The buzz is in the air- downhill skateboarding in the Olympics? Not quite. Street and Park skateboarding will be included in the 2020 Tokyo Games but not downhill (not yet at least).
What we are really buzzing about is the new documentary film 'Speed Boarders' from the Olympic Channel which covers a few key riders at the Kozakov Challenge and what goes down at a world-class downhill skateboard event.
Watch the film here.
World’s Fastest Board Sport Featured in Olympic Channel Production of Speed Boarders
With nothing but a board between them and the pavement, downhill skateboarders hurl themselves down mountain roads at breakneck speeds with one goal – to cross the finish line first. Showcasing the unique and adrenaline-filled world of downhill skateboarding, the Olympic Channel presents Speed Boarders on Tuesday, 10 April available worldwide exclusively on the Olympic Channel mobile app and at olympicchannel.com.
Speed Boarders takes you inside the world of downhill skateboarding to experience the world’s fastest board sport at its premier event, the Kozakov Challenge in the Czech Republic, a stop on the International Downhill Federation (IDF) World Cup tour. In downhill skateboarding, also known as “speedboarding”, skaters ride on longboards often in tucked positions at speeds more than 100 km/h on winding roads, and use their hands, which are covered with protective gear, on the pavement helping to provide balance and stability whilst turning.
Told through the eyes some of the world’s top-ranked downhill skaters, Speed Boarders features Rachel Bruskoff (Los Angeles, CA, USA), Taylor Cook (Auckland, NZL), Daniel Engel (Bakersfield, CA, USA), Jasmijn Hanegraef (Gent, BEL), Lisa Peters (Haarlem, NED), Emily Pross (Vernon, NJ, USA), and the sport’s power couple Tamara Prader (Luzein, SUI) and Patrick Switzer (Hanover, ONT, CAN) both on and off the race course.
“Downhill to me is super fun because I like the whole outlaw kinda look on it,” said Cook, the current (2017 top ranked) IDF top-ranked junior. “And you know the rush of the road, the rumbling under you and the feeling of the wind is just amazing. The feeling is just indescribable.”
“Always having some limit to be able to push and something new to learn. That’s for me what downhill skateboarding is about,” said Switzer, 30, the 2011 IDF World Champion and three-time Canadian Champion. “Downhill skateboarding is more of a lifestyle for me, it’s something I train for and want to become better and better at, but also something that I like to teach others to be able to get better at and help them overcome their barriers, and that’s somewhere between sport and lifestyle.”
Speed Boarders (26 minutes) is an Olympic Channel Production, and is the Channel’s first original film dedicated to the sport of skateboarding which will make its debut on the Olympic Programme at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
“I think it’s rad that skating [skate boarding] is becoming a part of the Olympics,” said Bruskoff, 25, who has twice finished the IDF season in the top three. “It will be great to have more media and exposure, and therefore create more stoke and more numbers in the community.”
The Olympic Channel is a multi-platform, global media destination where fans can experience the power of sport and the excitement of the Olympic Games all year round, and is available worldwide via mobile apps for Android and iOS devices and at olympicchannel.com.
