DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The questions being asked at one of skateboarding’s last major qualifying events for the Olympics in July are whether the Olympics are ready for skateboarding and whether skateboarding is ready for the Olympics. More than 20 years after its wintertime cousin, snowboarding, reluctantly took to the biggest stage in sports, skateboarding is grinding its way into the much more crowded summer program. It’s one of a number of attempts by the International Olympic Committee to appeal to a younger, trendier, more easily distracted audience. Whether any of this is truly “saving” the Olympics for the next generation is a matter of opinion. But viewership numbers indicate the games still have issues with the in-demand 18-to-34 market that skateboarding attracts.
