Skateboard

Competitive skateboarding comprises two disciplines: street, which replicates urban features such as steps, handrails, low walls and benches, and park, which takes place in a bowl featuring curves and ramps. In both disciplines, judges assess the difficulty of the tricks, clean execution, variety, speed and use of space: a fall does not invalidate the run, but it does weigh heavily on the score. The first skateboards emerged in California in the 1950s, handcrafted by surfers who wanted to practise even when there were no waves: this gave rise to ‘sidewalk surfing’. In the 1970s, the invention of polyurethane wheels and the empty swimming pools caused by the Californian drought gave rise to vertical skateboarding; in the 1980s and 1990s, street skateboarding became the dominant discipline. Its Olympic debut came at Tokyo 2020. Competitions alternate between timed runs and sets of individual tricks: athletes choose their line, decide what risks to take and build up their score by improving on their best performance. It is a sport in which creativity and style count just as much as technical difficulty. At the 20th Mediterranean Games in Taranto in 2026, the skateboarding competition will take place on 1 and 2 September at the Urban Center Salinella, with two titles up for grabs in the street discipline: one for men and one for women.

• 1Street: a course featuring urban obstacles (stairs, handrails, low walls). Park: a bowl with turns and ramps
• 2The competition alternates between timed runs and individual tricks, with the best scores contributing to the overall total
• 3The judges assess difficulty, execution, variety, speed and use of the entire space
• 4Falls do not disqualify a rider but have a significant impact on the score
• 5In Taranto, two street titles – men’s and women’s – were won at the Urban Center Salinella