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World Skate regrets to learn about the exclusion of Skateboarding from the Pan-American Games in Lima. The International Federation has always valued the Pan-American Games as one of the most prestigious multi-sport events of the Olympic cycle and of great importance for the development of all its disciplines.

Nevertheless, it was not possible to include the Pan-American Games in the Olympic qualification process and guarantee the presence of top athletes due to 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 Tokyo2020: Since the qualification process for Lima has been based on the allocation of quotes to NOCs rather than on nominal ranking as it is for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games qualification process, this would have not guaranteed the level of quality necessary for an Olympic qualification.

Unfortunately, when the qualification process for the Olympics was outlined, the qualifications for the Pan-American Games were already underway and, despite the efforts by both World Skate and the LOC of Lima2019, it was not possible to reach a mutual agreement.

Since the beginning of the Olympic adventure, World Skate's priority has been to guarantee the full involvement and commitment of the best athletes. This has been possible thanks to the building of solid relationships with professional skaters and organizations boasting a long-standing tradition.

Behind Skateboarding international competitions, there is a multi-faceted reality that has been consolidated over the past 20 years by a number of events deemed to be the backbone of the Skateboarding international scene and source of livelihood for many athletes. The new model being built by World Skate integrating some of these events into the qualification system, is part of an international calendar full of events during the austral winter.

In the future, World Skate will try to give top priority to key events such as the Pan-American Games by means of a  qualification process able to guarantee quality, transparency and equal opportunities to athletes and the entire sport community.

Image top: Tamworth Regional Council opened a newly developed skatepark at the Viaduct Park Youth Recreation Hub on 26th May 2019 courtesy of Cameron Markin Totem Skateboarding

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