Skateboarding returns for the Paris Olympics and will once again be divided into two separate disciplines: street and park. Each discipline will have a men's contest and a women's contest.

How is street skateboarding different than park skateboarding at the Olympics?

Street and park contests take place on two different courses and require different skillsets.

Street courses are designed to replicate the types of features skaters might find when they're riding around an urban environment. Stairs, rails and ledges are some of the obstacles commonly seen on these courses. Landing tricks on these obstacles typically requires a high degree of precision and technical ability. 

Park courses primarily consist of a bowl-shaped design but can also include other elements, such as rails, that allow skaters to add variety to their runs. Focus is placed on finding lines through the course that enable riders to build speed and get more height on their tricks.

Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about street skateboarding at the Olympics are below.

When are the skateboard street contests at the 2024 Olympics?

The men's skateboard street contest will take place on Day 1 of the Paris Olympics (Saturday, July 27) and the women's contest will take place the following day.

How is the competition format structured for Olympic street skateboarding?

Each competition starts with 22 skaters and includes two rounds of competition: a preliminary round and a final round. Both rounds will take place on the same day.

How does the preliminary round work in Olympic street skateboarding?

Each skater will be able to take two 45-second runs and attempt five tricks. Only the skater's best run and two best tricks will count toward their overall score. The top eight skaters will advance to the final round.

How does the final work in Olympic street skateboarding?

Each skater will be able to take two 45-second runs and attempt five tricks. Only the skater's best run and two best tricks will count toward their overall score. Scores from the preliminary round do not carry over to the final. The athlete with the highest overall score will be the winner.

How does the scoring work in Olympic street skateboarding?

Each run and each trick will be scored on a scale of 0-100 points based on overall impression, taking into account the difficulty, execution and variety of the skater's tricks. Because one run and two tricks are used to calculate each skater's overall score, the maximum overall score any athlete can earn is 300 points.

During the trick phase of the competition, skaters can choose to have a trick scrubbed if they wish to improve upon it. This gives them a zero for the previous trick attempt and allows them to repeat the same trick with being penalized for it.

In the event of a tie between two skaters, the athlete with the highest run score will be ranked higher. If still tied, the athlete with the highest-scoring single trick will be ranked higher.

Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about park skateboarding at the Olympics are below.

When are the skateboard park contests at the 2024 Olympics?

The women's skateboard park contest will take place on Tuesday, August 6 and the men's contest will take place the following day.

How is the competition format structured for Olympic park skateboarding?

Each competition starts with 22 skaters and includes two rounds of competition: a preliminary round and a final round. Both rounds will take place on the same day.

How does the preliminary round work in Olympic park skateboarding?

Each skater will take three 45-second runs. Skaters will be ranked according to their highest-scoring single run, and the top eight will advance to the final round.

How does the final work in Olympic park skateboarding?

Each skater will take three 45-second runs. Skaters will be ranked according to their highest-scoring single run. Scores from the preliminary round do not carry over to the final.

How does the scoring work in Olympic park skateboarding?

Each run will be scored on a scale of 0-100 points based on overall impression, taking into account the height, difficulty and variety of the skater's tricks, as well as the skater's speed and flow through the course.

Scoring for each run will be done by five judges. The highest and lowest scores will be dropped, and the three remaining scores will be averaged together to get the final score.

In the event of a tie between two skaters, the athlete with the better second-highest scoring run will be ranked higher.