The Street World Championships 2023 Tour is happening as we speak. It’s in Toyko, Japan 10-17 December! Among the 11 Australian competitors are Taj Branch, one of Australia’s up-and-coming skaters who secured his spot through one of Skate Australia’s Performance Pathways Initiatives. We hit up the Sunshine Coast skater to find out how it actually feels like to skate at an international comp for the very first time.

Hi Taj! How awesome to be in Tokyo. Who are you travelling with?

I am travelling with my whole fam: mum dad and my two sisters

Have you ever been to an international comp before? How os it different from a local /AUS one?

No, but it’s different to comps I’ve done back home, I have done a lot more prep than I would for a local comp back home.

Sweet. How does it feel to represent your country at the World Champs?

Bit of a mixture of emotions, mostly excitement. It feels really surreal, but stoked!

Do you have any goals with the comp, e.g.learning, placement, tricks, experience etc?

To land my whole run obviously. But I’ve enjoyed just watching all the pros in their practice runs and how they prepare it’s been awesome to be able to sit and watch everyone.

Tell us what’s special about going to this comp, what do you think about it all. The World Champs in Japan. It’s pretty huge.

It’s an international comp, where you have to tryout to get in, instead of just signing up. It’s special because I’m in the same comp as all the pros and with people from all over the world.

Have you had any crazy Japanese food yet?

I haven’t eaten anything crazy, been sticking to stuff we know, 7/11 has been so good though. Rice and chicken or beef curry I’ve stuck to.

What, besides skateboarding, are you excited about on this trip?

Sightseeing!

You would be. Thanks Taj and best of luck in Tokyo.

Update

Taj skated Thursday 14 December and got 7 of 17 in his heat! He didn’t make it into the next round, but came away stoked:

“I felt pretty calm when I was up there, bummed I missed a trick in my run but stoked considering it’s my 6th ever comp”.

Thanks to Taj for sharing his first international Comp experience, we are sure we’ll see a lot more from him in the future!

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BACKGROUND

After a jammed-pack year of action, the street skateboarding season will head towards its conclusion with The World Skateboarding Tour: Street World Championships 2023 in Toyko, Japan, on December 10 - 17. The skaters are competing for the world titles as well as valuable ranking points on the road to the Paris 2024 Games.

11 Australians are competing

The Australian team features Tokyo 2020 Olympian Shane O’Neill and X Games gold medallist Chloe Covell. Alongside them are six of Australia’s top skaters Haylie Powell, Felicity Turner, Olivia Lovelace, Tommy Fynn, Daniel Woolley and Rome Collyer competing as their teammates.

Repping the new gen of skaters are Jack Lewis, Taj Branch and Nathaniel Connor, three of Australia’s up-and-coming skaters who secured their selection through one of Skate Australia’s Performance Pathways Initiatives.