The rise of snowboarding to the level of an Olympic sport has certainly taken many in the athletic establishment by surprise. Snowboarding is a relatively new sport and it is one that is firmly entrenched in the realm of “x Games.” X Games are certainly challenging. They reflect the high risk nature of flashy sports that attract youthful enthusiasts. The eventual acceptance of snowboarding as an Olympic sport does show that the athletic world has changed and that traditionalists have become – or are required to become – more accepting of less traditional competitive endeavors.

Snowboarding became an Olympic sport for the very first time at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. At the time, the media was not completely sure how to present snowboarding during the broadcasts. The daredevil and somewhat underground nature of the sport was lost on many announcers. They were not familiar with the “new” sport even thought it had been around since 1965. Snowboarding was developed as an alternative to skiing and its popularity would grow slowly over the years. Eventually, it would become a well respected competitive winter sport.

At the original 1998 Games, snowboarding was presented in two competitions: the halfpipe and the giant slalom. Today, there are six full events with the additional four being the slalom, the parallel slalom, snowboardercross, and the super giant slalom. All of these events bring a great deal of excitement to audiences. One could argue that the inclusion of snowboarding as an Olympic game has allowed the events to tap into another audience segment that had previously not maintained much interest in the Winter Games.

One reason why some find it surprising that snowboarding is part of the Winter Olympic Games is because they assume the sport is solely a daredevil flashy one. In other words, they believe snowboarding is mostly a stunt show and does not reflect a competitive sport. Such an assessment is thoroughly wrong as snowboarding competitions have been around for quite some time.

The path to snowboarding’s inclusion in the Olympics has its roots in the early competitions presenting the sport.

1979 saw the very first World Snurfing Championship. The oddball name was not one that would help the sport become taken seriously. Subsequent major events would correct this. While the fun was definitely not taken out of the equation, the games would present a more serious tone in terms of the competitive nature associated with them.

1982 saw the very first major snowboard race championship and 1983 saw the first major national recognized halfpipe competition. 1985 saw the very first World Cup of Snowboarding which can be considered among its most prestigious events. The competitive world of snowboarding was certainly on fire and the serious nature of the sport began to capture the eyes of Olympic officials.

Today, snowboarding remains one of the most anticipated events of all the Winter Games. Arguably, you could say that its popularity has even surpassed skiing. For some, this assessment would be an accurate one.