Canadian athletes prepare for debut of skateboarding in 2021 Tokyo games

VANCOUVER (CityNews) — In an Olympic first, Canadian skateboarding athletes are preparing to head into the 2021 Tokyo games.

Over a decade ago, Adam Hopkins moved to Vancouver from Thunder Bay to grow his skills as a skateboarder.

“I grew up skateboarding on a half-pipe in my barn as a kid in the country in Thunder Bay, and it would be -25 (degrees) and I’d have a few layers on and a couple of friends over,” he tells CityNews.

At the time, Hopkins never would have dreamed he’d become one of 12 Canadian skateboarders aiming to qualify for the first-ever Olympic skateboarding competition.

Another local skateboarder aiming to qualify is Andy Anderson, a White Rock resident.

Growing up, he wasn’t allowed to skateboard because of bylaws making street skateboarding illegal in White Rock.

“I hope they see the side of skateboarding that’s fun and good,” Anderson says.

Athletes on the Canadian team of 12 range in age from 32 to just 11 years old, and they’ll all need to compete in a handful of qualifying events before they can go for gold at the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

Adam Higgins, Canada Skateboard director of high performance, says qualifications are still ongoing.

“We just got our schedule a couple of days ago. So we finally know where our next qualification events will be. We are halfway through and the team is in a great position to qualify quite a few skateboarders into the Olympics but we are not quite there yet,” Higgins says.

Hopkins and Anderson both say they’re most excited just to see their favourite sport on a world stage, and they hope it will encourage others to give it a try.

There will be two skateboarding styles at the Tokyo Olympics: men’s and women’s street and park.

Whether or not Hopkins and Anderson qualify, they say they’ve loved the journey the sport has taken them on, allowing them to connect with skateboarders of all kinds and skillsets.

“I think it’s going to be cool to see the general public acceptance come, more facilities get built, indoor facilities and skateboarding just continue to grow,” Hopkins adds.