Sharjah: The world’s best skateboarders have pledged to put on a “spectacular show” at the Street 2022 and Park 2022 World Championships at Aljada Skate Park in Sharjah, which act as qualifiers for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The ‘Road to Paris’ competitions sees Sharjah hosting the Street 2022 World Championships from 29 January to 5 February, followed by the Park 2022 World Championships from 5 February to 12 February.
Momiji Nishiya, who won the first ever gold medal in the women’s street skateboarding at the 2020 Olympics aged just 13, said, “The popularity of skateboarding has grown so much since it was introduced into the Olympics a few years ago. It’s great going around the world seeing so many people my age enjoying something I love so much. The standard of skating right now is incredible – it’s insane. The fans are in for such a treat in Sharjah. I know I will have to bring my A-game, and I would encourage everyone to come watch us all in action at Aljada Skate Park because it will be a spectacular show.”
450 skateboarders
Rayssa Leal, the 15-year-old Brazilian skateboarder with 6.4 million Instagram followers who won silver in the women’s street skateboarding at the 2020 Olympics, said, “I love seeing how passionate people are about skateboarding and the culture around our sport. The World Championships in Sharjah will be so good. The talent coming from across the world to compete here is off-the-scale good. I want to go one better at the next Olympics, so will be doing everything I can in Sharjah to put on the best performance going.”
Over 450 skateboarders from all over the globe, including all 12 medal winners from the 2020 Tokyo Games, will compete across both events – which are a first for the UAE and the wider Middle East.
