This year, skateboarding made its Olympic debut. It was amazing to see and I was expecting to be amazed by the best skaters around the world. I was not impressed by the men's and women's competitions that took place over the weekend. The athletes did two 45 second runs followed by five attempts at any trick they wanted. It was slow skating and the athletes failed to land their tricks every time they tried them. The U.S. female competitor was the only one who managed to land a single trick. The runs felt far less impressive than the extraordinary feats of athleticism that are routinely achieved in every other Olympic event.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSubscribe to the Slate Culture newsletter and receive the best movies, TV, books and music delivered straight to your inbox. Signing you up was not possible due to an error Please try again. To use this form, please enable jаvascript. Email address: I would like to receive updates on Slate special offers. You agree to our Privacy Policy & Terms by signing up. Thank you for signing up! You can cancel your subscription at any time.My disillusionment was not unique. As we opened the weekend Olympic events on Monday morning, many of my colleagues felt the same. One editor wondered if the truly skilled skateboarders are not eligible to compete. Another editor wrote, "Skateboarding is not a camp." Noting that athletes seemed more excited about the competition than those competing in other events, he added, It can be an Olympic sport, if you are wearing khakis and your phone in your pocket.One of my coworkers summarised our feelings in this way: It seemed like some guys were plodding along at half speed, falling on their butts quite a bit. None of us are skilled skateboarders. To help us understand the situation and decide if we are big jerks for questioning the Olympic athletes' expertise, I reached out to Nathan Sick, a 34-year-old Arlington resident who has been skating since his teens. This conversation was condensed and slightly edited to improve clarity.AdvertisementChristina Cauterucci - What's your skateboarding history?Nathan Sick: I have probably ingested some kind of skateboarding media almost every day for a while, and I have spent thousands of hours on a board.AdvertisementOkay, you can probably judge me if it was fair or unfair that my coworkers and myself were so overwhelmed by street skateboarding events.It has always intrigued me to see how the Olympics would be perceived by others. A few family members and friends who were there watched the Olympics and they said it was blurry and nothing. But then I saw the replay and thought it was pretty amazing. Park skating will be a lot more familiar than you might think. It's going to be flashy and all about landing your runs. This sounds very similar to figure skating, where you are familiar with the concept of having a run or routine and trying to land it.AdvertisementStreet skating is about progress to some degree. People are trying to do the impossible, so they're going after it. Someone will land four very difficult tricks and win. Yuto [Horigome from Japan, who won the gold medal in the men's event] did this. People are pushing themselves because they know that they cannot win by playing safe. At least one person will put together four very aggressive scores out of everyone.AdvertisementNathan SickSkateboarding isn't attached to your feet. That's what I believe makes it so amazing. This sport is subtle and in-line with aggressive skating. It's also used for snowboarding, BMXing, and surfing. It allows you to flip the board in many different ways and do a million tricks. It's not surprising that someone watching the board would think, "Gosh, why do they fall so much?" But I can assure you, the tricks they are performing are extremely difficult. They all look very similar to me, or are unremarkable.AdvertisementThis is why you might say that this sport is more prone to making mistakes that could ruin a trick or run.They can land, and that's a compliment. Given the difficulty of their tricks, Im surprised that they manage to land 3-4 of 5 [attempts]. However, I thought the athletes struggled a bit, especially the men at the finals. There have been competitions that had a lot more tricks. It looked very hot and challenging. Perhaps it was nerves.AdvertisementIt's a high-risk sport with high rewards. If they did less difficult tricks, they'd be more likely to land them. Then everyone would be saying, Wow! You did a trick. Good job. This is what I expected to see. They are also more likely than not to succeed when they try it.AdvertisementYes, you are correct. You'll also see the other format in park where you try to land your entire run. Even though they are still able to do amazing things, I believe they choose tricks that are safer for them. Street skating is all about getting the top four scores. The reason you allow for the possibility of falling is, I believe, to ensure that you can see the most insane tricks in competition. From a skateboarder's perspective, this is the best way to go. It increases your chances of seeing something truly mind-blowing.AdvertisementAdvertisementYes. So the format of the street skating, with the try-your-five-best-tricks thing, makes it so that youre not penalized as much for falling once?AdvertisementYes, exactly. Park skating is a very complicated course. There are many different shapes and obstacles, and they go extremely fast. It's quite exciting. This is what I believe will make Olympic skateboarding so popular. They'll be saying, "Whoa!" This is crazy.It is something I look forward to. Okay, let's switch gears.Thats a great question. To be honest, I don't know. Skateboarding has had a long tradition of people wearing clothing I can't imagine you could skate in. It was quite regrettable that people wore super-skinny jeans for a while. I couldn't understand why. It didn't last very long as I like shorts.AdvertisementAdvertisementUnenlightened viewers might also notice that the women's event was dominated by young teens. What is the deal?Women's skateboarding is experiencing a lot of change right now. This is not the same as the men's situation, which has been in place for so long that it has become almost predictable who will be competing in the finals. Since the beginning of time, women's skateboarding has changed every few months.How do you achieve this?Two 13-year olds were on the podium. The guard is changed every three years. This is the fastest progression I've seen in any sport I have followed.AdvertisementSkateboarding was, for a long time, unwelcoming to young girls. You learn to skate by your own. There are no organized classes. Instead, you can find groups of preteen boys skating at the skate park, or on the streets. It is difficult to imagine how a young girl could find a spot in a skate park full of preteen boys. These women were true pioneers, who paved the way and were an inspiration. They are not necessarily superhumans. They were simply people who loved to skate.AdvertisementAll of these men have been skating since they were 5, so that's why all of them. It's just like any other Olympic sport. It's a science. It is a difficult sport. You have to master it and have been skating your whole life to get anywhere close to the podium. There were probably only a few street skaters in America before seven years ago. They started at the age of five and continued to practice it for ten years.AdvertisementNathan Sick: I don't think people realize how multi-cultural and diverse skateboarding can be.So now we are seeing that skateboarding is becoming more mainstream in Brazil and Japan. Skateboarding is also increasing rapidly in Japan. First, Vanessa Torres was the first woman to win the X Games gold and then these OGs were pioneers in women's street skating. They were replaced about six to seven years later by skaters who had been doing it for a lot longer than they did and who were much younger like Leticia Bufoni and Pamela Rosa from Brazil. The guard quickly changed again as you saw some women who started when they were just 5. Now you can see the true talent level and what it will be like moving forward. So now Rayssa [Leal from Brazil, the 13 year-old who won silver] is here, and Momiji [Nishiya, the Japanese 13-year old who won gold].AdvertisementAdvertisementAlexis Sablone placed fourth. She did so well. She was one of the oldest guard and has always been a great performer. She has a degree in engineering from MIT and has done other things in her life. She isn't like Rayssashe didn't have the same opportunities, but they did. They have worked at it everyday since they were five years old.Alexis shared a sweet line to the New York Times about watching Rayssa compete with Momiji: "I was like, Were finally there. Female skateboarders are at critical mass." There are enough prodigies now. They are here.AdvertisementShe must be very psyched. Rayssa is an amazing person by any standard. I'm sure that the next generation will be even more amazing. It is my belief that women's skateboarding will explode over the next 10 years. It is largely due to Alexis Sablone, and even earlier, like Elissa steamer, who were true OG women skaters who stuck with it.AdvertisementAdvertisementAre there other advantages that skateboarding gives younger people? Or is it just the fact that there are now more girls who excel at it?It's just a matter of lack of pipeline. Rayssa will, however, be much better in 10 years than she currently is.AdvertisementWhy is it that the U.S. has not produced the best skateboarders since the invention of the sport? We are not dominating.Skateboarding is multi-cultural and diverse, but I don't think most people realize this. Many people still see it as a hobby for white suburban kids in California. It isn't like that anymore. Its biggest problem was a gender disparity, with sexism, and with the exclusion of women. It has been a huge problem in Brazil for about 20 years. It is closer to mainstream in Brazil than in the United States.What kind of physical training does a skateboarder do? What about weightlifting or just practice on the skateboard?It all depends on the person you are talking about. Competition skating is still something that people don't like. Amazing skateboarders are better than those at the Olympics by some metrics. They are also more skilled than the ones who were there, but they don't really compete as well at these competitions. According to what I can see on Instagram, the competitors do a lot of training. Felipe Gustavo is always training. Leticia Bufoni continues to train. Nyjah [Huston] is a regular trainer. Squats, weight training, stationary bikes. It's more popular for pros in their 30s because you can get hurt.AdvertisementAdvertisementAs I watched the Olympics, it seemed that the athletes were more relaxed than other athletes. They were glued to their phones, ignoring their coach when it was their turn. As I was watching pingpong, I noticed that every set ended, the athletes would return to their coaches and have a very intense discussion. It was more like they were having fun, and not just fist-bumping. Some of them would still waggle at the camera, even when they fell. It was a lot less competitive and low-key than many other Olympic sports. Do you agree?AdvertisementIt was something I had never considered. It might be cultural. Skateboarding isn't all about competing. It isn't. There are many sports that focus on competition, such as team sports. Every sport is a contest. There are sports that exist primarily for competition. For example, I'm sure runners and track-and-field athletes love running and do so because they train for it. Skateboarding is a separate entity. Most of the people who skateboard earn their living through competitions. Many skateboarders don't compete. It's a lot like climbing, where the greatest achievements in the sport don't depend on competition.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPro skaters are pro because their name is on a board and on shoes they designed. This makes a company look great. Skaters often run these companies, so there's no reason to complain. Video is still the king. Nyjahs is almost done with the big video part. He will release that video, and I believe it will erase the bad taste in his mouth after [falling four times in succession and placing seventh in] Olympics. There is a variety of music styles and other elements that aren't captured in the Olympics. Competitions are less serious, I think. Nyjah was, in my opinion, crushed. It was a terrible thing for him to have lost it. They care.
