Aya Asaqas Becomes First African Female Skateboarder to Qualify for Paris Olympics

Marrakech – Aya Asaqas, a 21-year-old Moroccan skateboarder, has made history by becoming the first African female skateboarder to qualify for the Olympic Games.

Asaqas will represent Morocco in the skateboarding competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which begin today.

According to Olympics.com, Asaqas started skateboarding in 2018 as a way to escape and pursue her passion. Her first competition was the Deg Tour in Iowa, USA, where she realized the scale of her sport and the life that awaited her.

Without a coach, Asaqas has prepared for the Olympics almost entirely on her own. She regularly visits several skateparks in Rabat to train, as no single park has all the necessary infrastructure.

Sometimes, she even drives for hours to Agadir, the only place she has found with everything she needs for her ideal training sessions.

In May, Asaqas competed in the Olympic Qualifying Series in Shanghai. Despite being eliminated in the preliminary rounds, she secured a quota spot for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“It was an exceptional experience to be here, to meet all these people from all over the world,” she told Olympics.com.

Asaqas is not only passionate about skateboarding but has also become a true inspiration for women of her generation in North Africa. She is proud to represent her country, Morocco, and the African continent on the Olympic stage.

“Women still have little access to skateboarding,” Asaqas explained to Olympics.com, “and there is also a lack of infrastructure. There are not enough parks, or at least they are not as big as the ones in competitions.”

She believes that competitions are beneficial as they allow skateboarders to practice the sport in larger and often better locations.

Asaqas sees the inclusion of skateboarding in the Olympic program since Tokyo 2020 as an opportunity for the sport to grow. “It gives more opportunities since it’s an Olympic sport,” she said.

“It gives chances to other athletes and allows everyone to come together. I’m not just talking about current generations, but all the ones to come!” Asaqas explained.

The Moroccan skateboarder will make her Olympic debut on August 6, 2024, at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, where she will attempt to shine a spotlight on her sport, her country, and her heritage.