Asian Geographic - 08.2018

left Kov practises

skate tricks after work

at Factor y Phnom Penh,

a creative hub that

houses Cambodia’s

first public skate park

below South Korea’s

Hyo Sook Woo in the

lead during the Roller

Sports Women’s

10,000m Race at the

2010 Guangzhou

Asian Games

roller skating

There are two types of

roller blades, quads

(four wheels on either

side of the boot) and

inline skates (four

wheels down the

middle of the sole of

the boot)

Events include speed

skating, roller derbies

and aggressive skating.

Races range from

500-metre sprints to

full marathons

Athletes race counter-

clockwise, and cannot

push or obstruct other

competitors

PHOTO © RICHARD HEATHCOTE/GETTY IMAGES

With roller sports making their debut at the

Olympics, the Olympic Committee of Asia has

decided to include the discipline in the 2018

Asiad, a move some speculate will help Asian

countries identify and groom potential Tokyo

2020 candidates. There are two divisions

in the discipline: skateboarding and roller

skating, and August’s competitions will see

just one event for the latter: speed skating.

Athletes will skate for 20 kilometres, doing

52 laps on a 380-metre race circuit. For the

former, there will be two events: street and

park skateboarding, with each athlete given 45

seconds per round to execute their tricks.

Kov’s story has inspired a new generation

of young women to take up the sport, with

female crews slowly filling up the capital’s few

skateboarding areas over the past three years.

“Before I started, I didn’t know what

skateboarding was – and I didn’t see people

doing it, especially girls,” says Kov. “When we

compare the past to now, it’s totally different,

because female participation has increased. I

see more and more girls [skating] now.”

The influential 26-year-old skateboarder

picked up the sport just six years ago, after her

interest in the sport led her to take free lessons

at Skateistan. There, she observed how the

boys in the class looked down on girls’ abilities

to perform tricks.

“I wanted to change their mind!” she

says. “I tried to put myself deeper into

skateboarding, to practise it and learn it,

because I wanted to show them girls

could do anything they could – and do it

better.” Today, she regularly beats the boys

at games of S.K.A.T.E. (a trick contest

between two skateboarders), and has even

skated with American personalities Tony

Hawk, Mimi Knoop and Neftalie Williams.

At work, she acts as a role model for

Skateistan’s students, especially girls – who

comprise half the student body. Many

come from low-income families or live

with disabilities.

“Phnom Penh is a small city with a lot

of people and many street kids. It remains

one of the poorest countries in Asia,”

Kov says. “Skating helped me to get far

away from bad situations. I have a lot of

friends through it. And I’m going to use

it as a tool to empower the world.”

ROLLER SPORTS AT THE GAMES