Reasons Behind Skateboarding's Absence in Lima

(ATR) USA Skateboarding says the new Olympic sport would not have been "represented properly" had it stayed in the 2019 Pan American Games.

Josh Friedberg, CEO of the national governing body in the United States, tells Around the Rings that the decision by the Executive Committee of Panam Sports to drop skateboarding from the Lima program was disappointing, but it "wasn’t structured properly to make sure the three biggest skateboarding countries in the Americas were represented".

In March, Friedberg and the heads of Canada Skateboard and Confederação Brasileira de Skate sent a letter to Andrea Carvajal of Panam Sports with concerns about the qualification process and competition formats that did not meet Olympic standards. These issues, they wrote "have the potential to create a significant negative impact on the way the world perceives our sport at the 2019 Pan American Games".

"In the letter we said, ‘We want skateboarding to be represented properly on this stage and we see a couple of glaring errors in the way it’s set up,’" Friedberg said. "Without the participation of the three biggest countries in skateboarding, it wouldn’t have been a fair representation."

They received no response.

Friedberg and his colleagues were perplexed that the format allowed for only eight competitors per gender in the disciplines of park and street -- a total of 32.

They also questioned the legitimacy of two qualifying events, which granted Team USA and Canada just one quota spot and Brazil none, "so you’re automatically cutting out some of the best skaters in the world from having a chance to qualify," Friedberg said.

The first event was held in Colombia in 2017, before the NGBs were recognized by their NOCs, and Friedberg said the United States was not included in the second event in Lima in 2018.

International and Continental Federations Weigh In

World Skate, the governing body of the sport, released a statement on Friday. The federation said that despite the efforts of both World Skate and Lima 2019 organizers, a mutual agreement could not be reached to bridge "a basic incompatibility between the qualification system established by World Skate America for Lima 2019 and the qualification criteria as defined by the International Federation in view of Tokyo 2020".

Without the Olympic qualification process in place, World Skate said it could not guarantee the presence of top athletes.

World Skate America, which also includes skating and artistic skating, is in total disagreement with the decision to drop skateboarding.

Jorge Roldan, general secretary of WSA, told Around the Rings that it is "disrespectful" to cancel the competition and he rejects the notion that the tournament would have "a bad level" due to the absence of the US, Brazil and Canada.

The matter is further complicated by the fact that the US, Brazil and Canada are not affiliated with World Skate America but are tied to World Skate.

Roldan complains that the international body does not want to recognize that World Skate America is capable of organizing skate events in the hemisphere during an Olympic cycle, something no other continental organization has done.

Panam Sports Complains of "Lack of Respect"

Panam Sports was also frustrated by the situation and said it "deeply regrets the decision to exclude Skateboarding from Lima 2019, as it will surely affect several athletes who have been working hard to represent their country in Lima, and also to the National Olympic Committees that have committed resources to help those athletes reach the most important multisport event in the Americas."

The executive committee blamed the international and continental federations. It said World Skate reneged on its commitment to make the Pan Am Games a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and acknowledged that many of the best athletes on the continent were not eligible to compete.

The final straw however, came when the Street League Skateboarding World Tour event in Los Angeles was scheduled for July 23-28, a direct conflict with the Pan Am Games events July 27-28. Panam Sports said this was "something we understand as a lack of respect" to the Games, the athletes and the organizing committee.

The Los Angeles event has been designated an Olympic qualifier and Friedberg said Team USA is sending nearly 30 athletes to compete. The first Olympic qualifier for the sport is next week in London and the United States also has about 30 competitors.

Friedberg said Team USA hopes to qualify a full delegation of 12 skaters for Tokyo.

"The biggest skaters in the world are going to be concerned with earning Olympic qualifying points," he said. "Once the Pan Ams wasn’t an Olympic qualifier, it became much less important for many skaters."

He said Team USA was going to select its lone female street competitor for the Pan Am Games by June 3, "but that got complicated once the street league event got scheduled in LA".

Panam Sports general secretary Ivar Sisniega told ATR that World Skate announced two months ago that Lima would not be an Olympic qualifier, but had never defined what the format would be, whether it would give points or direct places and had never published the criteria.

"And then when that parallel and qualifying event appears in Los Angeles… it triggered the decision of Panam Sports," Sisniega said.

Carlos Neuhaus, president of the Organizing Committee Lima 2019, told ATR that the venues for the skate competition "are very advanced and will remain as a legacy."

Friedberg said he was glad to hear that the parks would be built and was excited about the Tokyo Games.

"It’s a great chance to build on what skateboarding has already built (apart from the Olympics)," he said.

The Pan American Games in Lima will now feature 38 sports including 22 that are Olympic qualifiers.

Written by Karen Rosen, with additional reporting from Miguel Hernandez

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