Story at a glance
- The 12 members of the inaugural U.S. Olympic skateboarding team were revealed on Monday.
- The team consists of six men and six women, with three of each gender commissioned for the two skateboarding events.
- Olympic skateboarding is making its debut at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The 12 members of the inaugural U.S. Olympic skateboarding team were announced on Monday.
“I don’t know if any of us imagined we would ever be up here getting ready to skate in the Olympics,” Nyjah Huston, a five-time world champion and member of the Olympic team, told ABC News. “But we’ve all been working for this from a young age, even before it was possible.”
Olympic skateboarding is making its debut at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, with the sport split into two events: park skateboarding and street skateboarding.
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While park skateboarding uses a human-made skate park, usually consisting of things such as half-pipes, ramps and handrails, street skateboarding utilizes elements readily available in urban environments, such as stairs, railings and curbs.
The team consists of six men and six women, with three of each gender commissioned for the two events.
Women’s Street
Mariah Duran
Alexis Sablone
Alana Smith
Men’s Street
Jagger Eaton
Nyjah Huston
Jake Ilardi
Women’s Park
Jordyn Barratt
Bryce Wettstein
Brighton Zeuner
Men’s Park
Heimana Reynolds
Cory Juneau
Zion Wright
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“I never, ever would have expected this,” said Sablone. “Skateboarding is about freedom and all that stuff. In some ways, it’s not about competition, but here we are. … It’s not something I ever predicted, but it’s an incredible honor to be here doing this.”
The sentiment was echoed by the CEO of USA Skateboarding, Josh Friedberg, who introduced the team.
“I think the weight of what we’ve accomplished is finally sinking in,” Friedberg said. “It was an overwhelming and exhilarating day to be here, to have the chance to work on something since you were 13 years old, and to finally have the chance to share that with the world.”
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