US Olympic skateboarding team rolling toward Tokyo
Print Edition
The 12 members of the first US Olympic skateboarding team stepped on their boards and skated through a corridor of tall American flags in a joyful pack, headed toward an outdoor stage to meet the world together.
It was an appropriate introduction for a bunch of world-class skaters who will represent the best aspects of this American-born sport in Tokyo: No leaders, no followers 鈥 and plenty of love and support for the whole crew.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if any of us imagined we would ever be up here getting ready to skate in the Olympics,鈥 said Nyjah Huston, the five-time world champion and California native recognized as the highest-paid skater in the sport鈥檚 history. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e all been working for this from a young age, even before it was possible.
鈥淚 love skateboarding because it鈥檚 the funniest thing on Earth, not only if you鈥檙e one of us getting ready to skate in the Olympics, or just a kid out there skating in your skate park,鈥 Huston added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the freedom, the love that brings us together, and then the nonstop challenge, the progression. Skateboarding is the best.鈥
Huston is the most famous face among the 12 US Olympians, who range from smiling teenagers to accomplished 30-somethings of different races, sexual orientations and gender identifications. They鈥檝e all competed at their sport鈥檚 highest level, and they鈥檙e all eager to perform when competition gets underway July 25 at Ariake Urban Sports Park.
Huston is joined by Jagger Eaton and Jake Ilardi on the men鈥檚 street team, while Mariah Duran is teamed with Alexis Sablone and Alana Smith in the women鈥檚 street competition. Bryce Wettstein, Brighton Zeuner and Jordyn Barratt are the US women鈥檚 park team, while Zion Wright, Heimana Reynolds and Cory Juneau comprise the men鈥檚 park team.
The group was appropriately unveiled in Southern California, where the sport was invented roughly 70 years ago in the parks, streets, plazas and empty swimming pools of 20th-century America鈥檚 sunshine wonderland.
Decades after the likes of Tony Hawk, Mark Gonzales and Rodney Mullen carried this charismatic pastime into worldwide competition and capitalism, skateboarding has reached the pinnacle of sports.
Josh Friedberg, a lifelong skater who now serves as USA Skateboarding鈥檚 CEO, teared up repeatedly, both before and after he introduced the team.
鈥淚 think the weight of what we鈥檝e accomplished is finally sinking in,鈥 Friedberg said. 鈥淚t was an overwhelming and exhilarating day to be here, to have the chance to work on something since you were 13 years old, and to finally have the chance to share that with the world.鈥
While the skaters all seemed thrilled by the spotlight trained on skateboarding, the American team also reflected the slight ambivalence among many lifelong skaters still adjusting to the Olympics鈥 welcoming inclusion of their beloved sport while it鈥檚 still frowned upon or outright criminalized in large public parts of the world 鈥 and while many skaters still don鈥檛 warm to the competitive aspects of what they consider a friendly, communal lifestyle pursuit, not a cutthroat athletic endeavor.
Some longtime skaters are still conflicted about how skateboarding鈥檚 welcoming ethos fits into the competitive Olympic framework 鈥 and that includes the 34-year-old Sablone, who is also an architect and artist living in New York.
鈥淚 never, ever would have expected this,鈥 Sablone said. 鈥淪kateboarding is about freedom and all that stuff. In some ways, it鈥檚 not about competition, but here we are. It鈥檚 not something I ever predicted, but it鈥檚 an incredible honor to be here doing this.鈥
Sablone noted that the sport鈥檚 tradition of free expression and individuality shone through even in the US skaters鈥 choice of kits for their unveiling: Given several items of Team USA gear to choose from, all 12 skaters picked a unique look.
鈥淪kateboarding has always been a home for me,鈥 said the 20-year-old Smith, who became the youngest medalist in X Games history in 2013.
鈥淕rowing up in not a very good household, the people that I鈥檝e met through skateboarding have been my rocks. Every time I needed something, skateboarding was always there for me. I started all this at the lowest point, and I would like to say that this is one of my highs, and I get to do it with really great people,鈥 she said.
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