Where to Watch: Olympic Qualifier Series - Part 2

No path to the Olympic Games is ever the same, but this year there is an extra event for 464 athletes looking to qualify for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) is a two-part event that decides Olympic qualification for athletes in the sports of breaking, BMX freestyle, sport climbing and skateboarding. Over four days, 464 athletes will take part in the competition to secure as many points as possible.

Athletes in breaking, BMX freestyle and sport climbing will enter the event with a maximum of 50 points that were obtained at OQS Part 1 back in May in Shanghai, and will look to get as close to 50 points again during this competition.

Skateboarding will have this event count towards ⅓ of their total points, with the other third being made up of OQS Part 1 and their Olympic World Skate Ranking points from the past two years. At the end of this event, the points will be combined and the top points getters from all four sports will automatically qualify for the Games.

Although no athlete could directly qualify at OQS Shanghai, it was clear that certain members of Team USA were pulling away from the pack. Skateboarder Jagger Eaton set the standard by competing in park and street disciplines, winning Gold in street and Bronze in Park. He is now World #2 in Street and Park. Eaton was not the only Team USA skateboarder to hit the podium. 18-year-old Tate Carew secured his Gold in the park competition. His total points and World #1 ranking, make him impossible to catch going into the Games. Rounding out the Top 3 Park skaters in the world is Gavin Bottger with 235,947 points. On the men's street side of things, Chris Joslin won Bronze, catapulting him into the top 8 and improving his standing by 10 places. Nyjah Huston also made the finals and is sitting at World 3. In the women's side of the competition, Poe Pinson made her convincing return to the scene, falling just short of the podium, she increased her world standing by 15 places. Still within the World's Top 20 are Mariah Duran and Paige Heyn.

On the BMX, Breaking and Sport Climbing side of the competition, athletes recieved their first scores out of 50 in Shanghai. Olympic silver medalist Hannah Roberts narrowly missed the podium in forth place, with teammate Perris Benegas coming in right behind. Tokyo Olympian Brooke Raboutou obtainied the maximum score of 50 points, cementing herself at the front-runner for Team USA. In the sport of breaking the race for the final mens spot is seperated by just a single point with B-boy Jeffro securing 35 points and B-boy Gravity securing 34 points.

Team USA is sending a delegation of 42 athletes to the OQS. The returning Olympic sports are headlined by Nyjah Huston, Jagger Eaton, Brooke Raboutou and Hannah Roberts. Both Huston and Eaton are entering the competition ranked second in the world in their disciplines, respectively. Eaton has given himself the extra challenge of attempting to become the first-ever Olympian to compete in both street and park skateboarding at an Olympic Games.

USA Climbing has already qualified six athletes for Paris, as Brooke Raboutou will look to become the seventh after narrowly missing out on previous qualifying opportunities. As the reigning Pan American and world champion, Hannah Roberts has been dominating the competition since her silver medal at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. A clear favorite in the field, Roberts will look to extend her points lead over the competition to lock up the world No. 1 ranking ahead of Paris.

A newcomer to the Olympic scene in Paris is the sport of breaking. Also known as breakdancing, each country can send a maximum of two female and two male athletes to the Olympic Games. Victor Montalvo became the first breaker in history to qualify for the Olympic Games after winning the 2023 WDSF World Breaking Championship. Sunny Choi became the first U.S. female breaker to qualify for Paris at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. At the OQS, four athletes will compete to qualify for the last quota for their respective genders.

At the Tokyo Olympics, skateboarding had the youngest athletes in the competition. The average age of the women’s skateboarding medalists was just 14. This year, history may repeat itself as the female skateboarders of Team USA have an average age of just 20. The youngest athlete in the competition for Team USA is 14-year-old women's park skater Lillian Erickson of Hau'ula, Hawaii. On the men’s side, 18-year-old Tate Carew has already mathematically secured his spot to Paris through OQS phase 1. 17-year-old Gavin Bottger is entering the competition as the world No. 3 and will look to become the second teenager on the men’s park team in Paris.

Unlike most countries who are competing for quotas against other countries, Team USA is in a unique situation where they have more athletes in the field of play than available quota spots. Only Brazil has more athletes at the OQS, as they have yet to qualify as many athletes as Team USA.

In the men’s park skateboarding discipline, the U.S. made up 10 of the top 25 athletes before the OQS. As only six athletes per country were allowed to enter each discipline, the pool became even closer, and now Team USA has four athletes in the top seven, each looking for one of three coveted spots. A similar situation is brewing in the sport of breaking. As Team USA has already qualified one male and one female athlete to the Games, the American breakers at the OQS have one goal: outscore their teammate.

With four sports, countless qualification opportunities and a deep field of athletes, the OQS is sure to provide fans with an entertaining competition and a sneak peek into what they can expect at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Out of the 42 Team USA athletes competing, 21 will hope to qualify by the end of the event, making it one of the largest and final single qualification opportunities for Team USA before the Olympic Games. Fans can watch the competition live on Olympics.com

Breaking

• Jeffrey Louis (B-boy Jeffro)
• Logan Edra (B-girl Logistx)
• Miguel Rosario (B-boy Gravity)
• Vicki Chang (B-girl Vicki)

BMX Freestlye

• Hannah Roberts
• Perris Benegas
• Angie Marino
• Nick Bruce
• Marcus Christopher
• Justin Dowell

Skateboarding (Park)

• Minna Stess
• Bryce Wettstein
• Lillian Erickson
• Ruby Lilley
• Grace Marhoefer
• Jordyn Barratt
• Gavin Bottger
• Tate Carew
• Tom Schaar
• Taylor Nye
• Liam Pace
• Jagger Eaton

Skateboarding (Street)

• Nyjah Huston
• Jagger Eaton
• Chris Joslin
• Alex Midler
• Braden Hoban
• Jake Illardi
• Paige Heyn
• Mariah Duran
• Poe Pinson
• Meagan Guy

Sport Climbing

• Brooke Raboutou
• Kyra Condie
• John Brosler
• Zach Hammer
• Noat Bratschi
• Anastasia Sanders
• Kylie Cullen