Riders ramp up China's scene

Kids of all ages getting involved as skateboarding soars to new heights ahead of Olympic debut

As skateboarding prepares to make its Olympic debut this summer, the sport is enjoying a surge in popularity in China, with even kindergartners hitting the ramps to bust their moves.

Saturday's first leg of the 2021 China Skateboarding Classic League at Beijing's Shougang Infinite Park was typical of the wide range of age groups enjoying the sport, with over a hundred riders from across the country taking part.

Gao Feng from Hubei province scored 30.85 points to win the men's professional title and scoop the 10,000 yuan ($1,542) first prize; Luo Caiqing from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province won the women's crown, notching 13.86 points to pocket 5,000 yuan.

Three more legs of the league will be staged in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, Chongqing and Jinan, Shandong province from May to July. The top 16 men and top 10 female riders will qualify for the final in late July, with Shougang Infinite Park again the host.

Ahead of the pro events, an amateur competition offered a 2,000 yuan prize pool, with 6-year-old kindergartner Deng Yiwen, nicknamed "Little Apple", among the youngest participants.

Although she couldn't quite challenge her older rivals, daredevil Deng's bravery on the course earned her the admiration of all who witnessed her in action.

"My daughter only started to learn skateboarding about a month ago, and she's already participating in the amateur competition of the China Skateboarding Classic," proud mom Deng Fei told China Daily. "She has class each week and carries her skateboard to school with her. We know that skateboarding is now an Olympic event, but right now we're not thinking about whether she will consider the sport as a career. She just does it because she loves it.

"I can sense her potential and she has made really quick progress. She's a fearless kid and skateboarding has made her even more confident. She has also developed better physical coordination through skateboarding."

As for her own plans, "Little Apple" didn't want to give too much away, saying: "I hope to turn pro, but I haven't even told my classmates that I'm skateboarding now."

Eight-year-old Xu Ziyi and his 7-year-old sister Xu Zimo also attracted plenty of attention over the weekend-remarkably competing in the pro event. Their dad, Xu Guanglei, tried his luck with the amateurs.

"I first just took my children to skateboarding class. Because it usually lasts for hours, and it's pretty boring for me to just stand there by myself, I've also started riding now," Xu Guanglei told China Daily.

"The brother is a second-grader and the sister is now in the first grade. They started to play when there were about 3 years old. They have actually played for quite a while now and spent a lot of time in clubs learning from coaches.

"They both wanted to compete in the pro event as they don't separate the participants into different age groups. So they could compete with other older and more experienced skateboarders and experience a different atmosphere.

"Skateboarding has brought them courage and challenges. It can be extremely frustrating when you fail to pull off a move. So no matter what they do in the future, I hope they can learn perseverance through this sport.

"We know skateboarding has been included in the Olympics. Right now they are still too young and it's too early to tell if they can become professional skateboarders. But I would support them if they make such a decision and are willing to go through all the challenges of turning pro."

Encouraging more young people to experience the sport was one of the primary aims of last weekend's event, which had coaches at the ready to give first-timers some tips.

"Skateboarding-related topics have been viewed over five billion times on Weibo until now. Skateboarding has been included in the Tokyo Games, despite it still being a relatively young sport compared with the likes of basketball and soccer," said Cao Zenghui, a senior vice-president of Weibo, which co-organized the event.

"But being a new sport brings its own advantages. Through the China Skateboarding Classic League, we hope more people can discover and embrace skateboarding, as well as build a bigger platform for the sport."