Six skateboarders from Team USA to watch at the WST: Rome Park 2023 World Championships
by Kristen Gowdy
The WST: Rome Park 2023 World Championships kick off this week in Italy, and skateboarders from Team USA will be vying for valuable points as they look to qualify for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. World championship competition in Rome runs Oct. 4-8, and 23 skaters will represent the United States.
With just under a year before next summer’s Olympic Games, here are six athletes to watch at the competition:
The 2020 Olympic bronze medalist in men’s street, the 22-year-old has since become the first skateboarder to win world titles in both street and park events. Seven months ago, Eaton won the men’s final at the 2022 Skateboarding Park World Championships. He will look to defend his title this weekend and is one of the event favorites.
Wettstein is the top-ranked American on the women’s side, coming in at seventh overall in the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings (OWSR) for park. The 19-year-old Olympian finished sixth in Tokyo and is seeking her first career world championship title. She placed fifth at the 2022 park world championships.
In addition to being one of the recipients of the Tokyo 2020 Fair Play Award and the nation’s top-ranked skater in women’s park, Wettstein is also a talented ukulele player.
A silver medal at the World Skateboarding Tour Stop San Juan Park 2023 has given the 24-year-old Schaar the momentum he needed heading into the 2023 park world championships. It also propelled him to third overall in the men’s OWSR park rankings and cemented him as a medal favorite for the U.S. in Rome.
The youngest athlete to ever win an X Games gold medal at age 12, Schaar is seeking his first Olympic berth next summer.
After a strong seventh-place result at the 2022 park world championships, Stess is back for more in 2023 as Team USA’s second-ranked female park skateboarder. The 17-year-old is currently ranked 10th overall in OWSR points.
An alternate for the Tokyo Olympic team, Stess recently sat down with Olympics.com, where she discussed what it would mean for her to get to Paris.
Another member of a stacked men’s park field for the U.S. is the 18-year-old Carew, who has impressed recently with a fourth-place finish at the World Skateboarding Tour Stop San Juan 2023. Carew is currently ranked fourth in the world, rounding out the three Americans in the top-four worldwide in men’s park.
Carew recently appeared on Team USA’s “Top Teens to Watch Ahead of Paris 2024” list as he looks to qualify for his first Olympic Games.
The 12th-ranked women’s park athlete by OWSR points, Marhoefer is coming off of an eighth-place finish at the 2022 world championships. After a series of knee injuries, Marhoefer is looking to qualify for her first Olympic Games in Paris, a goal she called “a childhood dream.”
In 2023, the 20-year-old also secured a bronze medal at X Games California.
Results from world championship competition can be found here. The competition will be available to watch worldwide on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and will begin with the semi-finals on Oct. 7.