It`s official: skateboarding is going to become an Olympic sport. At Tokyo 2020, the world of ledge-grinding, ollie-jumping, kick-flipping and bowl-riding will be showcased alongside several other new sports, as well as the usual Olympic fare. On the face of it, this decision seems surprising - some might question whether the largely street-based activity of skateboarding is even a proper sport. Yet given that the Olympics` governing body is seeking to attract younger audiences to bolster their ageing demographic, it`s also a sensible move. Still, it`s difficult to imagine how this will work in practice. Surely, the implicitly anti-capitalist, subcultural and "alternative" nature of skateboarding - where skaters appropriate urban streets, buildings and plazas for unregulated pleasures - is completely at odds with the training-intensive, performance-measured and medal-obsessed Olympic Games? Certainly, many skateboarders believe that it`s best kept away from the Olympics because of worries about a dilution of skateboarding`s "core" values of independence, non-commercialism and unregulation. They`re also concerned about corporate co-option; about the impossibility of accurate judging; and about unwanted global attention to their lifestyle choices. And the prevalence of cannabis-smoking among many (although by no means all) skaters may also present problems with meeting Olympics regulations. For all these reasons, many skateboarders conclude that the Olympic Games need skateboarding far more than skaters need the Olympics, and that this unholy alliance should never be made.
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