Skateboarding will make its return to the Olympic stage on Saturday, July 27, with Mens Skateboard Street. 22 of the best street skateboarders in the world will compete under the watch of thousands of fans in Paris’ iconic Place de la Concorde. The Skateboard Street course aims to replicate obstacles found in an actual street setting and features handrails, stair sets, ledges and banks. Skaters will be judged on their trick selection, technicality, and best use of the course in a 45-second run, as well as individual best tricks in the best trick section. The contest will start with four heats of five to six skaters, and the top eight scores and skaters will proceed to the finals. All three Tokyo 2020 medalists are set to return to the street course with Japan’s Yuto Horigome looking to defend his gold medal, and dual-threat (also competing in skateboard park) defending bronze medalist American Jagger Eaton hopes to land back on the podium.
U.S. Men's Street Skateboard Team
Nyjah Huston
Nyjah Huston is the most successful competition skateboarder of all time. Since winning his first X Games as a an 11-year-old dreadlocked phenom to growing into the buff tattooed 29-year-old with his own company and pro model shoes for Nike, Huston’s consistency, competitiveness, and sheer determination have made him a favorite in every competition he’s entered. Nyjah competed in the inaugural Skateboard Street Olympic competition in Japan for the 2021 Olympics but fell short of his goal of a gold medal. Since then, Nyjah suffered a significant knee injury, endured surgery, matured as an athlete, took better care of his body, slowed down his partying, and filmed one of the gnarliest video parts of all time, Need That. For years, Huston's dominance atop the skateboard street podium was relatively unrivaled, that is until Japan’s Yuto Horigome took the world by storm over the last five-plus years and won skateboard street’s first gold medal in his home nation. Nyjah heads to Paris this year, hoping to win the significant achievement that has eluded him: an Olympic medal.
Jagger Eaton
The Olympic 2021 Bronze Medalist from Tokyo comes to Paris as team U.S.A.’s lone dual threat, competing in both Skateboard Street and Park. Eaton’s consistency, trick selection, including a deep bag of switch stance and transition-oriented tricks, and ability to perform under pressure all helped him grab an Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo. Since Tokyo, the 23-year skateboarder took some time away from competing to take control of his mental and physical health but managed to requalify for the competitive U.S. Men’s skateboard team for both the Street and Park competitions. The Skateboard Park competition will take place on Wednesday August 7.
Chris Joslin
Qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Skateboard Team didn’t come easy for Chris Joslin, both physically and emotionally as the 28-year-old skateboarder dealt with the recent passing of his grandmother, who raised the Hawaiin Gardens, California-born and skateboarder. Joslin nearly gave up his Olympic dreams as he couldn’t stand being worlds away from his seven-year-old daughter and three-year-old son, but his friends and teammates talked the skater out of the drastic move and the skater managed to endure the rigorous qualification process that is making the U.S. Olympic skateboard team. Joslin’s skateboarding is powerful, dramatic and exciting to watch. He is known as one of the best big-gap and stair-set skateboarders in the world, with the ability to consistently rifle any of his deep bag of tricks down gaps in a competition setting. The rather large Olympic Street course at Paris’ Place de la Concorde will suit Joslin’s skateboarding well as he often looks to maximize his speed and airtime whenever and wherever possible.
U.S. viewers can watch Olympic skateboarding starting July 27 at 3 a.m. PT/6 a.m. ET on NBC or stream on Peacock and other cable TV streaming services.
About The Author
stash member Toby Koekkoek
Jackson transplant via the Boston area. A traveler, and a skiing, skateboarding, and racquet sports enthusiast