World Skateboarding Tour: Dubai Park 2024 - Preview, schedule, and how to watch the action live
Discover what you need to know about the World Skateboarding Tour Paris 2024 qualifier taking place at the Dubai Harbour from 25 February to 3 March. Livestream coverage of WST: Dubai Park 2024 will be available to watch on the Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices.
Skateboarding
Park skateboarders from around the world are descending on the picturesque Dubai Habour to compete in the World Skateboarding Tour’s Dubai Park 2024 event from 25 February to 3 March.
The World Skateboarding Tour (WST) forms a key part of the ‘Road to Paris’ for park and street skateboarders looking to compete at the Olympic Games and WST Dubai Park 2024 stop will mark a critical stage on that journey.
The event will be the last chance for skaters to accrue points towards their Olympic World Skate Ranking (OWSR) before a cut is made - using those rankings - ahead of the second phase of qualification, the Olympic Qualifying Series (OQS).
The OQS is a two-part competition series taking place in Shanghai (16-19 May) and Budapest (20-23 June) and determine the final fields for Paris 2024.
The 44 highest-placed eligible athletes per gender in the OWSR after Dubai will be invited to the OQS respecting the following principles:
- No more than six athletes per country per gender per event (respecting the order of the OWSR)
- At least one highest-placed athlete from each continent for the representation of all continents
- At least one highest-placed athlete who is a national of the Olympic Games 2024 host country France
- At least one highest-placed eligible athlete who is a national of the OQS host country, (People’s Republic of China and Hungary)
- At least one Universality places eligible athletes
The stakes, therefore, going into Dubai are high with spots in the next stage of qualification on the line.
Read on to find out more about the schedule, which skaters to watch and how you can see all the action live.
WST Dubai Park 2024: Schedule in full
Schedule is subject to change.
Sunday 25 February
- Women’s and men’s practices
Monday 26 February
- Women’s and men’s practices
Tuesday 27 February
- Women’s and men’s practices
- Pre-seeded women’s and men’s practices
Wednesday 28th February
- Women’s Open Qualifier
- Pre-seeded women’s and men’s practices
Thursday 29th February
- Men’s Open Qualifier Heats 1, 2, 3, 4
- Pre-seeded women’s and men’s practices
- Men’s Open Qualifier Heats 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10
Friday 1 March
- Women’s Quarter-final practices
- Women’s Quarter-final
- Men’s Quarter-final practices
- Men’s Quarter-final
Saturday 2 March
- Women’s Semi-final practices
- Men’s Semi-final practices
- Women’s Semi-final
- Men’s Semi-final
Sunday 3 March
- Women’s Final practice
- Men’s Final practice
- Women’s Final
- Men’s Final
WST Dubai Park 2024: Newly minted world champions Gavin Bottger and Hiraki Kokona lead the way; no Sky Brown
With OQS spots on the line and Paris 2024 in the wings, Dubai will be a crucial junction for all hungry park skateboarders looking to make a statement and gain valuable OWSR points.
Among those set to lead the charge at Dubai Harbour will be the newly crowned champions Hiraki Cocona and Gavin Bottger.
Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Cocona has been a sure but steady force in the women’s park event ever since the road to Paris began, and the Japanese will be the favourite to top the podium again in the UAE not least with Sky Brown opting out of the contest to pursue a quota spot for Great Britain at the ISA World Surfing Games 2024 in Puerto Rico.
The 15-year-old, though dominant, won’t be the only skater looking for the top prize. Fellow teen and world runner-up Hinano Kusaki will also be in the hunt along with United States’ Minna Stess, Brazil’s Raicca Ventura, Olympic champion Yosozumi Sakura and Australian young gun Ruby Trew.
If the World Championships in Rome were anything to go by the men’s competition in Dubai will deliver something as equally as special.
On an electric evening on the Roman coast, 16-year-old Bottger clinched gold ahead of Brazil’s Luigi Cini and fellow friend and countryman Tate Carew in the World Championship final. That tussle for the top looks set to continue with Bottger and Carew both due to go to Dubai while Cini looks set to miss out due to injury.
Among those certain to try and muscle in on that battle will be Tokyo 2020 Olympic medallists Keegan Palmer, Jagger Eaton and Pedro Barros who all missed out back in Rome.
It'll be two contests not to miss.
WST Dubai Park 2024: Pre-seeded skaters
The top five seeded skaters in the OWSR will skip the qualifiers and join the contest in the quarter-final phase.
Men
- Jagger Eaton (USA) - not competing
- Augusto Akio (BRA)
- Tate Carew (USA)
- Gavin Bottger (USA)
- Luigi Cini (BRA) - not competing
Women
- Hiraki Cocona (JPN)
- Kusaki Hinano (JPN)
- Sky Brown (GBR) - not competing
- Raicca Ventura (BRA)
- Minna Stess (USA)
How to watch WST Dubai Park 2024 live on Olympics.com
Livestream coverage of WST Dubai Park 2024 will be available to watch worldwide on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and will begin with the semi-finals on Saturday 2 March and include the finals on Sunday 3 March.
You can find all the latest on your favourite skateboarders including news, interviews and updates from Dubai on Olympics.com and the apps for mobile and connected TV devices.