South Africa’s 46-year-old skateboarder Dallas Oberholzer: From “mystical act” to Olympics for South Africa’s thrashing nomad

It was the mid-1980s, at the height of conservative South Africa, when a ten-year-old Dallas Oberholzer first picked up what he called the “plank on wheels.”

A group of boys barely into their teens embraced the new cultural phenomena, building backyard ramps and performing death-defying tricks in suburban Johannesburg. What started as a “mystical unravelling” turned into a lifelong pursuit full of twists and turns.

Thirty-six years since Oberholzer's first introduction to skateboarding, he will finally reach the pinnacle of his sport, making his Olympic debut at the ripe old age of 46.

"A few of us got together, and we started, you know, just hanging out together and learning from one another and realising the potential and slowly discovering this mystical act," said Oberholzer, who discovered skateboarding through motion pictures like Thrashin' (the 1986 drama starring Josh Brolin that featured skate legends Tony Alva, Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi and Steve Caballero).

"It was the closest we could get to, you know, like living the dream on a surfboard or California dreaming," Oberholzer remembered.

Misfit start for South African skating

Considered the preserve of outsiders and misfits, skateboarding did not enjoy the same status as other mainstream sports when Oberholzer started.

Rolling back the years that manifest in his salt-and-pepper beard, Oberholzer peers into the storied past.

Throughout his life, Oberholzer has been told he was “too old to skate,” but he persisted, leaving his studies in commerce to travel the world in search of events and gigs. "I've stuck with skateboarding, I have taken a big gamble, but I'm sticking with my passion,” he said. “I'm like the crazy artist."

"That's why, you know, it's hard to classify skateboarding as a sport because you are more like a freaky street artist than a sports professional, so I totally took a chance, and it seems to be paying back now," he added.

Skateboarding has been anything but financially rewarding for Oberholzer, but what he lacked in material possessions, he more than made up for in life experiences. Oberholzer said he was one of the first South Africans to pursue a life and livelihood from skateboarding and has never looked for a so-called real job.

"It hasn't been a financially rewarding choice in life to be a skateboarder, especially not in this country, other countries sure," he said without revealing any regret.

"I chose to keep skating and then also tried, in any way possible, to advocate for skateboarding, that it's socially acceptable, and it can be used as a tool for social change, you know, towards integration of our communities and bringing the haves and have nots together."

Oberholzer and his posse of nomads have trekked across the length and breadth of South Africa, spreading the skateboarding gospel to kids caught in the poverty trap -- trying to provide hope and escapism from the harsh realities of their surroundings.

"Skateboarding is probably one of the greatest platforms, beyond language, that's bringing people together," Oberholzer said. "It's been proven with the work I've done through the non-profit that I've found that it keeps children out of gangs and it helps for social integration, and it helps with mental health. I've just been on a mission since at an early age I was told, 'hey, you are wasting your life on a skateboard'."

A new direction from Durban

Two decades ago, Oberholzer moved to Durban, on South Africa's east coast, because of its thriving skate scene and all-year-round warm weather. A Tony Hawk-designed skatepark had opened, attracting riders like Oberholzer and his crew. 

The freewheeling Oberholzer had a desire to set up a youth skateboarding camp which led him to Isithumba, one of the Zulu villages in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. He secured a piece of land from some of the local chiefs, where he built a skatepark in the heart of the valley surrounded by the green hills and rondavels of the local people. 

"The whole concept originally was integrating wealthier children from the suburbs to come and engage with the African community. Basically to share the experience of skateboarding, which is just something that happens, naturally," Oberholzer said of the early beginnings of his non-profit, Indigo Youth Movement.

"Through that process I also realised that the only way skateboarding was going to gain popularity was to bring it to people of colour because at that time it was mostly a white sport 20 years ago," he went on.

His passion-project has turned into a full-blown non-profit organisation where he’s spreading the love of skateboarding and building skateparks in some of the most impoverished areas in the country. 

Some of the participants and kids that were part of the camps went on to help Oberholzer build skateparks, ramps and concrete pools, becoming the custodians of the parks.

And while he has touched the lives of children in the local area through skateboarding, Oberholzer is quick to point out how the village has enriched his life.

"It's the only place that I have, the only solid thing I have in my life," Oberholzer said. "You know, I've been a travelling skateboarder. Every time I travel to every event, I come back to empty pockets and nowhere to go. Dude, if it wasn't for this village, this is what kept me afloat."

Second-oldest at the Tokyo park

Oberholzer will be the second-oldest skateboard competitor at Tokyo 2020 behind Denmark's Rune Glifberg, just a few months his senior, when the men’s park discipline makes its debut at the Olympic Games on Thursday.

The South African has made peace that he stands no chance of reaching the podium but merely reaching the Olympics serves as justification of a life dedicated to the sport.

"And at the end of the day, it's like skateboarding just said, 'hey, man, here's an all-expenses-paid trip to Japan'. This is a great return on my dedication to skateboarding," Oberholzer reflected.

"You finally get to represent the country that I thought would have never acknowledged skateboarding because I grew up in a conservative South Africa,” he added. “You know, skateboarding is pretty fringe, radical. So, yeah, man, that alone to me is like breathing out and just going like, 'wow!'"

To top his achievement, Oberholzer also gets to prove to his mum that skateboarding from his teens through to his 40s has not been a giant waste of time.

"It kind of warrants it for my mom, like, she would never understand why I skateboarded, my family or my mom particularly, she'd be like, 'come on, dude,'” he said with a laugh. “So maybe for her, this is cool because it's like a good ender, you know, the life dedicated to skateboarding."