Gavin Bottger: the most casual skater in the Olympic Qualifier Series - until he drops in 

Don't let his youthfulness fool you. Gavin Bottger may only be 17 years old, but he already has over a decade of skateboarding experience.

The goofy-footed skater from Oceanside, California, has been on a rapid ascent in the World Skateboarding Rankings. At age 16, he became the third U.S. skateboarder to earn the men’s park world title with his first-place finish at the WST Park 2023 World Championships in Rome. He followed this win up with a second-place finish at the World Skateboarding Tour Dubai.

Bottger spoke to Olympics.com about his qualifying experience to date, how he approaches competition and his goals as a skater as the Olympic Qualifier Series gets underway in Shanghai.

Bottger's Road to the Olympic Qualifiers

Bottger is currently the top-ranked men’s park skateboarder in the World Skateboarding Ranking, just ahead of teammate Jagger Eaton. Still, he says this has all happened somewhat organically, and thanks to his casual demeanor, you’re inclined to believe him.

In December 2022, Bottger was named to the 16-man USA Skateboarding national team. By then, he already had an impressive competition history, including winning the 2022 Dew Tour ahead of Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Keegan Palmer.

After being named to the team, Bottger’s results took off. He won the WST Park 2023 World Championships in Rome and, with it, the men’s park world title; Bottger was flanked on the podium by good friends Luigi Cini and Tate Carew. He says, “I was speechless when it happened. I couldn’t get the words that I wanted out. It was crazy to be at that event and be up on the podium with two people I grew up with. It was a super fun time.”

Bottger followed with a second-place finish at the World Skateboarding Tour Dubai, boosting himself to the top in the rankings.

Bottger says his pathway to the Olympics wasn’t altogether intentional, “There was definitely talk of the Olympics, and then just through doing contests, it led to doing the World Skate contests and now the Olympic qualifiers. It has all kind of happened organically.”

What motivates this skater in competition?

We asked the soft-spoken skateboarder where this competitive drive to win comes from, Bottger said, “Mentally, I’m competing against myself. I go in trying to land a run the best I can.”

His performance at the World Championships exemplifies this drive to put down his run. He says, “I wasn’t landing the last trick of my run, but I knew it was the last run, and this is my last trick—I just had to land it … and it worked out.”

Bottger describes the trick in question as an “around-the-world 540-to-fakie,” which he executed perfectly over the spine to the announcers' thrill, the audience's applause and a huge celebration by his fellow competitors.

When asked about the effect the competition setting has on his skateboarding, he says, “I feel like I wouldn’t have been as consistent if I wasn’t in a contest setting." While he says he mostly "tunes out" the crowd, he can still feel the energy. He explains, "There’s almost tunnel vision—you lock in and do what you need to do.”

Skateboarding is his training regiment

Bottger lives in Vista/Oceanside, California, a hotbed for professional skateboarding. There’s no shortage of skateparks to train at, although Bottger wouldn’t use that phrase.

“To me, skateboarding has never been about training," he said. "I just go skate, I don’t have a coach. I like to skate and not put too much pressure on the Olympic side and just have fun with it.”

One of the main parks Bottger skates at is the California Training Center (CATF), a flowing indoor concrete skatepark in Vista. The TF is partnered with USA Skateboarding, and it’s not unusual to find the likes of Jagger Eaton, Tate Carew, Tom Schaar, Bryce Wettstein and Liam Pace sessioning the park on any given day.

Bottger will always be a street skater

Outside the park, Bottger can be found skating the streets. He recently released an all-street video part on the Thrasher Magazine website; when asked whether this aspect of skateboarding is important, he said, “Street skating is really important to me. That’s how I grew up, and that's what skateboarding was to me growing up. So yeah, that definitely is a big part of what I like to do.”

His street skating influence can be seen in his park runs. He says, “It definitely helps in the way you look at a park.” He explains that the experience of finding and skating obstacles in the street can translate to creativity in finding lines in the park. He adds, “It’s also a lot of fun just being out there with your friends and skating stuff that isn’t necessarily meant to be skated.”

When asked whether he had the goal of competing in both street and park skating one day, Bottger said, “I don’t know if I would ever want to do both at the same time—I see Jagger [Eaton], and it seems like a lot to go through. But maybe if I could reach that level in street skating and eventually do something with that, we’ll see.”

How Bottger preps for competition

Heading into competition, Bottger usually has an idea of the park’s layout. Still, he says he doesn’t have a real idea of what his line is going to be in advance.

“It’s always going to be different when you get there," he explained. “I’m just going to try and skate my best and figure out the park as quick as I can, hopefully.”

How to watch the Olympic Qualifier Series

Watch the Olympic Qualifier Series 2024 in Shanghai until 19 May on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices (territorial restrictions may apply).