Salford has been chosen to host the UK National Skateboarding Championships again following a successful debut last year.

With its popularity increasing, skateboarding has recently made its way into the established sporting world of the Olympic Games.

And now the National Championships are once again heading to Salford, competitors have the opportunity to earn qualifying points for the Team GB Olympic squad for this summer’s games in Tokyo.

Skateboard England announced that Graystone Skatepark was chosen to host the championships for the second time after receiving a number of high quality submissions from venues around the country.

Ben Livingstone, Graystone co-founder, told Skateboard England: “We are truly grateful to have been given the opportunity to host the National Championships in such a crucial year for skateboarding, not only in the UK, but across the world.”

In the last National Championship in Salford, more than 100 of the best UK skateboarders competed, including the five Skateboard GB Aspiration funded athletes, with Joe Hinson, Matt Beer, Sky Brown and Helena Long.

There are both male and female events for both competitions with equal prize money for each.

Competitors for the event are initially invited, with a selection process which includes: current UK ranking, previous competition standing, professional status and future potential.

Competitions on the day

  • Male Street Event
  • Male Park Event (bowl)
  • Female Street Event
  • Female Park Event (bowl)

Skateboard England CEO, James Hope-Gill said: “We are really excited to be hosting the National Championships in an Olympic year. It’s set to be one of the biggest skateboarding competitions in 2020.”

The process for skateboarding at the 2020 Olympics features two disciplines: park and street.

Park

Park courses resemble large bowls with steep sides and skaters perform spins and tricks at great heights performing at each side of the bowl.

Street

Street features stairs, handrails, benches ,walls and slopes, mimicking a real street.

Competitors in the Olympics get three timed runs to perform their best score.

Furthermore, Olympic skateboarders will also experience some of their creative freedom that they get in their home, parks and streets.

The Olympic competition takes place throughout the entire games, from July 24 to August 9.

To see the best British Skateboarders compete in Salford on March 28-29 for Olympic qualifying points, get your tickets here.

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