Bronze metallic sharpie finepoint marker used to autograph USA Skateboarding skatedeck by inaugural USA Skateboarding Team, 2019. USA Skateboarding was established in 2003 by many influential members of the skateboarding community at the request of the United States Olympic Committee in the hopes of sanctioning skateboarding as an Olympic sport sometime in the future. It wouldn’t be until August of 2016 when the International Olympic Committee announced that skateboarding would be included in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that USAS began mobilizing. According to Transworld Skateboarding Magazine, “In June of 2018, USA Skateboarding became the 50th National Governing Body (NGB) recognized by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and responsible for the selection, training, and fielding of U.S. national teams that compete in the Olympic Games, Pan American Games, and other sanctioned team events.”
Sixteen men and women were chosen for the first USA Skateboarding National Team to compete in Men’s and Women’s Skateboard Park and Street events, but they still have to compete for a spot on the National Team headed to the Olympics. Transworld reports, “Skateboarders will have the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics based on their three best results in World Skate sanctioned events during the 2019 qualifying season (now through September 15, 2019) combined with their six best results during the 2020 qualifying season (September 16, 2019 – May 31, 2020). The 2020 World Championships will also be a direct qualifier for the games for the top 3 podium spots at each event.”
Inclusion in the Olympic Games is a point of contention for some of those in the skateboarding community offering that skateboarding is more of a lifestyle and less of a sport. This theory has been debated since skateboarding has entrenched itself into the American cultural landscape through music, fashion, political expression, art, and sports. The USAS fully appreciates this facet of skate and addresses this in their mission statement, “ USAS is dedicated to promoting and supporting the sport of Skateboarding, while striving to guarantee that Skateboarding continues to provide the unique characteristics important to the sport's participants, and maintaining the integrity and authenticity of Skateboarding as a sport, a passion and a lifestyle.”
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