How skateboarding went from a backyard hobby to Olympic medals

These are amazing times. You and I can see how the ideas of young and daring adventure hunters can grow into a serious discipline worthy of standing alongside track and field and rhythmic gymnastics.

There are two worlds. The world of classical sport, which is more like an army with daily grueling training and life on a schedule. And there is the second – informal, extreme and creative, where the main thing is to enjoy what you do, catch the “vibe” and be responsible for yourself.

In this article we will tell you how skateboarding went from a backyard hobby to an Olympic sport. And at the end, two-time Russian champion Konstantin Kabanov will explain why skaters in Tokyo skateboarded poorly and why Russians are not at the games.

It’s already history

Skateboarding originated in the 1930s-1950s in California among local surfers. Young people found a solution for themselves how to “catch waves” when the ocean was completely calm. They built their first skateboards from wooden crates and attached wheels to them. The creator of the very first “cart” cannot be identified now. No one thought at the time what it would lead to. We can only assume that it was a spontaneous invention.

A little later, crates were replaced by boards made of compressed layers of wood: they were similar to those used today.

Starting in the 1960s, surfboard manufacturers tried to produce skateboards as well. At the same time, Skateborder Magazine does its part to popularize the subculture, and skateboarding starts to be in demand.

Unfortunately, after a few championships in 1965, interest in the sport waned. This happened because skateboards of that time had a rather limited resource of development in skating. There was also an opinion that it was just another fad of the youth. People found other hobbies, many brands closed or began to concentrate on the production of other products. For a few years skateboarding survived thanks to true fans.

A new interest appeared in the early 1970s with the invention of Frank Nasworthy. His polyurethane wheels had improved traction and lightness. Brands started producing skateboard suspensions and the boards themselves became wider, allowing for better control of the skateboard.

What came next

An interesting phase of skateboarding is the birth of skateboard teams.

Zephyr were one of the first. The guys gathered a large group and skated on boards of their own making, which no one had done before. From that moment skateboarding began to grow from a simple fun to a kind of professional activity. Zephyr was backed by Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, true skateboarding stars who had done a lot for the movement. Their teammate Jay Adams was recognized as “the spark of skateboarding”.

Jay Adams

In those years, rebellious moods began to form among skaters and the style of skate and destroy (skate and destroy) gained momentum in relation to the authorities, police and many government organizations. Skateboarding borrowed this from the punk rock culture that was at its peak at the time. The spirit of boundless freedom continues to attract new adherents to the culture.

Turning point

In 1978, Alan Gelfand first performed the trick known as the ollie. The jump divided the history of skateboarding into “before” and “after.”

The ollie is the basic trick in skateboarding on which all others are built. The essence of the jump is to get the skateboard off the ground solely with the help of your feet. To do this, you need to sharply hit the teeter-totter (the back end of the skateboard) on the ground with your foot, and with the other foot “pull” the board up and into a horizontal position.

Alan invented the ollie while riding in a ramp, but some time later Rodney Mullen took it to the “street” after he suggested bending the board slightly on the edges. The jump gave virtually limitless opportunities to perform far more complex tricks and opened up a whole new horizon for the sport.

Skateboarders figured out pretty quickly that it was possible to give different variations of the ollie and do spins of 180 degrees or more.

Our days

1995 is the year when the world was overwhelmed by the latest wave of skateboarding popularity, which continues to this day. It is now one of the most growing areas of the sports industry. There are major competitions held around the world on a regular basis.

The prize funds of big skateboarding contests can reach $100,000, and the number of spectators and TV viewers reaches the mark of several million. There is a world tour World Cup Skateboarding, which includes 42 tournaments in different parts of the world. On a regular basis, the European Championship is held, the stages of which are held in France, Russia, Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

One of the largest international competitions in Russia is the World Cup Skateboarding. The competition is annual, since 2013, and continues to be included in the list of especially significant sporting events in Moscow, which is held with the support of “Moskomsport”.

Tokyo Olympics

In 2016, there was an event that was awaited by many representatives of different sports communities around the world. The International Olympic Committee recognized skateboarding as an Olympic sport and included it in the program of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which due to the coronavirus pandemic takes place in 2021.

The first Japanese athletes to lift an Olympic gold medal in skateboarding history were Horigome Yuto for men and Nishiya Momiji for women.

20 best skaters from all over the world were chosen to participate in the Olympics. There were no Russian athletes on the list, but the closest to the top 20 Russians was Kostya Kabanov.

Tony Hawk

two-time Russian skateboarding champion

He told about skateboarding nowadays and shared his impressions of the Olympics.

– How do you see skateboarding now?

Skateboarding is in a state of progress right now. A lot of people say that the Olympics are bad for the sport, but that’s not true. More new skate parks are being built, more different events are happening. I think the Olympics are a big plus for the development of skateboarding. There will always be haters, you can’t do without them.

– Did you watch the Olympics? What did you think of the skating?

A lot of people skated badly at the Olympics because of the new format (qualification and finals on the same day), as it seemed to me. In general, it was very cool to see what we have been waiting for about three or four years. I’m very happy that Yuto won, but I thought that Naija (Naija Huston is an athlete from the USA) would be the first.

Horigome Yuto

– Was it difficult for the skateboarding community to make it to the games? And was it necessary at all?

– The most important thing is what personal goals you have for yourself. For someone it’s to skate in the neighborhood park, for someone else it’s to destroy street spots, for someone else it’s to win contests, and for someone else it’s to combine everything together. I didn’t make it to the Olympics but I really wanted to, a lot of things influenced that. So, another time.

– Why didn’t anyone from Russia go?

– If I’m not mistaken, I was the closest to the “top 20” from all over the world (about 25-27th place), but an old injury prevented me from performing well at the last competition and I stayed on the bench. I really hope that I will be able to show Russian skateboarding at the next Olympics.