There’s currently a bit of a debate raging in the skateboarding community. The question is: should skateboarding be an Olympic sport?
Last year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Skateboarding would be shortlisted along with eight other sports as a potential new Olympic sport for the 2020 games in Tokyo. This upcoming August, the IOC will decide which sport makes the cut. Many believe that skateboarding has a real shot at making it and are optimistic for the future of the sport, but others aren’t so happy.
There’s a large group of people who are strongly against integrating skateboarding into the Olympics. Skaters are typically hesitant to classify themselves as athletes. To them, skateboarding isn’t even a sport, it’s more of a freedom thing. It’s creative, artistic, and liberating. In their opinion, elevating competitive skateboarding to an international level would undermine the integrity of skating.
If the IOC chooses to add skateboarding to the games, it would certainly attract a younger audience, much like snowboarding did years ago when it was first added. There’s no doubt that skating is entertaining to watch, and perhaps the IOC is recognizing that and taking it into consideration.
What do you guys think? Should skateboarding be an olympic sport, or do you think it’s better off being it’s own thing? Let us know.
