Ready For Olympic Skateboarding? Here's How to Tell the Difference Between the 2 Disciplines

Published on 7/23/2021 at 6:45 PM

Skateboarding is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo, so what can you expect to see when you tune in? The first thing to know is that only two skateboarding disciplines will be competed at the Games: park and street. That means no Rocket Power-style half-pipes for vert skating or mega ramps for big air. Park and street are both competed on unique concrete courses where athletes show off a variety of intricate tricks, but you'll be able to tell the difference between them pretty quickly. Here's what you need to know.

What Is Park Skateboarding?

In park skateboarding, skateboarders compete in a hollowed-out concrete bowl with smaller curves and ramps inside. The sides of the bowl rise steeply, creating a vertical (or almost-vertical, depending on the course) wall that skateboarders use to launch themselves into the air, aiming for enough height and momentum to perform mid-air tricks. Those tricks are judged for difficulty and originality, with skateboarders grabbing the deck of the board, flipping or rotating it mid-air, or rotating their body in mid-air. They can also do tricks right on the lip of the board, including grinds and slides.

When you're watching, you can expect to see big airs and breathtaking tricks, as well as a few wipeouts. Skateboarders get three 45-second runs to rack up as many points as they can. On the US Olympic skateboarding team, keep your eye on park skateboarders Brighton Zeuner on the women's side and Heimana Reynolds on the men's side. Watch out for Sky Brown and Kokona Hiraki as well; these 12-year-olds from Great Britain and Japan, respectively, are poised to do big things at a young age.

What Is Street Skateboarding?

In street skateboarding, skateboarders compete on a flatter course with "street"-like obstacles such as stairs, rails, curbs, and benches. Skateboarders perform intricate tricks off these elements, often sliding the deck of the board and grinding the metal around the wheels on the curbs and rails. You'll also see a lot of ollies, where a rider leaps into the air with their board without using their hands, and athletes can flip the board under their feet at the same time to add even more difficulty.

You won't see street skateboarders getting quite as much air as they do in park, but the tricks are no less difficult; when you see your first slow-mo replay of a street run, you'll see what we mean. Street skateboarders have two 45-second runs to earn points as well as five attempts to land singular tricks. Both the runs and tricks are scored out of 10, and riders keep the top four of those seven total scores. On the US skateboarding team, watch out for Mariah Duran on the women's side and Nyjah Huston, a five-time world champion, on the men's.