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Shaun White ‘pretty terrible’ in first skateboard bowl contest

By Nick ZaccardiSep 3, 2018, 11:50 AM EST
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Shaun White failed to qualify for the 15-man semifinals in his first skateboard contest in years and his first ever in the bowl format. The three-time Olympic halfpipe champion is considering a Tokyo 2020 run in the new Summer Olympic sport.

White competed at a Red Bull event in Marseille on Saturday. Highlights are here.

“I did pretty terrible but was slightly expecting that for my first bowl contest ever,” was posted on White’s social media. “Gotta start somewhere, and I’m excited for the next comp [in Sweden this week].”

White, who turned 32 on Monday, has said for years he was intrigued by Olympic skateboarding, which was added to the Games program two years ago.

White earned five X Games skateboard medals between 2005 and 2011, but all of those came in vert, which is not on the Olympic program.

If White makes a 2020 Olympic run, it will likely come in park (similar to bowl) rather than street, the other Olympic event.

“Honestly, I am here to see how things go,” White said in Marseille, according to Agence France-Presse. “I haven’t made a decision either way [on 2020], I just figured, want to have some fun, skateboard, come to France and then hopefully make a decision come new year if I’m really going to go for it or not.”

The U.S. can qualify a maximum of three men and three women per Olympic skateboarding event. Olympic qualifying is in 2019 and 2020.

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MORE: 13-year-old already an Olympic skateboarding medal threat

Asian Games include competitors ages 9, 81

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By Nick ZaccardiAug 14, 2018, 9:21 AM EST
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A 9-year-old skateboarder is entered at the Asian Games, a quadrennial multi-sports event with many Olympic sports and Olympic champions that starts this week in Indonesia.

So is an 81-year-old bridge player.

Skateboarder Aliqqa Novvery Kayyisa of Indonesia is currently younger than any competitor in Olympic history. The 4-foot-3-inch, 73-pound athlete was featured on the nation’s version of “Little Big Shots” last year, skating while wearing a tutu.

Skateboarding debuts at the Olympics at Tokyo 2020, when she will be younger than all but three Olympians, according to Olympic historians — 1896 gymnast Dimitrios Loundras of Greece (10 years) and 1932 British figure skaters Cecilia Colledge and Megan Taylor (both 11).

Skateboarding does not have a published age minimum in its qualification rules for the 2020 Olympics. World Skateboard has not responded to a question on whether there is an Olympic age minimum in the sport.

Lee Hung Fong, an 81-year-old Malaysian, is also entered in the Asian Games. But she will definitely not be competing at an Olympics, as bridge is one of many sports held at the Asian Games that is not on the Olympic program. She is one of several Asian Games bridge players 70 years or older.

Esports are also debuting at the Asian Games as a demonstration event.

(h/t @OlympicStatman)

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Shaun White enters skateboard contests, eyes lighter snowboard schedule

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By Nick ZaccardiJul 2, 2018, 6:22 PM EST
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Shaun White said he will compete in skateboarding contests this summer and decide afterward whether he will bid for the sport’s Olympic debut in 2020.

White is entered in next week’s Vans Park Series in Vancouver, according to his manager.

“I’ve entered myself in a couple of skateboard competitions this summer,” White said in a video on his social media. “I haven’t officially decided to go for the Summer Olympics in 2020 in Japan, but I’m going to go try myself out at these events and see where I stack up with the other skaters, then make the decision. But I’m definitely not retiring from the sport of snowboarding. I love it too much. I can’t walk away just yet. But in order to pursue this dream of going to the Summer Olympics, I’m going to probably take a lighter snowboarding season next year.”

White earned his third Olympic snowboard halfpipe title in PyeongChang and has said for years he was intrigued by Olympic skateboarding.

White also lightened his snowboard contest schedule in the two seasons following his fourth-place finish at the Sochi Olympics.

In skateboarding, White earned five X Games medals between 2005 and 2011, but all of those came in vert, which is not on the Olympic program.

The two Olympic skateboarding events are street and park.

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MORE: 13-year-old already an Olympic skateboarding medal threat