Skateboarding at the
2028 Summer Games
Skateboarding at LA 2028 comes home. Contested at the Sepulveda Basin in the San Fernando Valley — in the region that invented modern skate culture — across the street and park disciplines. A guide to the events, the venue, past champions, and the sport’s Summer Games history.
LA 2028 Skateboarding Overview
LA 2028 skateboarding is contested at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the San Fernando Valley, a temporary venue purpose-built for the Games. It is one of several high-energy disciplines staged in the Valley Sports Park cluster, which also includes BMX freestyle, BMX racing, 3×3 basketball, and modern pentathlon. For skateboarding, LA 2028 is effectively a homecoming — Southern California is the birthplace of modern skate culture.
Skateboarding made its Summer Games debut at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021 and returned at Paris 2024. It has since been promoted to the core Games program. The sport features two disciplines — street and park — each contested by men and women, for four medal events in total. The judging format rewards difficulty, execution, and creativity, giving the event a distinct rhythm compared with traditional timed or scored sports.
Events & Format
Skateboarding is divided into two disciplines, each with a men’s and women’s event. Both use a format of preliminary rounds to determine finalists, followed by a final in which skaters take multiple runs and, in street, individual trick attempts. Judges score each run and trick on difficulty, execution, consistency, and originality, with the best scores counting toward the final result.
LA 2028 Skateboarding Venue: Sepulveda Basin
Skateboarding at the 2028 Summer Games is held at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the San Fernando Valley, in a temporary venue built specifically for the Games. The Sepulveda Basin hosts Summer Games events for the first time in history in 2028, anchoring the Valley Sports Park cluster of action-oriented disciplines. For official Games information see the official LA28 organizing committee, and for competition rules see World Skate, the sport’s international federation.
The Valley Sports Park
The Sepulveda Basin cluster marks the first time Summer Games events are staged in the San Fernando Valley. The Valley Sports Park groups several of the Games’ most high-energy disciplines — skateboarding park and street, BMX freestyle and racing, 3×3 basketball, and modern pentathlon — in one area. For groups drawn to the action sports program, the Valley cluster offers the chance to combine multiple disciplines across consecutive days from a single base.
Getting to the Sepulveda Basin
The Sepulveda Basin is in the central San Fernando Valley, roughly 40 minutes from LAX by car depending on traffic. The Valley has its own hotel inventory across Sherman Oaks, Encino, and Universal City, which puts groups close to the skateboarding venue. A Downtown or West LA base is also workable, with travel over the hills to the Valley on event days.
Skateboarding at the Summer Games: History
Skateboarding made its Summer Games debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games, held in 2021, as one of a group of new sports added to broaden the program’s appeal to younger audiences. The debut was widely regarded as a success, producing compelling competition, a notably supportive culture between competitors, and several remarkably young medalists.
Japan emerged as the dominant nation at the debut, winning multiple gold medals across the street and park disciplines. The United States, Brazil, and Australia have also been among the leading programs. The sport’s youth was underscored at Tokyo 2020 when 13-year-old medalists reached the podium — among the youngest in Summer Games history — a pattern that continued at Paris 2024.
Summer Games Champions
| Event | 2024 Paris | 2020 Tokyo |
|---|---|---|
| Men’s Street | Yuto Horigome (JPN) | Yuto Horigome (JPN) |
| Women’s Street | Coco Yoshizawa (JPN) | Momiji Nishiya (JPN) |
| Men’s Park | Keegan Palmer (AUS) | Keegan Palmer (AUS) |
| Women’s Park | Arisa Trew (AUS) | Sakura Yosozumi (JPN) |
Notable Skaters in Summer Games History
Historic Moments
Skateboarding’s Debut, Tokyo 2020
Skateboarding’s arrival at the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021 was one of the most talked-about additions to the modern program. The debut was defined not only by the competition but by the culture around it — competitors openly supporting one another, celebrating each other’s tricks regardless of nationality, in a spirit that drew widespread attention.
The Teenage Podium
The women’s street podium at Tokyo 2020 featured three teenagers, with the gold and silver medalists both aged 13. It was among the youngest podiums in Summer Games history and signaled skateboarding’s arrival as a sport driven by a strikingly young generation of athletes.
Horigome Defends in Paris 2024
Yuto Horigome produced one of the great pressure performances in the sport’s short Summer Games history at Paris 2024, landing a series of high-difficulty tricks in his final attempts to overtake the field and defend his men’s street title — becoming the first skater to win two Summer Games golds.
A Homecoming for 2028
Los Angeles and Southern California are widely regarded as the birthplace of modern skateboarding. The sport’s culture, its foundational figures, and many of its most iconic spots trace to the region. The 2028 Games bring Summer Games skateboarding to the place most associated with the sport’s origins, giving the LA program a particular cultural weight.
What to Expect at LA 2028
LA 2028 skateboarding carries a homecoming narrative unlike any other sport on the program. Held in the region that shaped modern skate culture, the Sepulveda Basin event is expected to draw one of the most engaged crowds of the action-sports program, with a young global field competing across street and park.
The Field
Japan and Australia have been the dominant nations in the sport’s Summer Games history, with Brazil, the United States, and Great Britain also producing medalists. The field skews young, and the 2028 cycle is likely to feature both returning champions and a new wave of teenage talent emerging through the international circuit.
US Interest
The United States has deep cultural roots in skateboarding even where its recent Summer Games medal returns have trailed Japan and Australia. A home Games in the sport’s Southern California heartland gives American skaters and fans a distinct connection to the 2028 program, and the Valley venue places the event close to communities central to the sport’s history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Sports at LA 2028
Skateboarding is one of 32 sports on the 2028 program. Individual sport guides for LA 2028 are listed below.
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