Yesterday, the 3rd of August, 2016 skateboarding was unanimously voted into the 2020 Olympics. This has been a long time coming, to have skateboarding recognised in this way with the insane standard out there it was always going to be a reality. The instant reaction on social media has been for the most part very negative and we can understand why. Any fear of some ridiculous event, created by people who have no idea what skateboarding is, will sadly not happen. We would be first in line to watch the mongo 100m’s or Benihana triple jump. What we will get when they say “ Men’s and Women’s street and park events” is Street League and a Vert Comp. Anyone who’s watched Street League will know it’s actually surprisingly interesting. If you leave your “robot” “no style” thoughts by your wallie pole, it’s just really impressive seeing consistent tech skating live. The Olympics much like Street League is for a certain skater and those certain skaters do not represent skateboarding as a whole no matter how big the platform. Four years is a long time and the realistic age of well known skaters means there will be young kids right now seeing this as a chance to shine. Is that a bad thing? Who will this new breed be? If you were at any of the Am comps this year you will have seen Aurelien Giraud, 18 from Lyon picking up cheques. He’ll be 22 and a serious pick for a medal for France. Who cares? Good question.