ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the shortlisting and inclusion of surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing into the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. We first contextualise the discussion with some background information on Agenda 2020 and Olympic-led change initiatives, before turning to the responses from the action sport communities to the shortlisting (2015), and subsequent inclusion (2016), of surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing into the Tokyo 2020 Games. Our discussion explores both the attitudes from those within the broader cultures (i.e., recreational participants) and those at the core of these cultures, detailing the nuances, contradictions, and shifting debates across sports, different groups of consumers, and across generations. We then focus on some of the key debates in the core of the action sport cultures at the time of action sport shortlisting and then confirmation (2015–2016) including: concerns about the “styles” of the sports that would be included in the Olympic Games; the clash between the do-it-yourself (DIY) mentality and issues of leadership; governance, rules, and regulations; and environmental concerns as a result of anticipated growth in their sports. Across these topics we see the perceived incompatibility of the countercultural tradition of action sports and Olympic ideology. In such concerns, we see core participants anticipating problematic consequences from the merging of two very distinct cultures—the Olympic/elite sporting culture and alternative/action sport cultures.
