Action Sports and the Olympic Games: From Tokyo to Paris, Los Angeles, and Beyond

At the Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympic Games, surfing, skateboarding, sport climbing, and BMX freestyle featured for the first time. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) included these new sports in the Olympic program following criticisms that the Games were no longer relevant to younger audiences. The IOC responded to the calls for change with a set of strategies contained in its policy document Agenda 2020.1 Widely considered a success in attracting new audiences to the Olympic Games, and particularly younger viewers, surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing will again feature as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic program. Long before Agenda 2020, we (Holly Thorpe and Belinda Wheaton) began writing on the processes of incorporating action sports (windsurfing, snowboarding, BMX racing) into the Olympic Games and then continued to extend this scholarship by examining the various workings of power among and between different agents (the IOC, International Sport Federations [ISFs], national sports organizations, athletes, media, core participants, sponsors) in the lead up to the Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympic Games.2 Other scholars are also documenting the politics of Olympic inclusion for particular action sports (i.e., surfing, skateboarding, climbing, parkour, BMX freestyle) and in specific countries, and different community and organizational responses at various stages in the process of incorporation.3Across much of this work, action sport researchers have highlighted the complex power relations involved. While there are differences between the sports, the process of incorporation typically involved short time frames and proceeded without a full understanding of, or respect for, the unique cultural configurations and histories of these sports. Moreover, in most cases, ISFs, without any history of organizing or supporting action sports, took on the role of managing their inclusion in the Olympic Games. For example, windsurfing was incorporated via sailing; snowboarding via skiing; and skateboarding via roller sports. Nor was there widespread consultation or collaboration with key stakeholders (i.e., athletes, event organizers, existing international organizations) within these sporting communities.4 Surfing and sport climbing were the two exceptions with existing organizations (the International Surfing Association and the International Federation of Sport Climbing) leading the inclusion process. For many within action sports communities, the inclusion of their sport in the Olympic Games has been a “kiss of death,” resulting in loss of autonomy, control, and authenticity and the passing of an alternative to mainstream, organized, competitive sport.5 Indeed, some of the world's best snowboarders, surfers, and skateboarders have refused to attend the Olympic Games and have been outspoken in their condemnation of participation. For others, however, inclusion in the Olympic Games promises new opportunities for athletes, events, and organizations. In short, inclusion in the Olympics has divided action sports communities.6The growing body of literature focused on action sports and the Olympic Games builds upon and extends more than three decades of scholarship on informal, lifestyle, and extreme sports.7 This work began in the United States and, to a lesser extent, Australia and Western Europe, during the early and mid-1990s as sports such as surfing and skateboarding became more visible and recognizable to the mainstream public through various competitions, media coverage, and growing levels of corporate interest and investment (particularly in the United States).8 Much of the early scholarship focused on the distinctive identities of action sport participants and the various forms of cultural politics within and between core groups, other recreational users, and the public.9 Over subsequent years, the activities being studied continued to expand, with new theoretical and methodological approaches being developed in response to quickly changing action sports cultures in global and local contexts. The 2010s and 2020s have seen hundreds more scholars around the world studying action sports in a wider range of countries (e.g., Brazil, China, Gaza, Japan, Mexico, and South Africa) with a growing critical mass of writing on surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, climbing, parkour, as well as many other action sports from informal, recreational participation, to high levels of competition.10 With Olympic inclusion, scholars are increasingly examining the processes of incorporation, professionalization, and coach and athlete development, as well as the impacts on local communities and the varying levels of national investment.11 Increasingly, this work crosses disciplines, including architecture and urban design, history, philosophy, psychology, management, and gender and queer studies.With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games looming, this a in time to on scholarship focused on action sports and the Olympic Games, and the approaches by different action sports scholars from different and by Thorpe and Belinda at the of as of this up in the and in a on the of and skateboarding were of and in the for the first and snowboarding quickly became new sporting became a competitive and following the between the for the and focused on the unique gender relations in action sports, particularly for various action sport and and on for and the (particularly to and with Belinda including for many years, at and an recreational and up to in the have included writing for windsurfing and local and national event action and of have action sports on the and in the from through to and Belinda have with the IOC as part of their and have on the power relations and of with the we the and from action sport scholars are their sporting and with the a sport and of a and a sport and of and a critical focused on skateboarding and urban sport This an of a at the for Sport and Olympic at The the of and sporting on action sports inclusion in the Olympic Games. a we a of to studying action and the many and of participation, as well as the various forms of politics and local to the of the are participants, with many of to within action sporting communities, including different organizational and In this and to this of to action sports are to and in to Olympic by and interest in action sports as a for critical The to and to as an In early as for example, in as a and for from and (e.g., of and and cultures such as in the early to on the of history, and as a and frames the (i.e., and the (i.e., of of in of with more to in more of and theoretical more of the of and to of the in examining as histories as the of and on the of interest in action sports from a with surfing or critical on the work by around two a at on the for their considered to public for In were public early into surfing as an action sport in the with the of and the of surfing at the of global surfing a recreational with the of surfing and the of the surfing and their of for the of from from and were to the of the and for as and and the a critical history to these surfers, and with to their the and of competitive however, a in the action on the typically no of on the other their a to the approaches this by the range of and of that to on any action and by the of various as well as the and of their and in have been as the for and involved as an and to of the international for in began in at the time that sport a with in the process to the quickly and the took the of in with began to different to and of their are the and that have community in in the of work as of first local into local an of and to and on has in a interest in and urban in of at and interest in action sports from skateboarding a between and other from in in the United of identities included such as and as and and we a a and community through the to through skateboarding and at the of in focused on understanding the of of as the politics of skateboarding was a collaboration with and a of researchers at the of by the the the and focused on the and of from to and their skateboarding with their and upon that subsequent in the of and was a action by the for This the public from the and community of have also been on best for public and that the of including to new of and a in at the of the body as a of power and the role that in this This has into two of and action sports. 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