If you have watched the Women’s Legs of the Olympics or even non-Olympic tournaments, you might have noticed that men participants score higher than women.
That might lead you to wonder, “why are women’s skateboarding scores so low?” Many say it’s because of the women’s competency level. Others claim it’s not.
In this article, we’ll see if gender is a significant factor in the sport. Also, we’ll learn what other aspects create this gap between men and women in skateboarding.
Table of Contents
Causes of Low Scoring Output for Women
Not to undermine women’s capabilities, but we should address the factors that keep them from scoring as much as men do. So, here are some possible explanations.
1. Women’s involvement in the sport came in slightly late.
While it’s true that most male skateboarders are physically stronger than women, we can’t deny that the former have already begun building their names in the sport for more than a decade already.
Consequently, the sport’s growth between the two genders is different. Men learned and mastered skateboarding ahead of the women.
Nonetheless, female skaters are on the way to catching up with men’s proficiency.
2. The scoring system is the same, no matter the gender.
It sounds fair that the scoring matrix across men and women skateboarding is the same. But does this system not add a burden for the women?
If men get deductions for faults or lower scores for intensity, so do women. And with the differences in skill levels between the two genders, it’s acceptable that women are more vulnerable to making faults or missing some killer skills in the skating arena.
Moreover, the scoring also depends on which part of the criteria the skater meets through his executions. The rubrics include the following in particular order:
- Elementary level
- Basic level
- Standard level
- Advanced level
- Expert level
- Master level
Each of these levels has a corresponding rating. So, if the participant aces a stunt or trick meets the Master level criteria, a win is more sure.
Is it possible for men’s street skating Olympics to score as low as a woman’s? Absolutely! Again, it’s the level of the trick performed by the participant. And since the female skaters in the recent Olympics performed less complex tricks, their scores came out lower.
But despite emphasizing that the scores were fair and reviewed, some viewers and fans still don’t understand that. They claim that the girl skateboarding Olympics who scored little deserve the numbers outstanding participants had.
Women’s Skateboarding Rules in the Olympics
The recent Olympic skateboarding competition showcased two disciplines: park and street. There were distinct Olympic skateboarding street scoring rules as well as parks.
But the rule for the women’s street skateboarding scoring was the same as the one for men, and the same held true for the park category.
In a nutshell, male and female Olympic skateboarders in the park discipline had three 45-second runs to show their skills and tenacity in the arena. Now, how is street skateboarding scored? The street category gave the skaters, whether male or female, two 45-second shots.
How Do They Score Women’s Skateboarding?
As mentioned, skateboarding rules and scoring systems for men and women did not vary. The only anticipated change in the Olympics scoring might happen in Paris 2024.
Experts believe the coming quadrennial Olympic event will give women a separate scoring matrix. Such changes will more likely highlight women’s skateboarding scored in less challenging tricks.
What Percentage of Skateboarders Are Female?
We know there are more men mastering skateboarding than women. But while the gap in ability may close, will there be equal numbers of males and females in skateboarding? We are not sure.
Based on 2017 data, 85 million people in the world are skateboarders. And statistics say that 23.9% are female. Since that year, sports have become more inclusive. That means the percentages and overall count could have changed vastly.
Conclusion
We’ve seen how skateboarding has evolved since its creation. And through those years, it was nothing but milestone after milestone, with competitions coming left and right.
But while competitions entail rating one participant against the others, many could not help but argue. And one of the most frequent questions is why are women’s skateboarding scores so low compared to men’s.
Respectfully, men introduced themselves to the sport earlier than women. Hence, upskilling happened earlier, and there could have been differences in physical capacity between the two genders.
Nevertheless, there are more and more women skaters who are breaking onto the scene.
Hi, I am Charles Harris. I opened this site to write as much as I can about my biggest passion – skateboarding!
I started as a clumsy yet passionate rookie 10 years ago to now a still passionate yet much better skateboarder! But I have to tell you, the whole journey has always been fun and rewarding, indeed not without hardship.