Getting on board

Still a niche and, somewhat, rebellious urban pastime? Perhaps. But skateboarding's profile in China has seen quite a flip with its Olympic inclusion inspiring greater participation and stronger government backing.

The sport's just-concluded program at the 15th National Games, following its debut at the quadrennial sporting gala in 2021, has shed new light on its rapid growth in China, thanks to the Olympic exposure, with more teen riders involved since the preliminary rounds and all the final sessions finishing with closer title races compared to four years ago.

Just ask reigning Asian Games champion Chen Ye, a young prodigy specializing in park skating, how tough it was to outperform his younger, yet more fearless, opponents to claim his first National Games title in his home city of Huizhou, Guangdong province.

"The pressure of the competition is so intense, because all the younger skaters have really stepped it up a notch in their runs," said Chen, a 17-year-old high school student, who won the men's park final on Nov 11.

"With better support in training facilities and coaching expertise nowadays, the younger kids have emerged quick and strong," said Chen, who, influenced by his father, stepped on a skateboard for the first time at seven years old and won the 2023 Asian Games title in Hangzhou at 15.

"There's definitely been a better vibe with the sport almost everywhere in China."

Better quality and higher difficulty of tricks stomped by Chen's fresh-faced challengers, such as the 13-year-old runner-up Zhang Yongchao, during last week's tournament have borne witness to Chinese riders' noticeable technical progress over the last four years.

Chen's winning score of 87.23 points from his third run in the final eclipsed his gold-medal mark of 84.41 points at the 2023 Asian Games, yet was barely enough to edge out Zhang by a margin of just 1.56 points.

The park discipline involves athletes skating across a hollowed-out concrete bowl and performing a variety of tricks using different elements, such as ramps, quarter-pipes and bumps, to accumulate as high a score as possible in each of their three 45-second runs.

The changing public perception of the sport was also laid bare during the two-day National Games meet, where a small, yet passionate, crowd, including toddlers craning to watch while standing on their own boards, "oohed" and "aahed" to each of the spins, flips, slides and grabs, demonstrating a deep understanding of the sport.