Skate culture embraced by Olympic Games is now visible in the city
The skateboarding world was highly enthusiastic about the participation of skaters in the Olympic Games in 2021, although there was also a lot of opposition. Researcher Sander Hölsgens observes that the discussion has now abated and that the Games have had positive effects for skateboarders and cities.
The free-spirited skateboarding world was turned upside down from the first rumours that it would become an Olympic sport. Some people thought it was a fantastic idea, because it meant there would be more funding for skateboarding and more opportunities for non-traditional skaters, such as women and people of colour.
Others thought that the Olympic status was a terrible prospect. They don’t regard skating as a sport, but rather as a lifestyle. The philosophy is that as a skater you are part of an international community, and skating for your own country contradicts that mentality. There is also the fact that the judgements made at the Olympic Games will result in a hierarchy in the stunts, while skaters on the street primarily do the stunts because they find them interesting. It’s about creativity.
‘Everyone sees that the skateboarding that they are so enthusiastic about hasn’t changed.'
For Sander Hölsgens, skateboarding is a lifestyle. He has made his hobby into his work and as an anthropologist he conducts research on skateboarding culture from within the skateboarding community. The discussions about the Olympic Games came to an end after 2021, he observes. ‘Everyone sees that the skateboarding that they are so enthusiastic about hasn’t changed. If you just want to skateboard on the street, you can. Whether or not skateboarders take part in the Olympic Games, it has no effect on you. Everyone realises now that the two can coexist. The conflict is over, and that’s a good thing.’
Previously seen as a nuisance factor
The expectations that the Olympic Games would create more opportunities for non-traditional skaters have proven true. ‘A professional skateboarding career is now a real option,’ says Hölsgens. ‘Added to that, skateboarding is no longer dominated by the US and Europe.’
Hölsgens has noticed one development in particular: municipalities are now much more open to working together with skaters. ‘Skaters used to be regarded as loitering groups of problem youths who were a nuisance factor that should be banned from the city centre.’ Hostile architecture – benches with lots of armrests, and ridges on stair railings and kerbs that stop you sliding on them – keeps skaters out of all sorts of places.
Skaters show that the public space has more to offer than shopping centres, museum squares and other paid entertainment.
Safer places
Since the Olympic Games there has been more discussion about how we want to use the public space. Skaters show that the public space has more to offer than shopping centres, museum squares and other paid entertainment. They show that you can also design and experience a city differently: more creatively, more authentically and more fairly.
More fairly means that there is a safer space for women, people with a migration background and queer people. Hölsgens: ‘Skaters who tend to organise themselves and talk with local councils are the very skaters who feel less safe in particular parts of a city.’
More focus on street culture
Hölsgens believes that street culture is now taken more into account in urban planning. There’s more focus on non-organised sports like skateboarding, BMX and jogging. Worldwide, cities are becoming more skate-friendly. Malmö in Sweden and Bordeaux in France are good examples of this. A lot of thought has been put into how the public space is used. ‘A skate-friendly city isn’t a city with 27 skateboarding parks. It’s a city where it’s possible to organise a dance lesson at 11 o’clock, do sports at 1 o’clock and where skaters come at 3 o’clock.’
Hölsgens is pleased with the effect that the Olympic Games has had. ‘This research that I’ve been doing for some time has now gained more legitimacy. It’s taken more seriously. Skateboarding is one of the few types of non-organised creativity in the public space. There are so many restrictions on what you can do in the public space, and skaters cut right through them.’
Text: Dagmar Aarts
photo: Unsplash