“Crash when moving to skate molds”

© Charlie Riedel / AP / TT
Brazilian Leticia Buffoni trains at the Olympic Arena in Tokyo.

For the first time, skateboarding takes place in the Olympic program.

But the feelings before appearing were not entirely positive.

Kata Sterner says that many of us stand with our feet on the pros and cons.

The undertones are similar to those that prevailed when figure skating debuted at the Olympics in 1998. A clash occurs when an activity that does not primarily involve competition becomes part of the world’s largest sporting event.

But former skater Kata Sterner, who is now general secretary of the Swedish Skateboarding Association and an expert on Discovery Plus during the Olympics, is getting more positive as the summer games approach.

Over time, more and more people have become positive about it. She says that as soon as something new comes up and you haven’t tried it before in sports or culture, it gets a little scared.

Many in the skateboarding world don’t want to define it as a sport, rather they liken it to art or see it as a culture. Now this subculture will enter the beautiful sports rooms.

Not just competition

Many of us stand with both legs in the pros and cons. Sterner says it will be a collision when skateboarding and spontaneity get into molds and are judged a little more straightforwardly.

– We must not forget that skating is not just a competition either, but it is very important that it be built on the heart, desire, joy and spontaneity.

But in the Olympics, the medals will be settled. Sweden’s representative is Oscar “Usky” Rosenberg, who will later intervene during the Olympics at the sub-garden. The skateboard debuted on the Olympic program already on Sunday, with the men’s street.

There, American Nyjah Huston, the world’s biggest skateboard star, steps into action. He has four gold medals at the World Cup and many victories in the X Games, and he will be the one to defeat him. But Japan’s Yuto Horigome is set to battle for the gold, as he showed by winning the World Cup ahead of Huston earlier this year.

13-year-old British Olympian

It follows Ladies Street on Mondays and there the home crowd is also hoping for a medal, via Ori Nishimura. It is primarily compensated by the Brazilian duo Pamela Rosa and Risa Leal, who are ranked number one and two in the world. Meanwhile, many eyes will also be on Sky Brown, the 13-year-old sensation who was born in Japan but is competing for the UK.

Kata Sterner believes that the traditional skateboard culture persists despite the fact that it is now turning into an Olympic sport.

– Among those skateboarders in the world and in Sweden, very few compete. She says most people do it with their friends on the street or at the skate park.

Increase gender equality

But on the other hand, those who want to compete get the chance to do so, and also on the biggest stages, Sterner sees it as a great opportunity.

Increased exposure can also lead to a lot of benefits. In addition to the fact that municipalities across the country may see value in increased investment in skateboarding, the Olympics can contribute to greater gender equality in the sport.

The girls will have to take a place we couldn’t do before, she says.

What you do not see is difficult to become. If girls are watched more, there will also be more girls who go skateboarding and be babe.

Olympic skateboard is defined in two disciplines: street and park. The men’s street competition kicks off first in the Olympics and will be decided on Sunday.