Road to Paris 2024: 20-Year-Old Australian Skateboarder Bets on Family’s ‘Last Big International Trip’ for Olympic Berth

After skateboarding‘s inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Games, the sport is set to seal the spotlight with its comeback in 2024. Added to the last Olympics, there’s much expectation growing around the athletes chasing the last Olympic berth along the road to Paris 2024. Like any other sport, it’s the street skateboarders and their stories waiting to take center stage.

In a similar vein, returning after a disappointing Tokyo Olympics journey, Australian skateboarder Liv Lovelace now has one priority: making sure her family sees her while she pursues success in Paris.

Headed along Road to Paris with dreamy eyes

A significant stop on the ‘Road to Paris 2024,’ the 2024 World Skateboarding Tour (WST) is currently underway, following the WST Dubai Park event, and will conclude on March 10. Ahead of the WST Dubai Street 2024, Liv Lovelace expressed her goals in an interview with Olympics.com, stating, “I want to do my country proud. But most importantly, it would be sick for my family and even for my grandparents as they’re getting on in life. I really want them to hopefully come to Paris as that may be their last big international trip out of Australia.”

The post caption reads: “‘It’s life.’ 20-year-old Australian Liv Lovelace shares why skateboarding is more than just a sport for her.” Lovelace began competing at the age of eight and has represented Australia in three world championships (2018, 2019, and 2022). Earlier, the qualifying run for the Tokyo Olympics came to a pause after she suffered a left humerus injury at the Gold Rails in Melbourne. However, she returned after three surgeries and a ten-month hiatus, which were part of her healing process. The Australian skateboarder is currently ranked third overall and 18th overall, and she is aiming to secure her place in the Olympic Qualifier Series. Here’s what the remainder of the qualifying process looks like!

2024 Olympic Skateboarding events

The WST Dubai Street competition is very important since it’s the last chance for skateboarders to earn points against their Olympic World Skate Ranking (OWSR). The Olympic Qualifying Series (OQS), the second round of qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics, will be based on these rankings, which will be confirmed after the OWSR Dubai event.

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Invited athletes who rank among the top 44 in each gender for the OWSR are then allowed to compete in the OQS, which takes place in two parts: Shanghai (16–19 May) and Budapest (20–23 June). The final fields along the road to Paris 2024 will be determined by these events, which will set the scenario for an intense race for an Olympic win.

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