World Park Skateboarding Championships in 2023: Preview and stars to watch at the Paris 2024 qualifier 

The road to Paris 2024 will begin for park skateboarders at the 2022 World Park Skateboarding Championships in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, from 5-12 February.

The week-long contest to determine two new world champions will also double-up as an Olympic qualification event with ranking points handed out to skaters based on their results.

The competition will start with a men and women's open qualifier where those that finish in the top 32 will advance to the quarterfinals. There, the skaters that are pre-seeded based on their Olympic World Skate Ranking (OWSR), will join the competition phase.

A quarterfinal and semi-final will then cut down the field until just eight remain for the final which will be streamed live on Olympics.com on Sunday 12 February.

From Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Keegan Palmer to Great Britain's Sky Brown, in attendance at the Aljada skate park there will be no shortage of star power coming in Sharjah.

Here's your complete guide to the event, including schedule and the skateboarders to follow.

• How to qualify for skateboarding at Paris 2024: The Olympics qualification system explained
• Skateboarding park world championships in 2023: Full schedule and how to watch live

World park skateboarding championships: Stars to watch

Men to watch

With all three Tokyo 2020 Olympic medallists in the field in Sharjah, there is plenty of intrigue surrounding the men's park contest and who will excel.

Australian gold medallist Keegan Palmer remains a strong favourite for the title after recovering his winning form late last year.

The 19-year-old returned to competition following the Olympics at Summer X Games with a fourth place finish. He then quickly upgraded to second place at Dew Tour 2022 and then to a first-place finish at STU Open in Rio.

Hot on his wheels will be Olympic silver medal-winner Pedro Barros who will be the hope of Brazil following the news that 2022 X Games runner-up Luiz Francisco will be missing the competition due to injury. But Barros won't be the only Brazilian worth keeping an eye out for. Fourteen-year-old world-record holder Gui Khury will be in the mix after deciding to make the transition from vert to park for the contest.

The United States will have plenty of skin in the game when it comes to medals.

Among their hopefuls is Tokyo 2020 street bronze medallist Jagger Eaton, who is once more attempting to qualify for both park and street for Paris 2024. He will face stiff competition from his countrymen Gavin Bottger, Liam Pace and Tate Carew, who all possess winning credentials in park's biggest contests.

Other stars on the radar are Japanese double-threat Ayumu Hirano and Australia's Kieran Woolley.

24-year-old Hirano will be touching down in the UAE fresh from having secured sixth at 2023 X Games Aspen in snowboard half-pipe while Woolley will be looking to back up a breakthrough 2022.

Women to watch

Since winning medals at Tokyo 2020, Yosozumi Sakura, Hiraki Kokona and Sky Brown have remained dominant forces on the women's park competition scene.

Brown in particular has come into her own, taking back-to-back titles at last year's major competitions including Summer X Games, Dew Tour and the STU Open in Rio.

Stopping the trio from ascending the podium again be the task before the rest of the competitiors lining up to drop in at Aljada, but there is plenty of talent around to do it.

National champion and Tokyo 2020 finalist Bryce Wettstein and STU Rio Open third-place runner-up Minna Stess will be among those from Team USA hoping to make an attempt while Brazil will be hoping their Olympic skateboard finalists Dora Varella and Yndiara Asp can make an impact.

Park skateboarding world championships 2023 schedule in full

Schedule subject to updates, all times are in Gulf Standard Time (UTC +4).

Sunday 5 February

• Open practice sessions, men and women - 09:00 – 20:35

Monday 6 February

• Open practice sessions, men and women - 09:00 – 20:35

Tuesday 7 February

• Open practice sessions, men and women - 09:00 – 20:35
• Pre-seeded skaters practice – 20:40- 22:15

Wednesday 8 February

• Women open qualifier - 09:00 – 17:55
• Pre-seeded skaters practice – 18:00 – 19:35

Thursday 9 February

• Men open qualifier - 09:00 – 20:55
• Pre-seeded skaters practice – 21:00 – 22:35

Friday 10 February

• Women quarterfinals - 10:40 - 14:55
• Men quarterfinals – 16:40 – 20:55

Saturday 11 February

• Women semi-finals - 15:00 - 17:45
• Men semi-finals - 18:30 - 21:15
• Sunday 12 February
• Women finals – 17:10 - 17:55
• Men finals - 18:25 - 19:10
• Awards ceremony - 19:40 - 20:10

What is the seeding structure and who are the top five pre-seeded park skateboarders?

The top five ranked athletes in the OWSR as of 15 December 2022 will skip the Open Qualifier and will be pre-seeded directly into the quarter-final.

Skaters ranked 6th to 30th will be seeded to the Open Qualifier. 

Women 

1. Misugu Okamoto (JPN)*

2. Yosozumi Sakura (JPN)

3. Sky Brown (GBR)

4. Poppy Starr Olsen (AUS)

5. Lizzie Armanto (FIN)*

6. Hiraki Kokona (JPN)

*Not competing

Men

1. Heimana Reynolds (USA)

2. Cory Juneau (USA)

3. Luiz Francisco (BRA)*

4. Pedro Barros (BRA)

5. Zion Wright (USA)*

6. Keegan Palmer (AUS)

*Not competing

Park skateboarding World championships in 2023: Competition scoring and seeding

• Open Qualifier: two runs of 45 seconds - best run counts

Top 32 athletes per gender advance to the quarterfinal

• Quarterfinal – two runs of 45 seconds – best run counts

Top 16 athletes per gender advance to the semi-final

• Semi-final – three runs of 45 seconds – best run counts

Top eight athletes per gender advance to the final

• Final – three runs of 45 seconds – best run counts

How to watch park skateboarding world championships in 2023 live

Coverage of world park skateboarding championships will begin with the semi-finals on Saturday 11 February and will be available to stream live on the Olympic Channel via Olympics.com without any geo-restrictions.

You can find all the latest on your favourite skateboarders including news, interviews and updates from Sharjah, on Olympics.com.