Skateboarding, along with Surfing, Karate, Baseball/Softball and Sports Climbing, was added to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic games on August 3, 2016, after a voting procedure at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This addition to the Olympics had a big repercussion within the skateboarding community, creating a dilemma: “Should skateboarding be at the Olympics at all?” This is given by the fact that although many see this addition to the Olympic category as a step forward for skateboarding, many others see it as detrimental. The center of this contrast is based on the fact that skateboarding is primarily a subculture, not a sport. Additionally, many believe that this addition to the Olympics games go against the "core" of skateboarding. This key difference is what makes its practitioners not accept the fact that skateboarding is being promoted as a sport, and probably a good chunk of the future generations of skaters are going to face it like that. Although it makes sense to think that a sport’s addition to the Olympic Summer Games is a step forward, I believe that in skateboarding’s case, it is not; skateboarding should be taken off the Olympics for its own good. In other words, skateboarding does not belong in the Olympics games, since it goes against the "core" of skateboarding, and will probably damage this "core" for the future generations. Along this essay, I will explore this contrast between a subculture and a sport; authenticity within a subculture will be defined and applied to the Olympics and skateboarding. In this section, the "core" of skateboarding will be explored; the reason why skateboarders do not support the Olympic skateboarding; the speculations about the future of skateboarding; and finally, a concluding paragraph.

First of all, it is imperative for the reader to maintain its mind open. The thesis of this paper may go against the common sense that a sport’s addition to the Olympics is a good thing, but this stance will be explained. It is important to point out that skateboarding is not a sport.

A subculture is defined as a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those in the larger culture (!). On the other hand, a sport is defined as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment(!). It is understandable that many may label skateboarding as a sport, or even an "extreme" sport, but for most of its practitioners, it is not. For the majority of skaters, skateboarding is a subculture and, as cliche as it sounds, a lifestyle. Thus, as skateboarding escapes from the parameters of a sport, skaters do not search for better results, neither medals nor first places in competitions; they are simply having fun. The truth is, that skaters as majority do not engage in competitions. In simple words, the key to comprehend this contrast is to understand that sports value competing and winning, and skateboarding as a subculture does not value it. Of course, there are competitions within skateboarding, but many "core” skaters do not find it authentic. 

Competitions keep everyone from participating, and that goes against the “core” of skateboarding. In Becky Beal’s research paper “Disqualifying the Official: An Exploration of Social Resistance Through the Subculture of Skateboarding”, the author observed and interviewed several skaters in a timeframe of two years. Along this period of time, she noticed a pattern on skater’s opinions about competitions. She noticed that “especially significant for the subculture of skateboarders was creating a physical activity in which most people could participate, and to encourage participation and to de-emphasize the role of competition. In fact, skaters are very outspoken against competition when used as a means to an elite and exclusive status” (Beal 1995). Beal’s argument approaches not only support my prior claim that skaters do not value competition, but also describes the "core" of skateboarding. Skateboarders do not engage in competitions easily because that is not the point of skating. The reason why people skateboard is because there are no rules for it, no set objective you need to meet or an opponent you need to win. Skateboarding should be a route for those who do not appreciate competition to engage in a physical activity that only values participation and no pressure for results. This is the “core” of skateboarding, to not worry about being judged by your performance, but by simply engaging with it. People who are merged into this subculture know that competitions go against the core of skateboarding. Skating should not be about winning over someone, and getting perfect scores, but engaging in a physical activity without pressure. You should not skate against someone, but with someone. Following this logic it is safe to say that the Olympics go against this fundamental part of skateboarding, thus going against the “core" of skateboarding.

How the future generations of skaters will perceive the act of skateboarding is a legitimate concern of many skaters. As described in the prior paragraph, competitions go against the “core” of skateboarding, thus also does the Olympics. The concern surrounds the fact that as new generations will grow up thinking that skateboarding is an Olympic sport, and there is a big emphasis on winning, the “core” may be hurt for good, and maybe even extinct. According to David Toole, owner of Bluetile Skateshop, he believes that “There will be three different groups within skateboarding in the next years. There will still be a “core” side, but considerably smaller than what it is now; a big chunk of people who will claim they skate, although they barely skate; and a small group of individuals who will really push the competitive side of skateboarding” (Toole 2017). Toole seems to not be as alarmed as the rest of the skateboarding community at this topic, but he is aware of how things are going to change.

Within skateboarding and many other subcultures, it is important to be authentic, or so-called “core”. The Punk subculture is a great example of a subculture that praises authenticity to the subcultural lifestyle. Now, linking it to skateboarding, in his study named “From Core to Consumer: The Informal Hierarchy of the Skateboard Scene”, Tyler Dupont approaches what is authenticity within a subculture, and more specifically, the skateboarding community. As a skateboarder himself, Dupont was able to see through the way skaters see an individual, and break down what is to be authentic. Dupont writes: “Authenticity is based on subcultural capital, social capital, and commitment to the activity—all of which are affected by the skater’s class, race, gender, and status within the broader society. Subcultural capital is an accumulation of cultural knowledge, an “authentic” performance of the skateboard ideology, and possession of items that represent “authenticity.” Social capital is one’s ability to draw resources from others within the local skateboard community. Finally, commitment is one’s experience within the culture, dedication to the activity, and embeddedness within the local skateboard scene.” In his research paper, Dupont defined what is to be authentic as an individual. I would like to apply some of his definitions and knowledge to what is to be authentic as an event, and in this case, the Olympics. 

Let us approach one of Dupont’s points on authenticity, subcultural capital. Using Dupont’s definition, when the subject of matter is an event, it ought to have people already merged into that subculture organizing it in order to have legitimacy with that subcultural group. Otherwise, it just seems like an event created by outsiders. This is given by the fact that subcultural capital is the amount of cultural knowledge and the ideology behind the given event. If the event was not planned, organized and/or run by skaters, there will be little to none of this subcultural capital in effect.

This lack of subcultural capital, described on the prior paragraph, is already a big issue within the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee recognizes the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS) and the International Skateboarding Federation (ISF) as entities that will collaborate to make the games happen. The FIRS regulates disciplines like Inline Hockey and Roller Skating Freestyle, which have nothing to do with skateboarding. On the other hand, the ISF is composed of a panel of directors who are well respected by the skateboarding community such as Tony Hawk, Brian Schaefer and Ryan Clements. The issue here is that the International Skateboarding Federation does not have autonomy to organize the events on its on, since it needs to answer to the International Roller Sports Federation. In the IOC’s eyes, the ISF is supposed to be a mere consultant for the FIRS to organize the games, and decide how the events should be formatted. Here is where it is crucial to connect the dots between subcultural capital and legitimacy. If an event is not run by skateboarders, skaters will not recognize the event as legitimate and will be likely to oppose themselves to it. It is evident that the skateboarding community does not want to be regulated by a non-skater organization, and in this case, FIRS. 

The most evident case of insatisfaction of skaters towards this appropriation of rights to organize the games, described before, is in Brazil. The Brazilian skateboarding community is raising the flag for skateboarders organizing the Olympics, by supporting CBSK (Confederação Brasileira de Skateboard). Elite skaters such as Bob Burnquist, Pedro Barros, Luan Oliveira and Leticia Bufoni are a big part of this movement. All of them have done multiple posts on social media about supporting CBSK, and not giving legitimacy to any other organization beside it. Pedro Barros, 6 time Gold medalist on the X-Games, threatened to not compete if the responsible organization is not CBSK. this shows the extent on which skaters are opposed to this appropriation of their activity. In other words, the Olympics have already started with the wrong foot with skateboarders, by not giving them autonomy to organize their own events, thus, making the opposition of skateboarding in the Olympics grow.

Other influential anti-Olympics advocates are getting more exposure. Jeff Grosso is a 48 year old Professional skateboarder and poet, well known by the skateboarding community for being an enthusiast of the “core” side of skateboarding. In his Youtube show, “Love Letters to Skateboarding”, he says “I’m so glad we are not a sport, or a legitimate industry, we are a horror show, a joke at the best” (Grosso 2016), and, mocking the corporate side of skateboarding, he says “Let’s put them in a camp, let’s all make them the same, we’ll all be copies of one another!” (Grosso 2016). He mocks the lack of individualism in that side of skateboarding. He also despises the expression “Train me” within skateboarding. He is a big advocate against the Olympics, and explicitly speaks about how he wishes it was not added to the Summer Games. Being respected by his peers, Grosso’s stance influences a big portion of the skateboarding community, thus making the opposition against the addition of skateboarding to the Olympics grow. The simple fact that Jeff Grosso supports this cause gives legitimacy to any other skater to also support it, thus, once again, making the opposition stronger. It is imperative to notice that, as he influences more skaters, the opposition against the Olympics becomes stronger and more legitimate. 

David Toole is the owner of Bluetile Skateshop at 621-23 Harden St, Columbia, SC. He has owned the shop for over 15 years, and has skated for decades. Toole not only is very knowledgeable about skateboarding, but he is highly respected among the skateboarding community in Columbia, SC. I approached Toole at Bluetile, for an interview about his thoughts on the Olympics. David has a negative outlook at the Olympics, and the following is a piece of our conversation: 

“Whenever skateboarding gets really big, or when it’s more televised, it seems like people start looking at it more like a spectator sport, and participation goes down. I am not aware of the phenomenon that causes it but, when I opened the shop 15 years ago, and skateboarding was more underground and rebellious as a culture, there were close to 20 million skateboarders in the US. Nowadays, being as televised as it is with Street League or X-Games, there are about 7 million skaters in the US. In other words, I don’t think it will add as many new skaters as people expects that it does. Also, probably it will be a detriment to my shop. What is going to happen is that big chain stores are going to realize that skateboarding is on the Olympics, and they will try to grab a bite on that. So not only they will sell baseball bats, and footballs, but also skateboards. Your average costumer won’t think about going to the skate shop where people know what they are talking about, but they will go to a general sport store to buy a cheap knock out skateboard. I don’t know, I have a lot of mixed feeling about the Olympics. In my opinion, the same thing happened to Football. I watched that movie Leather Head a few years ago, and I thought the plot had a big link to skateboarding. After all, you had this group of people who loved what they did and were super passionate about it, and then it all became corporate. Consequently, they didn’t love it anymore, because the soul of it is taken away. Suddenly it is all about making money and winning. I think that may happen to skateboarding with its addition to the Olympics” (Toole 2017).

Toole’s outlook on the Olympics are visibly negative, so much that he began our interview with a disclaimer. He stated that any argument about the Olympics bringing more participants to skateboarding, may be invalid. Also, it is important to point out one of Toole's other arguments. "Core" Skate shops will suffer from this addition to the Olympics, since there will be more competition. According to him, specialized retailers will struggle as corporate not "core" entities will infiltrate into skateboarding. Toole's comments reflect well the opinion of a big portion of the skateboarding community. The detriments that the Olympics will bring to the "core" will be evident.

Authenticity within skateboarding is part of its “core”. Without authenticity, someone or something will create neither engagement nor interest among skaters, and won’t be seen as something legitimate or interesting. Although, there is an important question to be addressed here. Why is it important that skateboarding remain authentic? Why should someone inside the Olympic Committee, who is not merged into the subculture of skateboarding, care that it’s “core” is being destroyed? The reason is that, in skateboarding’s specific case, as it is pushed more to the mainstream through the exposure that the Olympics have, the less appealing it is to people to practice it. As David Toole pointed out, as exposure goes up, participation goes down, and that may be an issue for the IOC in order to maintain the sport’s popularity. The IOC chose to put skateboarding in the Olympics because it is perceived as something cool, and kind of underground. In other words, because of its “core”. With this addition, not only is the IOC distancing skateboarding from its “core”, but adding a discipline that may not live to its expectations.

This portion of the paper is supposed to be a counter argument for my thesis that skateboarding should not be in the Olympics. In this paragraph, I will cite all the benefits the Olympics may bring to skateboarding. Although, there is a big disclaimer: all the benefits cited in this part are all based upon speculation. There is no guarantee that any of these things will actually happen. 

One of the most cited benefits that the Olympics would bring is more funding for newer skateparks. As more attention and legitimacy is given to skateboarding, probably municipalities and communities will invest more on skateparks. Thus, building new skateparks or maintaining the ones already existing. Also, probably with the addition of skateboarding on the Olympics, more institutions and organizations will pay more attention to it. Thus, it is likely that since it is an Olympic sport, schools will start to invest in training facilities and make their own skateboard teams. This is completely based on speculation. Continuing on this logic, skateboard teams may be a thing among the educational system. Just like there are football, track and field and baseball teams, there could be skateboarding teams. This possibility could lead to some possible scholarships. During my interview with David Toole, he addressed this topic. He believes that it is very unlikely that schools would embrace this idea. This is mainly given by all the liabilities and concerns involved with skateboarding. Schools would have to build skateparks at the schools or let kids skate at the school, which would either be a big investment or concern about their property. It would be imperative to have supervisors all the time to watch for anyone who is not wearing their protective gear because skateboarding is perceived as dangerous. Adding up all those expenses and risks, Toole believes that it is unlikely that many schools would even consider to add skateboarding to their athletic program, although there are some possibilities. 

The Original plan of the International Olympic Community was to enhance the Olympic Games, not enhance skateboarding. IOC President Thomas Bach said, “We want to take sport to the youth. With the many options that young people have, we cannot expect any more that they will come automatically to us. We have to go to them. Tokyo 2020’s balanced proposal fulfils all of the goals of the Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendation that allowed it. Taken together, the five sports are an innovative combination of established and emerging, youth-focused events that are popular in Japan and will add to the legacy of the Tokyo Games.” (Bach 2017). This statement shows that the addition of skateboarding to the Olympics was nothing more than a marketing strategy to attract more spectators to the Olympics. According to the Book “Fundamentals of Sport Marketing”, the youth would be the “target market” that the Olympics wants to approach, since it lacks engagement of that specific public sector. The facts are that skateboarding does not need the Olympics to continue to sustain itself, but the Olympics need skateboarding. The IOC’s plan is to make the Summer Games more engaging to the youth that does not have interest in traditional sports, thus creating a bigger target public. In the skateboarding community’s eyes, this addition was a mere way to expand the Olympic Games, but not to expand skateboarding. 

The skateboarding community is so against the Olympic games, that a petition against the Olympics was done. The author of the petition is known under the pseudonym of “Clarkie” Clark. The goal of this petition is to attempt to reach Mr. Thomas Beach, president of the International Olympic Committee. Their hope is to try to open his eyes to what the practitioners of the so called sport that he added to the Olympics think about his decision. The following was extracted directly from the petition’s webpage: “With due respect for Olympic Athletes, we the undersigned skateboarders and advocates strongly request that the IOC NOT RECOGNIZE SKATEBOARDING AS AN OLYMPIC SPORT, or use skateboarding to market the Olympics. Further, we ask that the IOC NOT recognize any individuals or groups claiming to be the IOC recognized governing body of skateboarding or provide funding to them. Skateboarding is not a "sport" and we do not want skateboarding exploited and transformed to fit into the Olympic program. We feel that Olympic involvement will change the face of skateboarding and its individuality and freedoms forever. We feel it would not in any way support skateboarders or skateparks. We do not wish to be part of it and will not support the Olympics if skateboarding is added as an Olympic sport” (Clark 2016). This extract sums up well the prior arguments of the paragraphs above.

Whether skaters like it or not, skateboarding was added to the Olympic Summer Games of Tokyo 2020. It is very unlikely that any decision will be made to take skateboarding out of the Olympic agenda, since it is an important move for the Olympics. It is imperative to point out, once again, that the Olympics do not have legitimacy with a good portion of the skateboarding community. This is mainly because the Olympics go against the “core” of skateboarding to an extent that it may hurt it. Hurt it not only for now, but for all the future generations of skateboarders that are to come. Skateboarding has no business in the Olympics, and should be removed from it, from it’s own good. The IOC is using skateboarding as a way to promote and enhance the Olympic Games, and has no intention of promoting skateboarding or its “core”. Respected skateboarders such as David Toole and Jeff Grosso see this whole event as detrimental not only for the essence of skating, but for the “core” businesses that are going to face serious competitions from big chain stores. Skateboarders should oppose themselves to the Olympic Games, unite as a community and stop the end of our subculture.
