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Lack of funds may rule Team GB boarders out of Olympics
SKATEBOARDING will make its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – but Great Britain may not have a team there.
The number of skate parks in England and Wales, mainly council-run But the past year has seen a 24% increase in the number of females.
Mr Hope-Gill said: “They are kids who want to do something different... a lifestyle, a culture. It is a great opportunity to get kids active who are not active now.”
Skateboard England had received £140,000 in funding from Sport England after it set up in 2015. But that backing ended two weeks ago, leaving it with no staff.
Most British medal prospects live and compete in the US. They include Norwich-born professional Sam Beckett, 25, the first UK skateboarder to win Gold at the X Games, in 2016.
Mr Hope-Gill added: “The Olympics is a fantastic opportunity. It can bring profile, credibility, more funding. We just need support.”
Sport England said the sport needed to prove it could boost participation to win funding.
A cash crisis has left the governing body of the sport, which has an estimated 530,000 UK participants, without funding.
It threatens our medal hopes just as boarding is about to get global recognition at the Games in Japan.
James Hope-Gill, CEO of Skateboard England, said: “We are really confident that we are going to get skateboarders to the Olympics.
“What we are not confident about is whether we will win a gold medal. And that’s what UK Sport looks at for funding.”
There are 1,600 skate parks in England and Wales. And the sport has a huge global audience, as hundreds of millions watch it on social media and other platforms.
The vast majority of participants in the UK are boys aged 12 to 24.