The Paris Olympics will provide an opportunity for South Africa’s skateboarders to show out on the global stage, with 18-year-old Boipelo Awuah looking to finally make her debut after injury in Tokyo four years ago.
The street skateboarding sensation from Kimberley in the Northern Cape was already in Tokyo for the Olympics at age 15 when she fractured her pelvic bone.
Awuah told ESPN: “I was very excited to be there [in Tokyo], skating with all of my idols — people I grew up watching — but on the second day of practice, I fractured my pelvis on a trick that I was doing [often] in practice.
“I was doing a 50-50 grind at the skatepark and my board just happened to flip off and then I hit my pelvis on the concrete… I’ve had quite a few injuries, but that one was more frightening because I was so far away from home.
“My family wasn’t with me and all the other injuries, I had somebody next to me, so that one had to be the most painful and the scariest as well.”
Awuah could have been forgiven if she felt anxious the next time she got on a skateboard, but according to her, it was mostly the opposite.
“Because I had been so long off my board, I was excited. My progression after getting the green flag to skate again was insane because throughout that time I wasn’t skating, I was just imagining myself doing certain tricks, dreaming about it every single day,” she said.
“The moment I got back on my skateboard, there was no fear at all, but for that specific trick, I had anxiety for that trick. All the other tricks – I was able to learn other tricks quicker; I was more passionate, but that one specific trick – it took me some time to doing it again.”
A greater purpose drives Awuah as she seeks to ensure South African women in skateboarding are given fair opportunities to compete.
“Yeah. Many, many times,” she said when asked if she had encountered inequality between the level of organisation of male and female competitions.
“Most of the time, our competitions were all over the place, to be honest, but I feel like now, we are starting to get a lot more recognition because the level that female skaters are getting at now is almost the same as the male skaters, so you can’t really overlook that. They’re starting to give us a platform and more events to do our own things.”
When asked if her own rise could play a role in changing attitudes to female skaters from event organizers in South Africa, Awuah said: “That’s what I’ve heard, but I still feel like I have a long way to go.
“There’s still so much that I can do to help the female skate scene in Africa, but just people telling me that makes me feel like I’m on the right path to getting female skaters recognition in Africa.”
There are more young girls at skateparks than in the past, according to Cape Town-based Jean-Marc Johannes (33) — another star South African skater and scene pioneer.
“It’s really, really good to see the progression and I can’t wait to see what the future holds, definitely,” Johannes told ESPN.
Johannes holds the world records for most skateboard 360 frontside spins in 30 seconds (seven), most fakie heelflips in one minute (12) and most consecutive skateboard ollies (323, tied with the UK’s David Tavernor).
Only one park skateboarder, Dallas Oberholzer (49), will represent South Africa in Paris. In years to come, Johannes hopes to see “more positive developments in the qualification process for SA Olympic skateboarding” and he has set his sights on Los Angeles in 2028.
Johannes, who started skating as an asthmatic 10-year-old after finding no solace in sport, said: “Aside from the tricks that are probably going to take me years to get to, there are some dreams that I’d love to do… to compete in an X Games. The other day, one of my tricks got reposted by X Games [on social media] and that was a dream come true.
“Keeping that vision alive, keeping that fire burning, is one thing. Obviously, competing in a Street League is something I’d love to do as well… In [four] years, there’s going to be an Olympic [competition] for skateboarding in Los Angeles… I hope things are all in place for that for us.”
Nevertheless, the renewal that has taken place in street skateboarding, with young skaters occupying Olympic spots, bodes well for the future of the sport.
On the men’s side, Brandon Valjalo is one of the young talents looking to stand out as he heads into his second Olympics, aged 25. Valjalo finished 18th in Tokyo and will be looking to improve upon that.
For Awuah though, the immediate focus is staying healthy: “My goal for these Olympics is to make it throughout the entire Olympics – throughout the practice and throughout the competition. I would also like to have my personal best performance at these games.”
Once that is taken care of, she will turn her attention to driving change together with her skateboarding peers so that by the time 2028 comes around, skateboarding is a sport every South African can realistically dream of excelling at regardless of background or gender.