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Skateboard England fears Britain could miss Tokyo debut

Governing body Skateboard England lost its Sport England backing earlier this month and chief executive James Hope-Gill fears that plans for the next Olympics could suffer as a result, according to a report in The Times newspaper.

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Source: Reuters


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Five sports, including baseball, skateboarding and surfing, will feature in Tokyo as part of the IOC's revamp of the Games programme to attract a younger audience.

"The Olympics is a fantastic opportunity. It can bring profile, credibility, more funding, facilities. Skateboarding ticks all the social boxes," Hope-Gill told the newspaper.

Hope-Gill, whose efforts to hold a UK national championship was unable to find financial support, said that rival nations were well ahead in terms of preparations for the Games.

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"Australia, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and some Scandinavian countries are already being funded by their governments," he said.

"In France, they have 17 skateboarders, members of staff, travelling the world skating together to create a real team ethos."

Skateboarding at the Tokyo Games will have a total of four medal events for 40 men and 40 women in two categories -- park (a hollowed-out course featuring a series of curves) and street (a straight course featuring stairs, handrails and curbs).

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)


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