Photo Lauren Brooke

What a weekend! I think everyone was watching women’s skateboarding and the last QS in Budapest to find out which 22 women made the finals in women’s park skateboarding. I know that we were glued to our couch watching qualifiers, semi-finals, and finals! There were a lot of “holding your breath” moments throughout. With six Americans vying for just three spots (no alternates!), it was a showdown.

Photo Lauren Brooke

At the end of the weekend, it came down to Minna Stess, along with Bryce Wettstein and Ruby Lilley, who punched that Olympic ticket for Paris! Congratulations to these women as they move forward in representing the USA in Women’s Park Skateboarding!

Big congrats Minna - we are so stoked for you!!

Photo Lauren Brooke

This was a Women’s Skateboard Park final like no other! This final event in the Olympic Qualifying Series, decided who would represent their country at the Paris 2024 Olympics, so there was a lot on the line. We are not going to give away the podium results for the finals, as you really need to watch it all go down!

Image via World Skate SB Instagram

Get ready because this is the last QS for skateboarding before the Olympic Team is named! This contest decides who makes the cut and who sadly, does not. There is a lot riding on this last event - so you don’t want to miss it!

Make sure you watch the battle between park skater, Arisa Trew from AU and the Japanese skaters - Arisa won the last QS, will she win this one too? Rumor is that Sky Brown will be back from her injury and competing again - it’s been quite awhile since we have seen her at a qualifier. How will she hold up now that Arisa has the 900?

The USA women’s park skaters will be battling it out for the top three spots to go to Paris.

Right now the standings for USA Women’s Park look like this:

1. Bryce Wettstein

2. Minna Stess

3. Ruby Lilley

4. Grace Marhoefer

5. Jordyn Barratt

6. Lilly Erickson

HOW TO WATCH LIVE!!

You can watch all the action from OQS in Shanghai live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices.

The times are displayed in Pacific Time

Thursday 20 June

• 2:40 AM PT - Skateboarding - Women's Park - Prelims

Friday June 21

• 7:25 AM PT Skateboarding - Women’s Street Prelims

Saturday 22 June

• 12:15 AM PT - Skateboarding - Women's Park - Semi-final

• 7:55 AM PT - Skateboarding - Women’s Street Semi Final

Sunday 23 June

• 1:30 AM PT- Skateboarding - Women's Park - Finals

• 8:00 AM PT- Skateboarding - Women’s Street Final

It came down to the wire in Shanghai but Australia's Arisa Trew came out on top at the first stop of the Olympic Qualifier Series. Watch her second run to see some seriously badass tricks in a run that would not quit!

Make sure to stay tuned for the next stop in Budapest from June 20-23!

The women’s Park semi-finals from Shanghai were a nail biter! We are not going to give away anything here. Except that FIVE out of SIX USA women made it into the semi’s. Minna Stess, Jordyn Barrett, Bryce Wettstein, Grace Marhoefer, and Ruby Lilley. Just tune in above and watch it go down.

Tomorrow we will have the women’s finals posted to watch as well, so stay tuned!

Get Ready!

There are only TWO more stops for the top 44 skaters in the world before the Olympic teams are selected. Currently there are six USA Women in the mix for Park, and four USA women in the mix for street.

May 16-19 is when the first (of two) Paris Olympic Qualifier Series event takes place in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, from 16-19 May.

After Shanghai, the Budapest event will take place from June 20-24

How many skateboarders from each country get to go to Paris?

Each of the four events—Men’s Park, Women’s Park, Men’s Street, and Women’s Street—will feature 22 athletes in Paris, for a total of 88 skateboarding athletes overall.

On 24 June 2024, the skateboarders ranked in the top spots in these rankings will obtain quota spots for Paris 2024. A maximum of three athletes from each National Olympic Committee (NOC) may qualify for each event: So each Olympic team could feature, at most, three men and three women each in street and park, for a total possible squad of 12 skateboarders. Each continent is allotted at least one athlete.

As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective teams at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at Paris 2024 depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation.

The points on offer at OQS - a two-part qualifying series - will be worth much more than what was previously offered in phase one meaning no one in their current ranking is safe.

Skaters will have their points from part one, with their points from Shanghai and Budapest (the second stop for OQS) combined to form an official ranking from which the final field for Paris 2024 will be decided.

Here’s when to watch the Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai

You can watch all the action from OQS in Shanghai live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices.

Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai:

• 16 May: Women’s Park Preliminary Round

• 17 May: Women’s Street Preliminary Round

• 18 May: Semifinals for all events

• 19 May: Finals for all events

Women (Park)

)Hiraki Kokona (JPN)

Kusaki Hinano (JPN)

Sky Brown (GBR)T

Naia Laso (ESP)

Yosozumi Sakura (JPN)

Minna Stess (USA)

Raicca Ventura (BRA)

Ruby Trew (AUS)

Bryce Wettstein (USA)

Lilly Stoephasius (GER)

Arisa Trew (AUS)

Ruby Lilley (USA)

Lola Tambling (GBR)

Dora Varella (BRA)

Grace Marhoefer (USA)

Yndiara Asp (BRA)

Hasegawa Mizuho (JPN)

Jordyn Barratt (USA)

Lillian Erickson (USA)

Isadora Pacheco (BRA)

Sugawara Mei (JPN)

Cho Hyunju (KOR)

Nakamura Kisa (JPN)

Emilie Alexandre (FRA)

Heili Sirvio (FIN)

Fay Ebert (CAN)

Julia Benedetti (ESP)

Poppy Starr (AUS)

Charlotte Heath (AUS

)Nana Taboulet (FRA)

Gadea Moja (ESP)

Lilly Strachan (GBR)

Aaliyah Wilson (AUS)

Coco Crafter (AUS)

Li Yujuan (CHN)

Hedda Hjertberg (SWE)

Zheng Haohao (CHN)

)Victoria Bassi (BRA)

Lucrezia Zarattini (ITA)

Madeleine Larcheron (FRA)

Fernanda Tonissi (BRA)

)Ceci Rendueles (ESP)

Alisa Fessi (AUT)

Aya Asaqas (MAR)

Women (Street)

Nishiya Momiji (JPN)

)Rayssa Leal (BRA)

Oda Yumeka (JPN)

Chloe Covell (AUS)

Akama Liz (JPN)

)Nakayama Funa (JPN)

Yoshizawa Coco (JPN)

Pamela Rosa (BRA)

IIto Miyu (JPN)

Paige Heyn (USA)

Gabi Mazetto (BRA)

Roos Zwetsloot (NED)

Cui Chenxi (CHN)

Daniela Terol (ESP)

Liv Lovelace (AUS)

Keet Oldenbeuving (NED)

Haylie Powell (AUS)

Zeng Wenhui (CHN)

Natalia Munoz (ESP)

Mariah Duran (USA)

Lucie Schoonheere (FRA)

Lore Bruggeman (BEL)

Jazmin Alvarez (COL)

Poe Pinson (USA)

Candy Jacobs (NED)

Charlotte Hym (FRA)

Felicity Turner (AUS)

Ha Siye (KOR)

Kemily Suiara (BRA)

Zhang Yan (CHN)

Zhu Yuanling (CHN)

Isabelly Avila (BRA)

Jessica Ready (NZL)

Afrika Criado Oliva (ESP)

Aldana Bertran (ARG)

Jeromine Lourvet (FRA)

Samantha Secours (CAN)

Vareeraya Sukasem (THA)

Lan Junyi (CHN)

Ailin Arzua (ARG)

Meagan Guy (USA)

Marina Gabriela (BRA)

Weronika Choromanska (POL)

Boipelo Awuah (RSA)

So much talent and all the women pushing hard for that podium finish in women’s street. Watch until the end - because things take a huge twist!

Watch the eight women who made the Women’s Park Finals in Dubai - this event was something to see!

We are not going to give you the podium info - you’ll have to watch and see for yourself!!

Image Via World Skate

We were up at 3:30 AM PT today to watch the women’s semi-finals and these ladies did not disappoint. Some seriously rad skating went down. We can only imagine what they will bring for tomorrows finals!

Sunday, March 3rd Women’s Park Finals Finals

9AM ET / 6AM PT

You can watch it all go down on World Skate TV, Olympic Channel, Red Bull TV

Image via World Skate

Image via World Skate

Three American women made it through to the semi -finals - veteran skaters, Minna Stess, Jordyn Barratt and Bryce Wettstein. Japan is pushing hard, Spain is in the mix as well, France and Brazil have one skater each, Australia has Ruby Trew, Arisa Trew and and Coco Crafter, and Lola Tambling makes up the lone spot for GB (since Sky Brown is not competing due to pursuing her qualification in Puerto Rico for surfing in the Olympics) - this is a semi-final that we have not seen in the past! I know that we will be on the edge of our seats for this one!

Women’s Park Semi-Finals:

Saturday, MARCH 2nd

6:20AM ET

3:20AM PT - you’ll be getting up early for this one!!

You can watch it all go down on World Skate TV, Olympic Channel, Red Bull TV

Image via World Skate

That Women’s Open was intense - so many skaters throwing down great runs (we were able to see parts of it via parents live streams on Instagram and some replays from World Skate) But the filed had to be narrowed down and this is how it went.

Quarter Finals happen Friday in Dubai (which is Thursday evening in the USA) - and again this section of the comp is NOT on a live stream (ARGH!).

The women below who made the top 29 in the Open Qualifiers will join pre-seeds: Minna Stess (USA), Hinano Kusaki (JPN), Kokona Hiraki (JPN)

It should be a great comp and we will be updating who makes it to the semi-finals and how to watch that event LIVE, tomorrow!

The top 29 advanced to the quarter-finals

1. Yosozumi Sakura (JPN) - 82.00

2. Ruby Lilley (USA) - 77.50

3. Hasegawa Mizuho (JPN) - 76.65

4. Isadora Pacheco (BRA) - 74.13

5. Arisa Trew (AUS) - 74.00

6. Naia Laso (ESP) - 73.75

7. Bryce Wettstein (USA) - 73.33

8. Li Yujuan (CHN) - 72.26

9. Aaliyah Wilson (AUS) - 70.00

10. Ruby Trew (AUS) - 69.00

11. Kaihara Asahi (JPN) - 67.25

12. Lilly Strachan (GBR) - 67.00

13. Jordyn Barratt (USA) - 66.90

14. Lola Tambling (GBR) - 66.85

15. Nakamura Kisa (JPN) - 66.80

16. Julia Benedetti (ESP) - 66.60

17. Sugawara Mei (JPN) - 66.46

18. Emilie Alexandre (FRA) - 66.32

19. Fernanda Tonissi (BRA) - 66.07

20. Madeleine Larcheron (FRA) - 65.80

21. Lillian Erickson (USA) - 65.60

22. Lilly Stoephasius (GER) - 65.55

23. Grace Marhoefer (USA) - 65.50

24. Heili Sirvio (FIN) - 65.40

25. Coco Crafter (AUS) - 65.10

26. Lin Yi-fan (TPE) - 58.63

27. Poppy Starr (AUS) - 56.00

28. Helena Laurino (BRA) - 49.00

29. Cona Suganami (USA) - 46.47

Image via World Skate SB

Welcome to Dubai!

The upcoming Park Pro Tour Stop will be from February 25th to March. 3rd. Right after that will be the Street Pro Tour Stop from March 3 through March 10th . Both of these competitions will take place at the brand new skatepark located in the area of Dubai Harbor.

Over 500 skateboarders are expected to be in Dubai to compete at this event and the pressure is on. This event determines who will move on to eventually qualify for the Paris Olympics this summer.

How to watch WST Dubai Park 2024 live on Olympics.com

Livestream coverage of WST Dubai Park 2024 will be available to watch worldwide on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and will begin with the semi-finals on Saturday 2 March and include the finals on Sunday 3 March.

Rankings and Schedule Info below via Olympics.com

The event will be the last chance for skaters to accrue points towards their Olympic World Skate Ranking (OWSR) before a cut is made - using those rankings - ahead of the second phase of qualification, the Olympic Qualifying Series (OQS).

The OQS is a two-part competition series taking place in Shanghai (16-19 May) and Budapest (20-23 June) and will be the settings to determine the final fields for Paris 2024.

The 44 highest-placed eligible athletes per gender in the OWSR after Dubai will be invited to the OQS respecting the following principles:

• No more than six athletes per country per gender per event (respecting the order of the OWSR)

• At least one highest-placed athlete from each continent for the representation of all continents

• At least one highest-placed athlete who is a national of the Olympic Games 2024 host country France

• At least one highest-placed eligible athlete who is a national of the OQS host country, (People’s Republic of China and Hungary)

• At least one Universality places eligible athletes

The stakes, therefore, going into Dubai are high with spots in the next stage of qualification on the line.

USA’s Minna Stess is pre-seeded and ranked #1 in the USA - Image via World Skate SB

WOMEN’S - PRE-SEEDED SKATERS:

The top five seeded skaters in the OWSR will skip the qualifiers and join the contest in the quarter-final phase.

1. Hiraki Cocona (JPN)

2. Kusaki Hinano (JPN)

3. Sky Brown (GBR) - not competing

4. Raicca Ventura (BRA)

5. Minna Stess (USA)

WOMEN’S SCHEDULE

Sunday 25 February

• Women’s practice

Monday 26 February

• Women’s practice

Tuesday 27 February

• Women’s practice

• Pre-seeded women’s practice

Wednesday 28th February

• Women’s Open QualifierPre-seeded women’s practice

Thursday 29th February

• Pre-seeded women’s practice

Friday 1 March

• Women’s Quarter-final practices

• Women’s Quarter-final

Saturday 2 March

• Women’s Semi-final practices

• Women’s Semi-final - LIVE!!!

Sunday 3 March

• Women’s Final practice

• Women’s Final. - LIVE!!!

Maya Kenny competing in Rome at the Park World Championships - Photo Lauren Brooke

This weekend skateboarders involved in competing at Olympic Park Qualifiers got a bit of a rude awakening. It was quietly announced that World Skate had changed the Olympic Park Qualifiers from the beginning of January to almost the end of February and the location was changed from Sharjah to Dubai.

Image via World Skate

You might be thinking “we are in November, so that’s not too bad…” but a lot of athletes had already purchased their flights for the qualifier, lined up their hotels or airbnb’s and arranged their schedules accordingly.

And this does not even include, or address, the park skaters that already flew in and are currently in Sharjah practicing at the park where the event was supposed to be held.

Sharjah is fairly close to Dubai (about a 20 to 30 minute drive by car) so you may also be thinking “they can just go practice at the other park!”. The issue is what park? The parks in Dubai are not set up for this style of Park Qualifier. Kite Beach Skatepark (also known as X Dubai) is the largest and nicest of the bunch. it has a bowl, a pool, rails, ledges, quarter pipes, and hubbas, but it is not built like a “park” that is used in Olympic qualifiers.

So, the question people have is; Is a new park being built to be ready in time to the next qualifier? Most likely. Is this a way to keep some skaters from having extra practice time prior to comps? Maybe. The X Games does it. Vans Park Series used to do it as well, so it is not unheard of. And yes, when the Olympics roll around it will be at a park specifically built for the Olympic venue and practice will be regulated so everyone has a fair shot.

Check out California Skateparks instagram to see if you see anything soon about them building a park in Dubai - that may be the most information we get at this early date. They are known to rally and work fast so maybe this is wha tis happening - too soon to tell though.

But back to this February Park Qualifier.

In case you didn’t know, another interesting thing about Park Qualifiers - they do not run on a normal calendar year schedule - such as, January to December for the “season”. We just had the World Championships in October in Rome so most people assume that this would be the end of the “season”. NO. We have one more comp left in the “season” and that will now be Dubai. So, all skaters that have been competing so far, are invited.

Image via World Skate

Then in May there is a qualifier in Shanghai and then another in Budapest in June - these two are only for the top 44 skaters and they lead up to who eventually goes to the Paris Olympics in July.

WHEW! We know it’s confusing, but we hope we have helped shed some light on some of the craziness!

Today’s World Championships from Rome did not disappoint! All eight women in the final were on fire, but at the end of the day, one American stood on the podium along with two Japanese skaters. At just seventeen years old, Minna Stess, from Petaluma, California, pulled off what no other American female park skater has done - she made the podium at Olympic Qualifiers. Minna’s third-place finish now makes her the highest-ranked American woman in park skateboarding, which is a considerable feat!

There was a lot of stiff competition from the Japanese skaters. Cocona Hiraki had three flawless runs, and Hinano Kusaki was able to bump Minna from second to third at one point, but no one else in the field could crack the 90s scoring-wise that these three had on lock. They were in a league of their own, and the crowd loved it! The only other American to make it to the finals was Ruby Lilley, who placed seventh with a score of 84.40.

It was an exciting event, and we hope you watch the replay and see how much women’s skateboarding has evolved in the past few years - simply amazing!

Congrats to all the women who competed today!

Results from WST Rome Park World Championships 2023 Women's Final

1. Hiraki Cocona (JPN) 94.54

2. Kusaki Hinano (JPN) 93.20

3. Minna Stess (USA) 90.80

4. Raicca Ventura (BRA) 87.59

5. Naia Laso (ESP) 86.25

6. Lilly Stoephasius (GER) 84.79

7. Ruby Lilley (USA) 84.40

8. Yosozumi Sakura (JPN) 83.53

It was a nail biting semi-final, but when the final run was tallied, these eight women made it to the World Championship’s final! From ages fourteen to twenty-one and hailing from five different countries this is truly one of the best finalist groups we have seen!

Two Americans out of the five made it to the finals, Minna Stess and Ruby Lilley - big congrats to these ladies!

Tune in on SUNDAY to watch the FINALS - LIVE!

8:15 AM PT / 11:15 AM ET

You can catch the action on WorldSkate.TV or Olympics.com

Today’s quarter-finals had 32 women competing for one of sixteen spots in the semi-finals. Tomorrow a total of eight skaters will move on to compete in the finals on Sunday for those three coveted podium places.

This is not only the World Championships but this Olympic Qualifier means more points for skaters as we head into the Paris Olympics - so there is a lot at stake!

These are the skaters that made it into Saturday’s semi-finals:

Women's SEMI-FINALISTS

1. Kokona Hiraki (JPN)

2. Raicca Ventura (BRA)

3. Hinano Kusaki (JPN)

4. Dora Varella (BRA)

5. Lillian Erickson (USA)

6. Sakura Yosozumi (JPN)

7. Ruby Lilley (USA)

8. Minna Stess (USA)

9. Naia Laso (ESP)

10. Isadora Pacheco (BRA)

11. Bryce Wettstein (USA)

12. Arisa Trew (AUS)

13. Ruby Trew (AUS)

14. Hyunju Cho (KOR)

15. Lilly Stoephasius (GER)

16. Grace Marhoefer (USA)

With five USA women in the semi-finals along with skaters from Brazil, Australia, Spain, Germany and Korea in the mix, it doesn’t feel as if Japan is fully dominating as it has in past years. This group of women should make for a great semi-final!

WATCH THE SEMI-FINALS LIVE:

SATURDAY:

6:30 AM PT / 9:30 ET

Livestream coverage of WST Rome Park 2023 World Championships will be available to watch worldwide on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com

Things are heating up at Olympic Skateboarding Qualifiers - with less than a year to go for the Paris Olympics, new faces are on the podium and the tide is changing (for now). Watch the women’s street final above to see how it all turned out this weekend!

Next up will be Women’s Park Olympic Qualifiers in Rome in early October . Stay tuned for all the info on how to watch the women’s events go down Live!

Women's Final Street results

1. Nishiya Momiji (JPN) - 259.81🥇

2. Oda Yumeka (JPN) - 249.77🥈

3. Paige Heyn (USA) - 243.93🥉

4. Yoshizawa Coco (JPN) - 224.47

5. Pamela Rosa (BRA) - 213.26

6. Nakayama Funa (JPN) - 180.37

7. Rayssa Leal (BRA) - 180.37

8. Roos Zwetslot (NED) - 140.86

Make sure to tune in and watch the women compete LIVE at WST Lausanne Street 2023!

Coming up Friday and Saturday they will be live streaming the semi-finals and finals from Segment Festival, Switzerland

Semi-Finals (Friday SEP 15):

Women's – 8AM ET / 5AM PT


Finals (Saturday SEP 16):

Women's – 10AM ET / 7 AM PT

The broadcast will be streamed via worldskate.tv and Olympics.com

Image Via World Skate SB

The skateparks in Southern California have looked pretty empty this past week, with a lot of the pro and younger skaters heading off to compete in Argentina at Olympic Qualifiers. Paris is coming soon, and those points they accumulate at the qualifiers matter!!

Here is the schedule of events:

Sunday 5/21 through Tuesday 5/23 is practice sessions.

Then on Wednesday 5/24 we head into the Open Qualifier where they will narrow the field down to just thirty two skaters to move onto the quarter finals.

Friday 5/26 will be the quarter finals where the pre-seeds will join the thirty two skaters who made it through the open. The quarter Finals will narrow the field down again.

WATCH IT LIVE!! Saturday 5/27 is the semi finals. The semi-finals will narrow the field down to just EIGHT skaters for the finals . WHEW!!

Semi-Finals Start Time: 12:05 PM PT / 1:05 PM ET

WATCH IT LIVE!! Sunday 5/28 will be the eight women who made it through to the finals.

Start Time: 1:15 PM PT / 4:15 ET

HOW TO WATCH

Livestream coverage will be available on the Olympic Channel via Olympics.com beginning with the semi-finals on Saturday 27 May and finishing with the finals on Sunday 28 May.

Don’t Miss It!!

We are so stoked to announce that Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word team rider, Maya Kenny, has made the Mexican National Skateboard Team!

Maya traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico this month to compete in Mexico’s Nationals for Women’s Park, where she took home the silver medal. She will be representing Mexico at the Olympic Qualifiers in Argentina this month and we wish her all the best! At just thirteen years old, Maya has a bright future in skateboarding ahead of her. Go Maya!!

Check out the video she did with Braille below about training, making the National Team for Women’s Park and more!