The noise of board wheels on hard surfaces once signaled the encroachment of marginality into urban spaces. This was the perception of skateboarding in Brazil when it first arrived in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1960s.
The Brazilian Skateboarding Confederation (CBSK) states that the sport, then called ‘surfinho,’ was inspired by surfing. Brazilians traveling to California brought back the idea of maneuvers on land. The first skateboards in Rio were crafted using roller-skate axles, wheels, and any wood at hand, with the same improvisation that characterized the skaters themselves.
Today, in 2024, skateboarding has conquered the streets of Paris, with Brazil sending 24 athletes to the Olympics. It is ironic that the country with the largest skateboarding contingent at the 2024 Paris Olympics once prohibited the sport.
Historian Leonardo Brandão, from the Regional University of Blumenau, explores this past in his article “From Jânio Quadros to Luiza Erundina: A history of the prohibition and encouragement of skateboarding in the city of São Paulo.”
On May 19, 1988, São Paulo Mayor Jânio Quadros decreed an irrevocable ban on the activity in the Ibirapuera Park, previously a main gathering point for young skaters.
Resistance quickly emerged. On June 23, 1988, skaters marched from Paraíso Metro Station to Ibirapuera with a petition of over 6,000 signatures, seeking a skateboarding area. The police, under Mr. Quadros’s orders, halted the march before it reached City Hall.
In the 1980s, skaters aligned with the punk movement were seen as natural transgressors who needed controlling. The day after the protest, Mr. Quadros banned skateboarding on the streets of São Paulo and signed a law mandating that anyone caught engaging in the activity would have their board confiscated by authorities.
This law would not live much. In November 1988, Luiza Erundina, then of the Workers’ Party, won the mayoral election and, within two months, overturned the ban, proposing the creation of skateboarding trails, earning the gratitude of “surfinho” enthusiasts.
Skateboarding, once seen as an instrument of lawless youth, began to gain respect and recognition, as evidenced by its inclusion in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. A 2015 Datafolha survey reveals changes in the sport, with teens and women being the most significant cohorts.
Brazilian icons like Rayssa Leal and Kelvin Hoefler have since emerged. Leal, the youngest medalist in Olympic history, won silver in Tokyo 2021 and bronze in Paris 2024. The noise of skateboard wheels on hard surfaces now signals new conquests for Brazilian sport.
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