The second and final Olympic Qualifier Series event concluded this weekend in Budapest, Hungary, clarifying the Olympic park skateboarding picture.
New this Olympic cycle, the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) determined which athletes would qualify for Paris 2024 in BMX freestyle, breaking, skateboarding and sport climbing. More than 450 athletes from more than 120 national federations competed at the four-day event in Budapest, with more than 150 clinching their Paris Olympics berths.
That number includes the 88 skateboarders—22 each in men’s and women’s street and 22 each in men’s and women’s park—who are eligible to compete in skateboarding at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
There were plenty of storylines to follow heading into the event. Some athletes were dominant at both stops—Budapest and the first OQS event in Shanghai, China, in mid-May—all but guaranteeing their Olympic berth.
For Team USA, qualification rankings were based 33.3% on athletes’ World Skate Ranking, 33.3% on the OQS Shanghai results and 33.3% on the OQS Budapest results.
U.S. men’s park skateboarder Tate Carew, 19, placed first in Shanghai and third in Budapest, essentially locking down his spot not only as the top-ranked U.S. skater but as the world No. 1, with 471,351 points.
Other skaters, however leapfrogged their national teammates in the rankings with walk-off performances in Budapest to punch their ticket to the Games.
Heading into Budapest, U.S. skateboarder Jagger Eaton, 23, was ranked among the top three Americans in park and street and hoped to become the first skateboarder to compete in both disciplines at the Olympics.
However, Eaton didn’t advance to the final, and 24-year-old Tom Schaar, who had been the fourth-ranked American, secured a crucial 168,000 points with his second-place finish to vault ahead of Eaton for the third and final spot on the U.S. men’s Olympic park skateboarding team.
Each event can have a maximum of three athletes from each National Olympic Committee (NOC), with France guaranteed one spot in each event as the host nation and each continent allotted at least one athlete. Four quotas were also reserved for Universality places, designed to increase the diversity of participating Olympic nations, especially from NOCs with small delegations.
Among the women, Ruby Lilley, 17, was the only American to make it to the eight-skater final in Budapest. Though she finished in eighth place, the 72,192 corresponding points were enough to vault her up to the second-highest-ranking American behind Bryce Wettstein, 20.
Two of the men’s park Tokyo 2020 medalists—gold medalist Keegan Palmer, 21, of Australia and silver medalist Pedro Barros, 29, of Brazil—have qualified to defend their titles in Paris. Tokyo bronze medalist Cory Juneau of the U.S. didn’t compete in the OQS.
Also notable—50-year-old Andy Macdonald, who won many an X Games vert doubles contest with Tony Hawk in the ’90s and 2000s, qualified for Great Britain and will become the oldest-ever Olympic skateboarder.
Women’s park potentially has the best chance of repeating the Tokyo 2020 podium in Paris. All three Tokyo medalists—Japan’s Sakura Yosozumi, 22 (gold) and Kokona Hiraki, 15 (silver) and Great Britain’s Sky Brown, 15 (bronze)—have not only qualified for Paris 2024, but are all ranked in the world top four.
The 44 skateboarders who have qualified to compete in park at the Paris Olympics are listed below. The final list is subject to ratification by athletes’ respective NOCs.
Paris 2024 Qualified Park Skateboarders
Men’s Park
- Tate Carew (USA)
- Keegan Palmer (AUS)
- Gavin Bottger (USA)
- Tom Schaar (USA)
- Augusto Akio (BRA)
- Kieran Wooley (AUS)
- Luigi Cini (BRA)
- Pedro Barros (BRA)
- Danny Leon (ESP)
- Viktor Solmunde (DEN)
- Keefer Wilson (AUS)
- Alex Sorgente (ITA)
- Hampus Winberg (SWE)
- Vincent Matheron (FRA)
- Steven Pineiro (PUR)
- Yuro Nagahara (JPN
JPN
) - Alessandro Mazzara (ITA)
- Thomas Augusto (POR)
- Alain Kortabitarte (ESP)
- Andrew Macdonald (GBR)
- Tyler Edtmayer (GER)
- Dallas Oberholzer (RSA)
Women’s Park
- Kokona Hiraki (JPN)
- Arisa Trew (AUS)
- Sakura Yosozumi (JPN)
- Sky Brown (GBR)
- Hinano Kusaki (JPN)
- Raicca Ventura (BRA)
- Bryce Wettstein (USA)
- Ruby Trew (AUS)
- Dora Varella (BRA)
- Ruby Lilley (USA)
- Isadora Pacheco (BRA)
- Minna Stess (USA)
- Naia Laso (ESP)
- Heili Sirvio (FIN)
- Lilly Stoephasius (GER)
- Nana Taboulet (FRA)
- Lola Tambling (GBR)
- Fay Ebert (CAN)
- Emilie Alexandre (FRA)
- Julia Benedetti (ESP)
- Haohao Zheng (CHN)
- Aya Asaqas (MAR)
