The San Diego Park Skater

If you’re a fan of Braille Skateboarding or skateboarding in general, you’ve probably heard by now that this summer, the 2020 Olympics taking place in Tokyo, Japan, are set to feature skateboarding for the very first time in Olympic history. Obviously, we’re excited and we think that you should be too!

At these upcoming Olympics, we’ll witness 80 of the world’s best skateboarders (40 men, and 40 women) compete for Olympic skateboarding glory. 20 Skaters will compete in each of the 4 divisions; Women’s Street, Men’s Street, Women’s Park, and Men’s Park. 

While many skaters dream of being on the big stage, the journey is almost as fun as the destination. And this journey has not been easy for the skaters. In fact, the final Qualifying Season is still underway! If you don’t know too much about how the qualifying system works, there’s more about that below.

Eve though it’s still Qualifying Season, you can get a rough idea of who’s going to the Olympics in June. Cory Juneau, for instance, has basically landed himself a spot on the Men’s Park Team.

In this blog will shine a light on Cory and his successful professional skateboarding career. We’ll go over some of Cory’s sponsors, notable contest runs, contest results, and more! Be sure to continue reading to learn more about this future skateboarding Olympian.

How Do You Qualify For The Olympics?

The biggest confusion behind the Olympics is picking out the competitors. You’ve probably seen many names, but you’ve already heard that there are only 16 spots. So, how does this work?

Selecting the competitors is based on a point system. These points are earned by skating in specifically sanctioned skateboarding events. There are two qualifying seasons. The first was from January 2019 to September 30, 2019. So this one has already happened.

The second qualifying season is from October 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020. The skater’s best two scores from the first season get added to their best 5 scores from the second season. This will create the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings.

From this ranking, you will get who is eligible to compete in the Olympic Games. Now, part of what determines this is that there are quotas that have to be met for each country and continent. This way you can have an equal balance of skaters from different countries and not only skaters from USA, Japan, and Brazil. 

Okay, now let’s get into the actual skaters of the Olympics! It’s without a doubt one of the biggest achievements for a skater to go on this journey to the Olympics. But, it looks like they’re having a blast, so I think they’re enjoying the journey!

Who is Cory Juneau?

Cory Juneau is a regular-footed professional skateboarder from San Diego, California. He was born on June 20th, 1999, meaning he’s only 20 years old! But he started skating at the young age of 7. He quickly progressed and started skating parks, pools and bowls like a natural.

By 2014, he was already competing in Pro Contests, and was placing quite well in them. Below are a couple of contests he placed in back in 2014:

• 3rd Place Dew Tour Ocean City Bowl
• 11th Place Nike SB Classics Cup Australia
• 7th Place Bowl-a-Rama Bondi Pro
  • 3rd Place Vans Pool Party Pros Division

Suddenly, it became apparent that Cory would go on to skate many more contests and place amongst the top in most them. From there, he kept skating and dialing in his style and progressing as a skater.

Take a look at one of his runs from the Dew Tour Competition back in 2014. Keep in mind, he’s only 15 here!

Cory Juneau in 2020

Cory Juneau is currently a member of the USA Skateboarding National Team. Representing the Men’s Park Division, Cory is ranked #3 in the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings with 88,700 points. Above him in 2nd place is Brazil’s Luis Francisco, and fellow USA skater, Heimana Reynolds.

Some of his sponsors include Vans, Creature, Independent, Bones Bearings, Shake Junt, and Rockstar. While he started skating when he was only 7, he had sponsorships by the age of 13.

Most recently, Cory has been killing it in the Olympic Qualifying Competitions. Below are some of his more recent finishes.

• 1st Place, World Skate Oi STU Open (Brazil)
• 1st Place, Vans Park Series Pro Tour Men’s Finals (France)
• 2nd Place, 2019 Dew Tour (Long Beach)
• 2nd Place 2019 X-Games (Boise)

Take a look at some of his video highlights below. You can really see how he just shreds around the skatepark and does it in style. He is seriously no slouch and his contest runs will blow your mind.

Video Highlights

In Conclusion

As you can see, Juneau knows how to shred the park, especially at such a young age. It’s inspiring to see someone who’s ranked so high in the Qualifying Season who’s only 20 years old. I don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to see what he’s going to bring to the Olympic Stage in Tokyo.

Though most of us will simply be watching the Olympics, Braille Skateboarding knows that some of you dream of competing at the Olympics one day. We can help you achieve that goal! Check out Skateboarding Made Simple in our Online Shop. It’s the most detailed lesson plan for skateboarding in existence, and you will surely improve your skills after watching and studying our SMS tutorials. With 9 different volumes, you’ll go from learning how to ride on a board, to skating skateparks and landing more advanced flatground tricks…FIRST TRY! Now get out there and skate!

Feature Image Credit: Vans Park Series