Getting on board

And why wouldn't they have one? The choice of Huizhou as skateboarding host wasn't just a random one.

The warm and cozy city, located on the lush hilly land near the southern metropolis of Shenzhen, has emerged as a skateboarding hot spot in China, having cultivated a group of teen prodigies and developed a robust industry with skateboard manufacturing at its core.

Three of the four winners in both the men's and women's park and street disciplines at the National Games were born, or developed, in Huizhou, while the city's skateboard production accounts for about 40 percent of the annual global market share, according to the city's sports bureau.

As a pride of the city, and Chinese skateboarding as a whole, teen sensation Zheng Haohao left a mark at last year's Paris Olympics by qualifying for the women's park and competing in the French capital at 11 years old, becoming the youngest Olympian across all sports at the 2024 Games.

The influence of her Olympic debut was felt quickly.

"At the beginning of (2019), I practiced almost by myself every day at the skate park," Zheng, now 13, said after finishing third in women's park on Nov 11.

"After the Olympics, more of my schoolmates came to me, asking if I could teach them, and more people showed up at the park where I used to skate alone.

"I feel really stoked and proud of that."