How to qualify for the skateboarding Olympics

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will go down in history as the moment the world sat back and said: “How good is skateboarding!” Now, with a plethora of competitive talent oozing from every corner of our country, one question will currently be burning in their minds: “How do I qualify?”

We break it down for you - and have a chat about the road to the Olympic Village with one of Australia’s biggest legends, Taniah Meyers. She missed out on a ticket to Tokyo by a mere two spots earlier this year and knows the game better than most.

Taniah Meyers at Mangawhai Bowl Jam 2020 where she took home the win. Photo: Ben Loader

Skateboarding’s amazing community spirit was marvellously put on display by 80 of its best, an exhibition of fun and comradery that will forever be immortalised by our very own Poppy Starr Olsen, American Bryce Wettstein and Brasil’s Yndiara Asp as they carried Japan world number one Misugu Okamoto off in tears after she came dramatically close to medalling in the Women’s Park Final, if any moment defined what the Olympics were about it was this one.

Now with images like this, no doubt the race for the next Olympics in Paris 2024 will have just kicked up a notch! So how do you get there? It’s a bit complicated and confusing but we’ve tried to make it simple for you.

HOW TO QUALIFY

There are 4 Olympic skateboarding events:

PARK - Women's & Men's
STREET - Women's & Men's

Each event involves 20 competitors.

The three highest placed in the preceding Season World Skate World Skateboarding Championship events will be directly qualified.
16 will be qualified through the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings (OWSR) .
One Host Country place will be allocated to the highest ranked Host Country skateboarders in each event, if not already otherwise qualified.

The 16 qualifiers must:

Be in the top 20 World Skate rankings.
Note: A maximum of 3 competitors from each country is allowed. Should a country already have three qualified competitors, additonal quota spots get allocated to skaters from other countries further down the OWRS.
Be in the top 3 of your country's official skateboarding rankings for that division.

This means a maximum of 6 male and 6 female Australians can go to the Olympics for skateboarding.

Note: The qualification process might be subject to change for future Olympics.

With these limited numbers the road to Paris will no doubt be hotly contested.

Olympic insights from Taniah Meyers

Australian 3rd ranked female Park skater, Taniah Meyers, or “T” as she is affectionately known as, is currently ranked 29th on the World Skate Rankings. She fell so agonisingly close to booking her flight to Tokyo, missing out on an Olympic berth by a mere two spots!* With friend and fellow compatriot Shanae Collins literally finishing just on the wrong side of the qualification bubble, she so graciously discussed her experience and shared some advice for anyone wanting to take a chance at Olympic glory.

*Through way of skaters missing out by their countries already having 3 qualified competitors.

Taniah Meyers at Mangawhai Bowl Jam 2020 NZ where she took home the win. Photo: Ben Loader

So T, where would a skater wanting to go to the Olympics need to start?

- I would suggest by getting into the contest scene in Australia, exposure for me was a big thing. To see how you stand up against the other skaters from around Australia and to experience the environment and how these contests are run.

Are there any associations or contests you need to be in to qualify?

- As far as I am aware of there aren’t any associations you need to be in to qualify, but you do have to skate in World Skate sanctioned events to gain qualification points. As they are the world governing body for skateboarding, so they make the rules and run the events.

Can anyone just enter a World Skate sanctioned event?

- No, not everyone can just enter these contests. You must be nominated by Skate Australia to compete in qualifying events, in my instance I was chosen on my past results at national events run by Skate Australia. These events then gave me qualification points on the World Skate Rankings.

How many contests do you need to enter to get enough qualifying points?

- It doesn’t come down to how many, it depends on how well you at these events and how many points are on offer for that event. Each World Skate sanctioned event has a ranking and will offer different qualification points. You need to get enough to keep yourself in the top 3 of your country and top 20 in the world.

Will this be the format they use towards Paris qualification?

- Not sure, no one knows as yet!

What type of training did you do to prepare?

- In the lead up to the Olympics I just skated a lot! I would travel to the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney to skate lots of different parks and skate with other skaters on the same path. Also, after tearing my ACL in 2020, I got into strength conditioning training, which I think I will keep in my program forever now.

Do you need to have a coach?

“No, you don’t have to have coach. The last season of our qualifying for Tokyo we had specific coaches that Skate Australia had chosen to attend events with us.”

Do you have to be a sponsored skater to start?

- No, absolutely not!

And what advice would you have for someone preparing to try and qualify?

- Remember to have fun along the way because at the end of the day skating is fun and you shouldn’t have to force it!

Thanks for your time, T. Wise words from one of our best!

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Taniah Meyers celebrating a win at Mangawhai Bowl Jam 2020 in NZ. Photo: Ben Loader

FACTS ABOUT TANIAH ‘T’ MEYERS

Age: 21

Hometown: Coolum Beach, QLD

Stance: Regular

Started skating: 2013

Sponsors: Boardstore Skateshop - Krux Trucks

Insta: taniahmeyers

Bonus info: Taniah works as a coach at Chiggy’s Skateboarding in Coolum, QLD. So if you want to learn from one of the best, hit her lessons up here.

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A post shared by Taniah Meyers (@taniahmeyers)

Just for the record…

At the time of this being written there seems to be some structural changes happening at Skate Australia which the Olympic spotlight will no doubt have induced, then hopefully a clearer and more structured path will most likely follow. So now, as we look forward to Paris or even further forward to Brisbane, the best advice for anyone dreaming of representing the green and gold is… get out there and skate!

SO YOU WANNA GO TO THE OLYMPICS?