Skateboard GB announces Aspiration Fund skateboarders targeting Tokyo 2020 Olympics

2019 Skateboard GB Team. Photo: Garry Jones

MANCHESTER: Skateboard GB has today (Thursday 14 March 2019) announced its team of five skateboarders who will benefit from UK Sport’s recent Aspiration Fund award, to help them qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The five skateboarders are:

·       Sky Brown, 10, from Miyazaki in Japan  

·       Alex Decunha, 22, from Milton Keynes

·       Sam Beckett, 26, from Norfolk

·       Jordan Thackeray, 22, from Colchester

·       Alex Hallford, 26, from Nottingham

The Aspiration Fund will provide these five British skateboarders with the opportunity to participate in Olympic qualifying events with the aim of competing in the inaugural Olympic Games skateboarding competition.

Skateboard GB selected the skateboarders on the basis of their previous performance at international events, their current performance in 2019 and their potential to gain the qualification points for Tokyo.

James Hope-Gill, Chief Executive of Skateboard GB said “With just eighteen months until the first Olympic skateboarding event, we’re thrilled to announce the five skateboarders who we can now support on their journey to qualifying for Tokyo 2020, thanks to UK Sport’s Aspiration Fund. With this squad of talented skateboarders we are confident that Team GB will qualify for the Olympic Games in 2020.”

Lucy Adams, Skateboard England & Skateboard GB Chair and pro skateboarder, said: “Skateboarding’s appeal is in its youth and diversity and its ability to engage with those who turn away from more traditional sports. The funding will help us realise and build the dreams of these five skateboarders, whilst helping to inspire the next generation.”