Snowboarding News
Snowboarding Carves An Olympic Path for Skateboarding
‘Carves’.. hey, that’s a pun! I’m too funny.
Thanks to the success of snowboarding in the Olympics, skateboarding may soon follow. If there’s a snow half-pipe, the logic goes, why can’t there be a skate half-pipe? I tend to agree.
Does this mean, hypothetically, Shan White could win medals in both Winter and Summer Olympic events? Truth be told, I don’t follow his skate career as much as his snow career.
Edit: the Shaun White Wikipedia entry says he won a silver medal a couple of years ago at the X Games, so anything is possible.
Edit 2: Check out today’s LA Times article on skateboarding and the Olympics. Much like some snowboarders did when snowboarding was introduced in Nagano, some skateboarders are giving the idea a cool reception. But why? I really can’t see a downside. I understand there will be concerns about commercialization, but will Olympic exposure really hurt skateboarding’s “cool factor” … ? I think it has only helped snowboarding.
Edit 3: Even the International Olympic Committee is getting into the act, recently stating that with younger folks turning to the X Games, the IOC has to change.
Discussion
2 comments for “Snowboarding Carves An Olympic Path for Skateboarding”
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Well some people really like exclusivity and don’t like the average joe butting into their fun. As for boarding I thought I read something that suggested that all the truely hip kids nowadays are using twin-tip skis to stand out when they are in the park
I don’t think it has anything to do with ‘cool’. I think the issue with the anti-olympic attitude in snowboarding is that the event is actually regulated by a ski federation - the same dudes who punked snowboarding not that long ago. But now that snowboarding is a big hit (commercially) they want to be best buds now ($$).
One of the all-time greats (Terje Haakonsen) was (is?) big time against snowboarding in the olympic games (but not against the X-games or Arctic challenge). Maybe if olympic snowboarding was actually controlled by snowboarders it might be different.
I think part of it also has to do with the philosophy of freestyle (not race) snowboarding: its supposed to be about going for it in each turn, jump or jib - not about some wacky points system and beating your competitors for prizes. Snowboarding was conceived as an escape from that restrictive mindset and style that was part of (traditional, old-school) skiing.
To me, that IS a big time downside to being part of the olympics: selling out on one’s own ideals/principles