How Good Was That Skateboarder's Kickflip?
You Be The Olympic Judge.

Skateboarding is known for its scrappiness, stunts and general public antics. But it’s also beloved for its creativity, freedom and inclusivity, as Olympian Alana Smith pointed out last month while surrounded by their American teammates. The Tokyo Olympics will bring both the joy and the feistiness of the sport to the masses starting this weekend.

The Olympics aren’t putting skateboarding on the “legitimate sports” map — the X Games have existed since the mid-1990s, after all — but it might be the first time millions of people watch the sport. The skateboarding they’ll see will be a more refined, less risky version of the sport, and old-school skateboarders may see that as antithetical to the culture. But Rob Meronek isn’t worried. The co-founder of skateboarding events production company The Boardr and seasoned competition organizer (and lifelong skateboarder) sees the mainstream exposure of the Olympics as the logical progression of the sport. “If you think skateboarding can be ruined by the Olympics,” he said, “you're thinking incorrectly about skateboarding.”

Think you could judge?

You may have watched the X Games, and maybe you’ve even laid down a kickflip of your own. But do you know what judges will be looking for? Now’s your chance to test your Olympic eye.

There are two disciplines in Olympic skateboarding: park and street. For park, think “Lords of Dogtown,” skating in drained swimming pools, a little vert and some midair tricks. Street is a mix of “flat” tricks and obstacles like rails and stairs.1Jonah Hill’s movie “Mid90s” does a good job of channeling street skating energy. On the Olympic street course, athletes will skate two 45-second runs with five tricks. Judges will score on a 0.0-10.0 scale, based on speed, difficulty, originality, timing and execution.

We’ll show you three individual street tricks with two professional skaters performing each trick in their own style (but not in competition with each other). To help you parse what to look for, we’ve asked Meronek to provide some pointers and review each trick. After you score both skaters, we’ll show you how your score compares to scores from Meronek and other FiveThirtyEight readers.

Let’s start with one of the easiest tricks you might see, the 50-50.

In a 50-50, the skater grinds their board’s trucks — the metal pieces that connect the axles and wheels to the skateboard deck — on a ledge or a rail, frontside or backside depending on whether a skater's chest or back is parallel to the object. Meronek said the key to a well-executed 50-50 is having both trucks square on the ledge or rail and rolling away clean.

Samarria Brevard

United States

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Your score:

Judge's Score: 9.0

Other readers

DIFF

Meronek says: Samarria has a good pop and ollie into it. She lands nicely on the top of the obstacle, and the roll away is super smooth, a bolts landing. In the world of 50-50s, this is a classic 50-50.

Letícia Bufoni

Brazil

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Your score:

Judge's Score: 9.0

Other readers

DIFF

Meronek says: Both of Letícia’s trucks are on the hubba (a ledge that angles down a set of stairs), and they're locked in. The ollie up is super good, she lands way up high on the entryway. Her roll out is perfect.

Samarria Brevard

United States

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5.0

0.0

5.0

10.0

Score!

In this trick, also known as a Tre Flip, the board spins 360 degrees while the skater doesn’t turn at all. According to Meronek, a strong 360 flip should have a good, solid pop for height, a flick from the front foot, a proper catch in the air with the front foot — no "donkey kick" on the back leg — and feet on the bolts for the landing.

Letícia Bufoni

Brazil

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Your score:

Judge's Score: 6.0

Other readers

DIFF

Meronek says: A properly executed 360 flip. Her setup is good, the flick and the pop are great, but the height could be improved. She doesn't catch the board in the air — which would be a sign of a good 360 flip — but she still lands it. Her landing and ride away is good, but it could be faster.

Angelo Caro

Peru

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Your score:

Judge's Score: 7.5

Other readers

DIFF

Meronek says: Angelo’s got a good setup. The difference between this one and Letícia's is that his front foot catches the board in the air and then stomps that landing. That's the way a good 360 flip should look. He's got a good flick, and his ankle bends, which looks super stylish. It definitely could be popped higher, and he's a little squirrelish on the landing as he carves away.

Letícia Bufoni

Brazil

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5.0

0.0

5.0

10.0

Score!

In a frontside boardslide, the skater slides with the middle of their board on a rail or ledge. The slide should be perpendicular to the rail, with the board leveled out on the slide. Meronek looks for the skater’s body to be right above the rail, knees slightly bent with the front leg a little bit extended, before rolling away parallel to the rail.

Alexis Sablone

United States

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Your score:

Judge's Score: 8.0

Other readers

DIFF

Meronek says: Alexis’s execution here is really good. She’s super parallel to the rail on the approach, and the board levels out easily. Throughout the slide, her full body weight is over the rail. The exit is pretty much perfect: foot placement on the landing was straight “bolts.” Style-wise it looks ill — no “wind dancer” arms or sloppy feet.

Angelo Caro

Peru

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Your score:

Judge's Score: 7.5

Other readers

DIFF

Meronek says: Angelo's frontside boardslide is switch, which generally makes a trick much harder. It's like using your left hand to do something when you're right-handed. Ideally, you’d want a judge to see a switch trick executed so well, they couldn’t tell right away. Here you can definitely tell it’s switch, so there’s room for improvement. Despite that, Angelo still executes it pretty nicely and leveled out, on top of the rail, with a good solid rollaway.

Alexis Sablone

United States

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5.0

0.0

5.0

10.0

Score!