Why are Olympic skateboarders so young at 2024 Games in Paris?

Why are the skateboarders taking part in the 2024 Paris Olympics so young?

Skateboarding first made it onto the Olympic schedule three years ago at the Tokyo Games.

Back then, the Women’s Street event was won by Japan’s Momiji Nishiya, who was only 13 years old at the time.

She became Japan’s youngest-ever Olympic gold medalist and the third-youngest gold medalist in Olympic history.

Meanwhile, Team GB’s Sky Brown won the bronze medal at the Women’s Park event aged 13.

In Paris, Chinese skateboarder Zheng Haohao, born in 2012, is the youngest athlete to compete for China, as reported by Reuters.

Meanwhile, 14-year-old Coco Yoshizawa won the gold in the Women’s Street event and her 15-year-old teammate Liz Akama won the silver medal.

So why are most of the Olympic skateboarders so young?

As reported by The Independent from 2021, it could be down to the young stars’ ability to ‘not dwell on peripheral factors like their age that makes them so uniquely qualified to excel at their sport.’

In addition, the report stated: “While older competitors might be burdened by memories of past trauma or more aware of their physical frailties and susceptibility to injury, 13-year-olds are freer to be fearless in the daredevil, risk-taking world of skateboarding.”

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However, older athletes are still able to enter the event, Team GB’s Andy Macdonald, at the age of 50 is the oldest skateboarder at the Paris Olympics.

Brown will look to improve on her bronze medal from three years ago when she returns to action on August 6.

Speaking ahead of her event, she said: “I missed it so much! Not competing in skateboarding for over a year due to injuries and overlapping surf competitions.

“It’s definitely hard watching everyone skating and not being there. But [I’m] so happy to be back and skating again – the competition feeling is back in me, it’s so good.”