Basics
Skateboarding competition in Tokyo will feature two disciplines: park and street. There is a women's event and a men's event in each discipline.
Helmets: Athletes under the age of 18 are required to wear helmets. The contest director will not start the competition if skaters required to wear helmets are not wearing them. Failure to do so will invalidate any skater's score (if he/she/they are under 18) and result in disqualification.
Warm-up period: Athletes will have pre-competition practice time and at least five minutes of a warm-up period to practice their tricks before the start of their heat.
Starting: For all run and trick attempts, skaters are given five seconds to start after the starter's signal. If the skater purposefully does not begin their run or trick attempt within five seconds, they will lose the opportunity to be scored on that attempt at the discretion of the contest director. The clock is triggered by the timekeeper when the skater places both feet on his/her board at the start of the run. A horn signal is triggered when the time expires. A trick will be considered during time and scored if it is in progress before the horn signal. The head judge will decide if a trick completed after time will be scored.
Stops/restarts: If competition is interrupted during a skater's performance, it will resume from where it was interrupted and the interrupted skater will get a restart. If there is external interference during a skater's performance, the contest director at his/her discretion can give the skater a restart option if he/she believes it compromised the athlete's performance.
DNS/replacement: If a skater who has qualified for the final cannot start the final (i.e., is injured during the warm-up), he/she/they are not replaced and will be ranked last in the final. If a skater is disqualified for unsportsmanlike behavior (DQB) before the start of the final, the next highest ranked non-qualified skater will advance.
Equipment failure: If a skateboard breaks during a run, a skater can try to continue with the broken equipment (in which case the clock is not interrupted and the run is scored up until the withdrawal or the end of the run). The skater can also be provided with a replacement skateboard (in which case the clock is not interrupted and the run is scored up until the end of the run). If the skater stops, the run is scored up until the withdrawal.
Women's and Men's Park:
Park competition is contested in a dome-shaped bowl. Athletes are judged on the tricks and maneuvers they complete during timed runs, as well as flow, use of the course and execution (i.e., based on “overall impression” and not specific tricks).
Competition Overview: Competition consists of a preliminary round and final round. Five judges will evaluate competitors using a 0-100-point scale. The highest and lowest scores are dropped, and the remaining three scores are averaged to calculate a score for each run.
Preliminary Round: Twenty skaters compete in four heats of five skaters by random draw. Competition consists of three 45-second runs. Best score of the three counts for advancement to the final. The top eight skaters overall (regardless of heat) advance to the final.
Final: Eight skaters will have three 45-second timed runs (no scores carry over from the preliminary round). Best run score counts.
Tie breaks: The score of the second-highest run decides the tie break. If still tied, the next highest run score breaks the tie. This continues until the tie is broken. If it is still impossible to break the tie, the jury votes to break it and each judge has one vote.
Stoppages: The clock is stopped if a fall occurs. The run will be terminated before expiration of the time limit and scored.
Women's and Men's Street:
Street competition involves a series of jumps, rails and other features athletes utilize during their runs.
Competition Overview: Competition includes a preliminary round and final round. Athletes will complete two runs and five “tricks” (which are executed like runs but only involve a single trick instead of a series of tricks) in each round. Five judges will evaluate the runs and tricks on a 0-10-point scale for each run/trick. The highest and lowest scores for each run or trick are dropped, and the remaining three scores are averaged to give a score for each run and trick (seven total). The best four scores from runs or tricks will be added to give the total round score (for a best possible score of 40, if an athlete was to earn the maximum number of points on all four counting runs/tricks). Each skater in the heat performs a single attempt at a time, and the order of skaters progresses through the heat completely before moving on to the next attempt beginning with the first skater in the heat.
Preliminary Round: Twenty skaters compete in four heats of five skaters based on a random draw. They perform two 45-second runs and five trick attempts. The top eight skaters overall (regardless of heat) advance to the final.
Final: Eight skaters perform two runs and five tricks again (see above for scoring procedures). The athlete with the best combined score (as outlined above) wins.
Tie breaks: The highest-scoring run decides the tie break. If still tied, the five judges will vote electronically on who is first. In the case of several ties, they will be asked to vote for second-best, etc.
Stoppages: The clock is not stopped for any reason. If the run has to be interrupted for external reasons, the skater will be given a restart.
