Skateboarding has always been as much about culture as competition. But now, that culture will have to make room for the biggest competition in the world: the Olympics.

The sport is ready to make its Olympic debut in Tokyo with two different disciplines: street and park. Some 70 years or so after skateboarding was born out of the boredom of Southern California surfers, USA Skateboarding CEO Josh Friedberg told ABC News the Olympics will be as much about showcasing the sport's personality as the sport itself.

What's exciting for me is that there's this chance on a global stage to share what makes skateboarding special," Friedberg told ABC News. "It's much more than just a sport. And I think that that shines through when you see the personalities of skaters, the Olympians, from all over the world, who love skateboarding ... and they're going to compete for their countries in this new environment."

"I still believe that, as a culture-based sport, skateboarding has a lot to offer the world," he added. "And, you know, vice versa, the exposure that the Olympics can provide with this inclusion in the games for skateboarding just means that chance to share this with more and more people around the world."

https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/counterculture-competition-skateboarding-makes-olympics/story?id=78775326

The X-games opened the eyes of the world at large to what an interesting sport skating could be.