Skateboarding, An Art Form Or A Sport?

Do we keep skateboarding on the Olympic Roster?

By Jameson Coffman

Skateboarding was a new event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and was declared an Olympic sport. As a skateboarder myself I see it as a way to express myself, but also recognize it as a sport and it should stay on the 2024 Olympics roster. In the world of skateboarding there is a competitive side and then a creative side that many use to express themselves. Professionals compete to make a name for themselves and make money off the sport they love but others who don’t have those same talents or connections use it as an art form. Ever since skateboarding was put into the Olympics there has been an ongoing debate in the skate community on whether it should stay and there are definitely some mixed feelings.

Some of the skate community is all for the promotion that skateboarding has gotten from the Olympics, and others are not so fond of it and wish skateboarding had nothing to do with it at all. Skateboarding was brought about by surfers that wanted to keep surfing even when the waves slept. Back then skateboards were any piece of wood and anything that worked as wheels. Surfers referred to it as “sidewalk surfing” when they would roll down hills and curve corners. Over the years skateboarding has gone world wide and has evolved tremendously from the graphics on the decks to the tricks you do on your board. No two skaters have the same style. The first skateboarding magazine was called The Quarterly Skateboarder and brought a huge light to skateboarding as a sport, in the four issues it ran for, before skateboarding was banned in most cities and they went out of business. It was resurrected in 1975 as Skateboarder. Ever since then skateboarding has been viewed as dangerous and for the outcasts and rebels. The Z Boys Team , a team of sponsored skateboarders from the 1970s, were the ones who really brought out this view of skateboarding. Skateboarders started to view it as an art form rather than a sport. This view has continued on into the modern age of skateboarding, when it comes to the Olympics many don’t support it because they don’t see skateboarding as a ‘sport’ and don’t want it to transform and be exploited by the Olympic Program.

Ever since the origin of the sport people have competed against one another, whether it was to help your own self worth or to gain public recognition. Many say that the International Olympic Committee won’t support the skateparks or the community but by having the sport in the Olympics it helps promote and inspire people to start skateboarding, which will help grow the skate community and need for skateparks. Even though skateboarding is widely accepted in the U.S. it still faces challenges throughout the world. Many are penalized for skateboarding in public places, others have a hard time finding the materials to even partake in the sport. People think that skateboarding being considered as an Olympic sport is taking away from the skate community and adding a much more competitive side to it. Becoming an Olympic sport has helped pave the way to a better and stronger reputation of skateboarding, so that the new generation and the older generation of skateboarding are able to come together. Skateboarding has always been somewhat competitive, even if you don’t do competitions but at the same time skateboarders have always been very supportive of one another. There will always be a balance between the art and the competitive sides of skateboarding.

The definition of an art form is any activity regarded as a medium of imaginative or creative self-expression. Whereas a sport is defined by any activity involving physical exertion and skill in which you or a team competes against others for entertainment. Considering those definitions, skateboarding can be considered both an art form and a sport. Competitive skateboarders not only use this sport as art to express themselves but also embrace the competitive side. Being an Olympic sport will help build that balance between expressing yourself and competing. If anything, skateboarding as an Olympic sport will help expand skaters' freedom and opportunities in the world. There is no doubt that skateboarding will stay on the roster for the 2024 Olympics, taking place in Paris, France.