World Championships and Olympic Qualifier coming up
Road to Paris ‘24: The Street and Park World Championships 2022 (better late than never) will take place at Aljada Skate Park in Sharjah, just 30 min. from Dubai in United Arab Emirates. The Street World Championships will go down from January 29th to February 5th, and represent the second Street qualification event towards Paris 2024. The Park World Championships will be the first park event on the qualification path towards Paris 2024 and will take place from February 5th to 12th . Both events are classified as World Championships.
Chloe Covell at the first Qualifyer in Rome in 2022. Photo: Norma “La Pir0” Ibarra.
SKATE AUSTRALIA SENDS THEIR DREAM TEAM
In a press release Skate Australia have announced the 24-strong Australian Team for the double-header Park and Street delayed 2022 World Championships.
This selection comes off the back of a recent mock competition hosted by the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS). Athletes were given the opportunity to demonstrate their best tricks at Pizzey Park on the Gold Coast, creating an ideal environment for selectors to see the athletes in their best form.
Debbie Savage, Skate Australia's High Performance Manager, is excited to once again showcase Australia's Street and Park talent on a world class stage.
“As the Australian Skateboarding Team embarks on the first World Championships competition within the Olympic Qualification period towards the Paris Olympics, we look to sustain and enhance the success within the Street and Park team,” said Savage.
“With the upcoming World Championships being a benchmark event it is a prestigious opportunity to showcase the talent, experience and uniqueness of Australian Skateboarders amongst the best in the world.”
Savage said that Skate Australia’s High Performance Team has worked hard alongside State and National Sport Institutions to deliver programs that are resourceful and offer greater opportunities to the athletes.
“The Skateboarding High Performance program's purpose is to support Australian Athletes to be the best skateboarders and people,” added Savage.
“Over the past twelve months, we have strategically been working to build opportunities and resources with our major stakeholders the Australian Institute of Sport, Queensland Academy of Sport, New South Wales Institute of Sport, and Victorian Institute of Sport, to bring this purpose to life.”
Mentor and athlete Tommy Fynn is excited
Coach, mentor and selected athlete, Tommy Fynn is ecstatic to see skateboarding continuously recognised as an Olympic sport and thanks the Skateboarding High Performance Program for all the support it offers not just the athletes but to the coaches and staff.
"It's good to see skateboarding recognised as an Olympic and professional sport now and to have the support of the Skateboarding High Performance Program has been amazing for us as skateboarders,” said Fynn.
"As a coach and mentor I'm stoked that I can give back to skateboarding, a sport I have been involved in almost my whole life. I have the opportunity to share my experiences and knowledge with the next generation of talent and guide them on this journey".
Looking ahead to the World Championships and Olympic Qualification, Fynn is proud of the athletes' progress and can't wait to see them compete in the UAE.
Looking ahead to the World Championships and Olympic Qualification, Tommy Fynn is proud of the athletes' progress and can't wait to see them compete in the UAE.
"It's been awesome to watch everyone progress and push themselves in hopes to gain the points and qualify for the 2024 Olympics. We have a great team and support network behind us which has made a huge impact on this journey. We're so excited to see how everyone goes.” Fynn said to Skate Australia.
"We're super excited to be heading to the World Championships in the UAE this month. It's going to be a great event, we've checked out the skatepark and it looks awesome! I’m looking forward to getting out there with everyone.”
“We’re super excited to be heading to the World Championships in the UAE this month. It’s going to be a great event, we’ve checked out the skatepark and it looks awesome! I’m looking forward to getting out there with everyone.”
Read the full press release on Skate Australia’s website.
SCHEDULE
Check out the rough competition schedule below. Once it’s set in stone we’ll keep you in the loop on the Australian viewing times.
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WEDNESDAY, February 1st, 2023
Women Open Qualifyer
THURSDAY, February 2nd, 2023
Men Open Qualifyer
FRIDAY, February 3rd, 2023
Women & Men Quarter Finals
SATURDAY, February 4th, 2023
Women & Men Semi Finals
SUNDAY, February 5th, 2023
Women & Men Finals
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WEDNESDAY, February 8th, 2023
Women Open Qualifyer
THURSDAY, February 9th, 2023
Men Open Qualifyer
FRIDAY, February 10th, 2023
Women & Men Quarter Finals
SATURDAY, February 11th, 2023
Women & Men Semi Finals
SUNDAY, February 12th, 2023
Women & Men Finals
SELECTION & RANKINGS
Ok! Let’s get a bit techy on the participation details. Each National Federation (eg. Skate Australia) are allowed to register 6 athletes per gender per discipline. Pre-seeded skaters, and the skaters with the right to compete (ranked 6th to 30th on the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings), do not count against the Country Quota registration limit.
STREET SEEDING STRUCTURE
The TOP 5 ranked athletes in the Olympic World Skate Ranking (OWSR) as of today, will skip the Open Qualifier and be pre-seeded directly into the following competition phase. No Australian skaters are ranked in the top 5 for street.
Skaters ranked 6th to 30th will start in the Open Qualifier. Among Australian skaters here are the power ladies; Chloe Covell (ranked 7) and Haylie Powell (ranked 19) who are competing in Women’s Street. Shane O’Neill (ranked 13) and Tommy Fynn (ranked 24) will also start in the Open Qualifier in Men’s Street.
PARK SEEDING STRUCTURE
For The Park Championships, the TOP 5 ranked athletes in the Olympic World Skate Ranking (OWSR) as of today, as well as the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games medalists, will skip the Open Qualifier and be pre-seeded directly into the next competition phase. Poppy Starr Olsen (ranked 4) and Keegan Palmer (Gold Medalist in Tokyo and ranked 7) are the two Australians who will skip the Open Qualifier.
Skaters ranked 6th to 30th will be seeded to the Open Qualifier. In this pool we find Australian females Shanae Collins (ranked 28) and Taniah Meyers (ranked 29) and among the men, Kieran Woolley (ranked 24).
THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM
Street
Females:
Chloe Covell
Haylie Powell
Olivia Lovelace
Felicity Turner
Males:
Shane O'Neill
Tommy Fynn
Dani Campbell
Rome Collyer
Daniel Woolley
Park
Females:
Poppy Olsen
Taniah Meyers
Arisa Trew
Ruby Trew
Zahra Johns
Aaliyah Wilson
Charlotte Heath
Males:
Keegan Palmer
Kieran Woolley
Dylan Donnini
Keefer Wilson
Phoenix Sinnerton
Ash Wilcomes
Ethan Copeland
Marley Rae
Staff
Ellie Daley - Performance Operations Lead
David Aitken - Performance Systems Lead
Kat Williams - Athlete Well-being & Engagement
Will Stoyles - Performance Pathways Coach
Beau Mitchell - Performance Pathways Coach
Tommy Fynn - QAS GEN-32 Scholarship Coach
Dr. Sharon Stay - Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Michael Facek - Chief Orthopaedic Officer
Deb Savage - High Performance Manager
THE PARK LAYOUT
According to World Skate, the skatepark complex currently consists of six separate parks, ranging from a California Skateparks-designed world-class, Olympic-level street course and park construction complete with two deep ends (3.3M), all the way down to smaller bowls, street sections, snake runs and beginner- level spaces. The parks are currently open to ride up until the 15th of January when preparations for the showdown begins!
Location
Check out the location of the event here (in case you need to brush up on the Geography or are headed to UAE).
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