of Man and so on are old enough to make their own decisions and weigh the pros and cons of their participation. You just can't expect an 11 year old kid to have that same kind of level especially in sports that are inherently more dangerous than for example football, tennis or athletics.
I wouldn’t say that Skateboarding is more dangerous than any of those though.
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela
doesn’t make the final. 
, Woolley 
, Quintas 
, Nishiya 
have booked their spots in the final.
is quickly becoming my favorite skater of these Games. She’s got a great personality.
, Horigome 
are the other skaters through to the final.
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“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela
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