Quick answer: The World Skateboarding Tour (WST) is World Skate's official open contest series for street and park skateboarding. Results at WST World Championships and World Cups earn points in the World Skateboarding Ranking (WSR), and that ranking is the only pathway to skateboarding at the Olympic Games. For LA28, qualification runs from 11 June 2026 to 11 June 2028.
The next stop is WST Utsunomiya Street 2026 in Tochigi, Japan, from 16 to 23 November, a World Cup that counts towards the Road to LA28. Here is how the tour works, how the ranking adds up and how skaters move from an open contest to the Olympics.
What is the World Skateboarding Tour?
World Skate is the international federation recognised by the IOC as the governing body of skateboarding. The WST is its travelling contest series. World Skate describes it as an open series: skaters from anywhere in the world can be entered through their national federation and move up on merit, with the goal of becoming annual World Champion or reaching the Olympics.
The tour covers the two Olympic disciplines:
- Street: courses built from stairs, rails, ledges and banks.
- Park: bowls and transitions with curved walls and coping.
Not sure how these differ? Our guide to the types of skateboarding explains street, park, vert and downhill side by side.
WST event tiers: World Championships and World Cups
WST events come in tiers, and bigger events award more ranking points. For Olympic qualification, the ranking counts World Championships, World Cups and, near the end of the cycle, the Olympic Qualifier Series. World Skate has also added a Challenger tier across its sports to give more athletes experience at sanctioned events.
The 2026 WST events sanctioned for LA28 qualification, as listed by World Skate:
- WST World Cup Rome, Park: 1–14 June 2026
- WST World Cup Rome, Street: 14–21 June 2026
- WST World Championship 2026, Park: 3–10 October 2026 (at the World Skate Games in Paraguay)
- WST World Championship 2026, Street: 11–18 October 2026 (at the World Skate Games in Paraguay)
- WST World Cup Utsunomiya, Street: 16–23 November 2026
How a WST contest works
A WST event usually runs over about a week. Skaters get practice sessions on the course first, then work through qualifying rounds before the semi-finals and finals. For Utsunomiya, the event bulletin lists practice days from 16 November, with competition running through to 23 November (the schedule can change).
The scoring formats match the Olympics. According to World Skate's LA28 information, street combines the best 45-second run and the highest-scoring single-trick attempt, each scored out of 100, for a possible 200 points. Park is decided by the highest-scoring 45-second run.
What is the World Skateboarding Ranking?
The World Skateboarding Ranking (WSR) is the leader board of the World Skateboarding Tour. It is a cumulative points ranking for street and park, kept separately for men and women.
- Points come from results at World Skate-sanctioned events: World Championships, World Cups and the Olympic Qualifier Series.
- It rolls. World Skate's LA28 schedule says the ranking takes the best results from the previous 18 months of WST events, which rewards consistency and lets new skaters climb.
- It updates often. The WSR is issued on the first day of each month and within 72 hours of each competition finishing.
- It affects entry. For WST events, each national team can register up to three skaters, and up to six more per nation can earn entry by being in the WSR top 30 sixty days before the event.
How skaters qualify for the Olympics (Road to LA28)
For the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, World Skate and the IOC use a two-phase system:
- Phase 1 (11 June 2026 to 31 March 2028): the World Skateboarding Tour. National federations enter skaters within the quotas in each event bulletin, and everyone builds WSR points. WST World Cup Rome was the official start.
- Phase 2 (31 March to 11 June 2028): the top 44 skaters in each discipline and gender move on, with a maximum of six per country. They start Phase 2 with a points baseline based on where they finished Phase 1, then compete in the final qualifying events.
- Selection (11 June 2028): Olympic places are given by name from the WSR of 11 June 2028.
Each of the four Olympic events (men's and women's street and park) has 22 skaters: 20 through the ranking, one host-country place for the USA if no American has already qualified, and one universality place. Within the ranking places there is a maximum of three skaters per country, and each of the five continents is guaranteed at least one skater per event. At LA28, street is scheduled for 18–20 July 2028 and park for 25–27 July 2028.
Who can enter a WST event?
Skaters don't sign up on their own. They are registered by their national federation, which is a member of World Skate. In South Africa that is Roller Sport South Africa. If you are curious about the competitive pathway where you live, your national federation is the place to start.
Every skater on the tour started with the same foundations: a comfortable stance, solid pushing and stopping, a good warm-up and plenty of sessions at the local park, following skatepark etiquette. Watching the tour is a great way to see where those basics can lead.
How to follow WST Utsunomiya
Event information, bulletins and official results are published by World Skate. World Skate has streamed WST events on its YouTube channel and through broadcast partners; check the official event page for this event's details. While you watch, look at how skaters use the whole course in their runs and how they pick their single tricks. And remember that every result now feeds the ranking on the Road to LA28.
Skate Your World
The World Skateboarding Tour is where the best street and park skaters on the planet meet, but every one of them started with a board, a local spot and a lot of practice. Get out, find your next spot with BUTR Spots, earn XP towards store rewards in the BUTR app and keep building your own skating. Skate Your World.
Will you be watching WST Utsunomiya this month? Tell us in the comments which skater or which part of the contest you are most looking forward to.
