A collective of the French skateboarding team made up of young people aged 11 to 14 is on an internship in Dijon until July 21. The Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 is their goal.
The substantive work carried out since the early 2000s in favor of the practice of skateboarding by its federation, in particular in the structuring of training and the supervision of practitioners, combined with the recognition of skateboarding as an Olympic discipline (in Tokyo and new for Paris in 2024), contributes to boosting the dynamics of the company.
According to Florent Hecquart, federal technical adviser to the French roller and skateboarding federation, the practice took on a new dimension in the wake of the Tokyo Olympics. “Today, skateboarding has about 6,500 licensees. From the 2020-2021 to 2021-2022 season, this number has doubled and the share of female licensees has increased from 17% to 30%”, he underlines in parallel.
In Japan last year, among the five French people involved in the Olympic skate competitions, three went to the final.
Tomorrow’s competitors rehearse their “skills”. They are already working with this idea of taking over. This is the case of the practitioners retained in the young collectives of the France team.
This third week of July, they and they are six young people from 11 to 14 years old, three girls and three boys, to train in Dijon. It’s a new gathering for this group after internships in Biarritz, Perpignan, Albi and Calais.
“The Olympics are targeted by everyone here”
Selected thanks to their results obtained in competition but also having distinguished themselves during two meetings at Le Mans in October 2021 and Calais in February 2022, they have Los Angeles 2028 in the back of their minds.
“It could do it. In fact, that’s the goal”, answers Kristen Billon, 13, from Brittany, offering herself “sensations of sliding and freedom” through practice, also aware that he must progress in the street even s he prefers the bowl.
On the other hand, street is the favorite discipline of Axel Van Cuick, 12, from Lège-Cap-Ferret. “The Olympics are targeted by everyone here,” he confirms.
“The beautiful surprise” in Dijon
This Wednesday, July 20, 2022, the weather forced the trainees to retreat to the indoor skatepark in Dijon. The one outside Les Grésilles, they were able to take advantage of it on Tuesday and intend to return there this Thursday for their last two training sessions in Dijon. “Brilliant”, as Axel Van Cuick describes it.
“The designer Constructo is a safe bet in the world of skateboarding but it’s true that it was a nice surprise, with a very nice bowl”, can testify Florent Hecquart. As well as the trainer of the collective Nicolas Rouquette, having practiced in the field in Montpellier then in La Rochelle, 15 years as a trainer and 34 years of practice behind him: “the new skatepark is ideal, versatile. The quality of the realization of the bowl is seen immediately, in the coherence of the lines in particular”.
“They quickly understood the requirement that discipline demands”
Indoors, in a set that is nevertheless much more suited to rollerblading and BMX, this Wednesday afternoon’s training session nevertheless made it possible to repeat technical figures that the young trainees will have to manage to include in a run in the long term, some of them already committing to national competitions.
“They want more, focused and determined. They understood quite quickly the requirement that discipline and competition require”, notes Nicolas Rouquette.
In Dijon, a city with the “Terre de Jeux” label and designated as a preparation center for the Paris 2024 Olympics, whose Grésilles skatepark could be an asset for hosting delegations, they have found favorable ground for this passion, in to a practice that must take advantage of its Olympic dimension to soar.
Alix Berthier
Photos: Alix Berthier
–
