It has officially been confirmed, skateboarding is now in the Olympics, making it officially a “real” sport. The decision has sparked some controversy. Many core skateboarders do not believe it belongs in the Olympics. Most core skateboarders like to call skateboarding a “lifestyle” instead of a sport.
Skateboarding has been growing more and more each year. So much so in fact that they have a big influence on fashion and style. Vulcanized shoes have become so popular with Vans being one of the dominating competitors in the shoe industry. It’s very rare nowadays to go somewhere and not see someone wearing vans or vulcanized shoes.
The reason behind the hate on the Olympics putting skateboarding in has a few reasons. Skateboarding for many years has been labeled as a subculture and a crime, thus relating to the 60’s when skateboarding was outlawed everywhere. Many skateboarders see it as a way for corporate companies to stick their fingers where they should not.
An example of a corporate brand not liked by core skateboarders is Nike SB mostly due to it exploiting child labor but also because it has never been a core skateboard brand. Just a brand that jumped at the opportunity as skateboarding began to trend and increase in popularity. Adidas is looked at the same way however it has more of a dark past. The owners of Adidas joined the nazi party, they supported Nazi soldiers with boots and other equipment.
However, some believe the Olympics are a good thing for skateboarding. Many believe that this could push skateboarding in a positive direction. This will give skateboarding a big opportunity for many good things to come. Because skateboarding is now a sport, schools can possibly have skateboarding teams, there will be more competitions for skateboarding, maybe even possible scholarships for skateboarders later on in school.
This can help talented skateboarders get recognition and could possibly land them a big sponsorship, and even possibly a permanent spot on a team where their skateboarding career can really take off. Skateboarding’s negative labels could be erased? However, there is currently there is an online petition to keep skateboarding out of the Olympics.
Skateboarding will always seem to have a rebellious and delinquent image. Famous skateboarders and skateboard teams release video parts. Videos of aesthetic skateboarding, however, some videos by these well-known brands show professional skateboarders participating in illegal activity. Condoning misbehavior and illegal acts.
With skateboarding growing more each day and with the upcoming 2020 Olympics skateboarding’s future will be interesting. Many can only wonder how they will judge the sport. Could it possibly follow X Games rules?, or will it follow Street League Skateboarding’s rules?
