IOC's view on skateboarding jumping-off point for debate

By Paul Willis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 24, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Photo by Javier Manzano / The Rocky/2007

Street skating areas in Denver provide outlets for skateboarders such as Justin Greer, left, and Jason Clark.

Photo by Javier Manzano / The Rocky/2007

Whitney Wells videotapes friend Greg Harbour as he goes airborne at a Capitol Hill church. The likely inclusion of skateboarding at the Olympics has led to debate within the sport.

While its winter counterpart gains large-scale popularity and secures top-rate sponsorship, skateboarding is gravitating toward a deeper state of flux.

Snowboarding, the winter sport derived from skateboarding concepts, is a key component at the Winter X Games, which take place for the 12th time, the seventh in Aspen, starting today.

But as snowboarding thrives on the attention coming its way from ESPN and other media, skateboarding faces an issue that is dividing the sport.

Go mainstream, as part of the Summer Olympics, or stay true to its roots as a street sport?

When word spread during the summer the International Olympic Committee was serious about adding skateboarding to the 2012 Summer Games, the initial reaction among skateboarders ranged from bliss to uproar.

Recent indications suggest 2016 is more likely for skateboarding to make its Olympic debut, but the crux of the issue remains the same: Should skateboarding be thrust into the spotlight the Olympics would offer?

When the subject first was broached, some believed the sport that had stayed underground for so long finally was getting its due props.

Many skateboarders, though, especially of the old-school variety, don't see it that way despite support for the Olympics plan from legend Tony Hawk.

"I'm all for promoting skateboarding," said Tony Mellick, who runs The Denver Shop, a local skateboarding store. "But at the same time, if this happens, skateboarding will lose its soul."

For those such as Mellick, 34, and others in the skateboarding community, it's like hearing your favorite rock band transform into a pop-radio sensation.

"The (Summer) X Games have already made skateboarding mainstream enough," said Josh Murphy, a senior at Horizon High School who has been skateboarding since he was 7.

Though a final decision won't be made until 2009 on whether skateboarding will be added to the 2012 Games, indications are it's likely the sport will join the Olympic lineup at some point.

It would fall under the umbrella of cycling, which would make it the third action sport to be sanctioned by the Olympics. Snowboarding, a much newer sport that doesn't strive to maintain its underground roots, was added in 1998, and BMX racing will make its debut this year in Beijing.

It's no secret the Olympics are trying to make the games more relevant to a younger audience.

"I think the Olympics need skateboarding a lot more than skateboarding needs the Olympics," professional skateboarder Bucky Lasek said.

Division within

Some skateboarders are for it. Some are against it. Some, like Lasek, are "on the fence."

"I see it as 50-50," Lasek said. "I think the skateboarding core doesn't want it in the Olympics. . . . If people go to participate, those guys will not be looked at the same by the core. It will split skateboarding if it happens. I can't say if I would or wouldn't (participate)."

Those with the old-school, or "core," viewpoint believe skateboarding is rooted in creating tricks by using natural barriers, such as sidewalks, stair rails and the like. Mostly, skateboarding is a for-fun activity.

The new breed of skateboarders is those who have grown up seeing nothing more than a skate park and its man-made barriers. They have geared their skills to compete against others.

Shaun White is a gold medal- winning snowboarder who also is a skateboarder, but he isn't heavily respected in the core skateboarding community.

Many core guys see White as someone performing snowboard tricks on a skate ramp.

Interestingly, Hawk, respected in all reaches of the skateboarding community and definitely of the old-school variety, has embraced the idea of skateboarding in the Olympics.

"The Olympics desperately need a cool factor for their Summer Games," Hawk told The New York Times. "They finally figured out that snowboarding is more popular than curling during the winter. Now they need to make the same realization for summer sports."

Despite Hawk's endorsement, some believe the idea doesn't make sense.

"The whole idea of the Olympics is to classify who is the best in the world," Murphy said. "In skateboarding, there is no way to really classify that, so I don't see how it's even possible. Everyone has a different idea of what the best skateboarder can do."

Why not skateboarding?

Many core skateboarders are glued to the television when White and others are performing acrobatics on a snowboard in the Olympics. So wouldn't those same people have a more keen interest if it was skateboarding on the screen?

"Not really," said Whitney Wells, 21, a Denver-based skateboarder. "I don't even watch the X Games. Snowboarding is different because it's a newer sport and it's geared toward competition. Skateboarding is over 100 years old and has always been about having fun."

The coming years could become increasingly awkward for skateboarders such as Lasek, who might be forced to make the decision between staying true to the core members of the sport or taking a chance at Olympic glory.

"It would bring in a new breed of skater," Lasek said. "You already see it in the eyes of some of the kids out there now, and I don't know if that's a good thing. There are people out there working on (getting to the Olympics)."

Local skateboarder Preston O'Dell doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.

"These guys have whined for years that the stuff they do is much more gnarly than other athletes," he said. "Now, with a chance to truly go big, they're backing away? Unreal. Now is the chance to really bring skateboarding to the forefront."

One thing that doesn't seem likely to change is the amount of dissenting opinions.

"Right now, there's really a backlash in the skateboarding community," Mellick said. "It might be a generation thing. The new school loves the idea, while the older people think it's the worst idea ever."

Hawk is convinced many of the skeptics will convert.

"The irony is that the naysayers whose livelihoods are based in the skateboard industry will end up benefiting from the newfound global interest," he wrote.

Crash course

When a snowboarder wipes out, people cringe because they wonder how the miscue will affect the athlete's time or score. When a skateboarder wipes out, people cringe because they wonder how the fall will affect the athlete's health. Some theories from local skateboarders on how the sport's crash of the year - Jake Brown's 40-foot free fall at the X Games in August - was perceived.

* Preston O'Dell, 26: "People who would watch skateboarding just because of that are probably a bit twisted, but if that's what gets them to watch and they become hooked, then it's all good."

* Josh Murphy, 17: "I think to people who don't skate, it legitimizes it. People see football players aren't the only ones who get hit. In skating, we take a lot harder falls and we don't have any body armor."

* Whitney Wells, 21: "That's the only reason people watch it nowadays - because they want to see people get hurt. They don't really want to see the people skate."

* Tony Mellick, 34: "I think it makes it more interesting to the average person when they see what the risks are."

• January 24, 2008

  10:34 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  CrunchyKnee writes:

  This debate always cracks me up. Skateboarding is not "underground" it is not "subversive" or any other major statement. It is an activity. It is a sport. More kids in America skate than play little league baseball. It is fun for many and a "lifestyle" for some. I understand those who attach their meaning of life to being a "non-mainstream-skater, dude", but that is just a fashion choice. Big deal if it is in the Olympics; if you enjoy the activity, do it, if you don't, then don't.

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