Skateboarding in the Olympics?

Skateboarding in the Olympics?
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Aug 4 2005
The discussion seems to have shifted from "should" to "when"
The discussion about skateboarding in the Olympics has been going on for quite some time, with a lot of energy behind it. Lately however, the discussion has changed from "Should skateboarding be in the Olympics?" to "When will skateboarding enter the Olympics?".
Many skaters are concerned that if skateboarding becomes an Olympic sport, the heart of skating will be changed. Skateboarding is an individualistic and independent activity, and many feel that if it is forced into the mold of the Olympics, it will lose its edge and change into something mainstream.
The International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC) held an open meeting at ASR in the fall of 2004, and I was fortunate enough to be there.
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They discussed many things, but the most heated topic was skateboarding becoming an Olympic sport. Gary Ream, president of the USA Skateboarding Association led the discussion. "We're Damned if we do, damned if we don't," said Ream. He explained that if the world of skateboarding doesn't pull together and enter the Olympics on purpose, someone else will eventually succeed in entering it, and then we will have no influence over what it will look like. "It's going to happen with or without us," Ream explained.
The difficulty is that skateboarding is fiercely independent. Therefore, there is no one single governing body for the sport. In fact, Ream even discussed that they aren't entirely sure they want to call skateboarding a sport. Perhaps instead it should be an exhibition.
Without one leading organization, many small groups have tried over the years to claim the title of Skateboarding's Ruling Body. USA Roller Sports (USARS) was one of the loudest, but plenty of these groups didn't even have anything to do with skateboarding! Roller blade organizations, television networks - Clarkie from Real Skate even says she knows of a soccer organization that tried to lay the claim.
On July 19th, 2004 a meeting of skaters from all of the planet was held in Dortmund, Germany to talk about forming an "International Skateboarding Federation". After much debate, the ISF was voted on and formed. The ISF is now taking the position and talking with the International Olympic Commitee (IOC) about skating becoming an Olympic sport, and what it will look like in China in 2008. Will it happen by then? No one knows for sure, but interestingly China is in the process of building the world's largest skate park. However, before skateboarding can be added, Gary Ream explained that a sport would have to be removed from the Olympics to make room. Apparently there is a limit on the number of medals that can be awarded, and the Olympics is currently at that limit.
As you can see, there is a lot of work that needs to be done between now and then if skateboarding will enter the 2008 Olympics. But, the discussion is no longer should skateboarding enter the Olympics, but when, and what will it look like.

I believe skateboarding is eventually going to be in the olympics. It will most likely only be vert skating which i think is a good idea. At first I thought skateboarding in the olympics was like selling out, what have the olympics ever done for skateboarding? I now realize that they will be helping each other out, the olympics will give vert skating the respect and coverage it needs to stay alive while skateboarding will help pull in a younger generation of viewers like snowboarding has done for the winter olympics. I now support the idea of skateboarding in the summer olympics, but if they want to get street skating too I will highly against it.
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