Tommy Calvert: Great Britain’s 13-year-old skateboarding park sensation relishing 'crazy' ride
A serendipitous snowboarding trip led Calvert to first discover skateboarding. Now, six years later, the Brit is brushing shoulders with Tony Hawk and intent on punching his ticket to the Olympic Qualifying Series for Paris 2024.
Skateboarding
Imposing is the downtown Dubai skyline as it looms ominously over the park bowl hosting the World Skateboarding Tour’s latest stop, but 13-year-old Tommy Calvert hardly seems to mind their ominous presence.
The British teen is completely in his element as he tells Olympics.com about the whirlwind adventure he has been on since embarking on the road to Paris 2024.
“This experience has been crazy,” Calvert says with a grin.
“When I was younger I never thought I could do any of this stuff. But now I’m here in Dubai. It’s been so fun travelling to Rome, Argentina. I didn’t even think I was going to go to those places but skateboarding’s brought me to all these places and it’s super fun. All these guys are my friends and homies and it’s fun to skate with them and compete together and just hang out and have a good time.”
Having fun and keeping the experience exciting and pure is a central tenet of Calvert’s skating.
Born in Liverpool before moving to California at the age of three, the Brit was just six years old when he first stepped on a skateboard.
It was, he explains, a chance encounter.
“So, I actually went snowboarding once and then I went to this shop called Arbor Skateboards and I got a cruiser board and started skating around the shop. And then that day my dad was like, ‘Wow, you’re really good at this.’ And then he bought me the board and I just skated all the way home that day and ever since I’ve been skating.”
Neither of Calvert’s had experience in the sport or a skateboarding background but they didn’t hesitate to find ways to nurture his talent.
San Diego, the skateboarding mecca that incidentally Calvert calls home, was the dream environment for the aspiring skater.
The famous Venice Beach skate park known as the home for modern skateboarding became the spot where the young rider cut his teeth, picking up tips and tricks from helpful locals - including Tony Hawk - who can see his potential.
“A lot of the guys there, they help me skateboard and just taught me the basics and I think the vibe there helps me with what I deal with today and skateboarding and everyone dropping in.
“Some of the guys, they were teaching me how to ollie and I finally got my two back wheels off the ground and I was just super hyped that day.
“It’s definitely cool seeing Tony Hawk, you know, just skating with him at the ramp and just hanging out with everyone because skating in San Diego it’s just a super fun vibe.”
Calvert and Macdonald: Bridging generations for Team GB
Enjoying his rapid rise, by the age of nine, Calvert started entering contests and, two short years after that, he found himself applying for Great Britain’s national skateboarding team.
It’s a path that has subsequently led him on a journey towards Olympic qualification and dropping into the same bowls as some of the best in the park discipline.
Olympic medallists Jagger Eaton and Keegan Palmer have been great sources of influence to the young skater, and closer to home, is team-mate Andy Macdonald, the legendary 50-year-old vert rider who is also pursuing a slice of Olympic glory with Team GB.
Despite the 37-year age gap, which is the widest among all the national skateboarding squads, the pair have enjoyed getting to know each other and drawing on their strengths.
Macdonald finds purpose in Calvert’s youth while Calvert gets to soak up all of Macdonald’s experience.
“I like hanging with Andy. I skate a lot of vert with him at Tony’s [Hawk]and I always see him in the CATF (California Training Facility) so it’s super cool skating with him and having him in America to skate with.
“It definitely inspires me to start skating better and just to have goals”
Tommy Calvert on his experience in Italy: "That gave me a lot of confidence"
After a breakthrough 20th place finish at the World Skateboarding Park World Championships in Ostia, Rome last October, Calvert now finds himself ranked 33rd and inside the cut that will be made ahead of the Olympic Qualifying Series.
Only the top 44 skaters will progress to the second phase of qualifying, which over a two-part series, will reduce the field again to 22.
With even bigger ranking points on the line at the events taking place in Shanghai and Budapest, the battle to secure Paris 2024 quota spots will be tough, but Calvert says he has taken a lot from his performance in Italy.
“I think that gave me a lot of confidence because I didn’t think I could do that well but I was actually super stoked when I hit the 20th place and I was like, I can really do this now,” he says, remembering the joy of the moment.
“I think my mum was super proud of me. My dad was super proud and my brother was hyped too. And it was cool to kind of go back after and just feel more confident for the next contest.”
That next contest, Dubai, is now here for Calvert who will drop in on Thursday (29 February) in the men’s open qualifier.
While the stakes are certainly high for the Brit who will look to produce another strong performance to secure his place in the next round, he exhibits no signs of falling to pressure.
Not unlike the mountainous towers behind him, Calvet's ambitions are lofty, but so is his passion for his sport.
“I think I’m in a good spot right now but being in the top 44 means a lot.
“I think I’m going to try and get all my tricks in and put them together piece by piece and just get the hardest ones out,” he says before concluding.
“Then everything else will be easier.”