PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 28: Mariah Duran of Team United States competes during the Women’s Street Prelims on day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Place de la Concorde on July 28, 2024 in Paris, France.
Georgia Martin, a Charlotte, NC native, had recently moved to Los Angeles to pursue her professional skateboarding journey. She currently is a pro skater; while she's not on the Olympic team, she traveled to France to support some of her friends who are competing in the Games. I met up with Martin in Paris. At 21 years old, Georgia was living her dream and supporting her friend, Poe Pinson, and other athletes on the USA Women’s Olympic skateboarding team. This year's Olympics marked a historic moment: for the first time, there was an equal number of male and female athletes competing, a significant stride toward gender equality in sports.
Skateboarding, however, remains a predominantly male-dominated sport. "If you look at skating ten years ago, girls were not really in the mix," Georgia reflected, "but now, the gap between guys and girls skaters is really closing." The change in the past decade has been nothing short of revolutionary, and brands like Nike are taking notice.
Nike, one of the biggest names in sports apparel, is a crucial supporter of this shift. They recently partnered with Georgia and her teammates to highlight their journey and promote skateboarding to a wider audience of women and girls. This year’s Olympics was a perfect stage to showcase this new era in skateboarding. Nike's promotional video will premiere in Paris this week, featuring powerful footage of female skaters defying gravity and breaking stereotypes, with hopes of inspiring a new generation to pick up their boards.
"The change in the last few years has been drastic and it has been really good for girls," Georgia said, her eyes bright with enthusiasm. Sponsors like Nike were not just acknowledging the presence of female skaters; they were actively pushing for more girls to join the sport. Female skaters like Georgia and Poe were at the forefront of this change, demonstrating that skateboarding was a sport for everyone.
Despite the progress, Georgia acknowledged that the USA’s Olympic Skateboarding programs are still catching up to the powerhouses like Japan, China, and Brazil. But the women’s team is making its mark in this year’s Games, finishing 5th and 6th in their final competition. She hopes that these impressive finishes will inspire more girls back in the States to take up their boards and join the movement.
As Georgia reflected on her time at the Olympics, she felt a profound sense of pride and hope for the future of female skaters. Even though the United States still has a long way to go, with every kickflip and ollie, skaters like her and Poe are paving the way for a brighter, more inclusive future. With the support of brands like Nike, this vision seemed more attainable than ever.
