Before I write anything…..big congrats to 20 year old Jagger Eaton from Meza, Arizona for getting the bronze medal in this inaugural competition.
But to summarize my thoughts:
There has always been disparity in the perceived athleticism between competitors of different events in the Olympics. If you watched….let’s say…..archery or shooting and then the 145 mile bike race from day 1 you will know what I mean. This event was definitely in the former category for me.
“That was kinda cool, I guess, but why are so many people falling?” was a frequent thought in my head watching this competition and I wish I left thinking “wow, that’s awesome, great addition to the Olympics”. That might happen more with the other skateboarding event in the abandoned pool (park) but why were their runs only 45 seconds long, why did so many people end up with “0”s on individual tricks and should any summer Olympic event involve so many airpods and cargo pants?
Maybe the announcers needed to explain things more along the way, like what makes certain tricks hard to do. Maybe 45 seconds is an incredibly long time in the world of street skateboarding, but it sure makes it hard for a casual viewer to get into it and appreciate it. Maybe they should just make the park smaller so it doesn’t look like they should be using more of it when they all seemed to stay in the middle?
Convince me otherwise but I’m going to say just watch the 5 minute recap of this event and call it a day.
But to end on a positive note…10/10 in style points for Jagger Eaton’s outfit.
Royer's Olympic Blog 