Skateboarders are sometimes frowned on as rebels and “delinquents” in Japan, but the Tokyo Olympics could turn them into heroes. When skateboarding makes its debut at the Games, Japanese skaters stand to gain new respect as athletes, rather than being seen as a public menace, they said.
“You see stories on the news about people getting angry about skating in the streets,” Akira Tanaka, 20, informed AFP at a take a look at occasion on the Olympic competitors venue.
“I believe if the skaters who seem on the Olympics can change that picture, it would imply one thing.”
Skate parks and ramps are few and far between in Japan, sometimes placing skaters at odds with pedestrians in crowded city streets.
But the perception that skateboarders are badly behaved does not ring true, said 16-year-old Sota Tsuji after skating on the Olympic course.
“Skateboarding is strongly associated with delinquents, but it’s not really like that and I hope the Olympics can show that,” Tsuji stated.
“It’s a cool, aggressive sport, and it could make me joyful if folks may see that.”
Stars like America’s Nyjah Huston and 12-year-old Sky Brown, who is Japanese-born but represents Britain, could become household names at the Games.
Skateboarding is one of four new sports at the Tokyo Games, along with surfing, sport climbing and karate, as Olympic chiefs try to reach a younger audience.
Star-in-the-making Brown will compete in the women’s park competition after recovering from a horrific crash that left her with a broken skull.
“I see her on Instagram and other social media a lot, and I think she’s a great skater,” stated 14-year-old Azumi Fujieda.
“If a number of folks begin watching her, I believe it would assist inspire me and make me assume I can do it too.”
This week’s test was held behind closed doors, for coronavirus reasons, at park and street courses fully exposed to Tokyo’s glaring summer heat.
“It was sizzling,” Tanaka stated Friday, when temperatures reached 28 levels Celsius (82 Fahrenheit) — far under the peaks anticipated on the summertime Olympics.
“There was loads of warmth getting mirrored off the floor.”
But Tsuji, who is aiming to compete at the 2024 Paris Games, had praise for the newly built site.
“It really lends itself to doing tricks, and I think they will be able to put on a great competition. I want to skate on it again,” he stated.
Friday’s take a look at occasion was closed to the general public, and organisers are set to determine subsequent month what number of home followers — if any — can attend the Games. Overseas spectators have already been barred.
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