O’Neill and fellow Australian Hayley Wilson missed their respective Street finals but the impact of their Olympic debuts will inspire future generations to follow in their footsteps. 

Both created history as the first to compete for Australia in skateboarding at an Olympics Games and O’Neill now his sights set on helping others start their own skateboarding journey. 

“Having skateboarding in the Olympics introduces it to whole lot of new eyes and it also kind of might change a few people’s perspective on what skateboarding is and who skateboarders are,” O’Neill said. 

“From there hopefully it will encourage skaters to go to their local skate shops and really start to learn about our culture and what goes on within skateboarding.  

“Competitive skateboarding is just one side of skating, there’s a whole other just general living and it’s such an amazing thing to be a skater. You travel the world and meet new friends and it’s a really positive thing for youth.”   

While O’Neill may not be as well-known in Australia as others in the Olympic team, in the world and culture of street skateboarding he is an icon. 

The former world champion has his own signature shoe with Nike and his own company, April Skateboards. 

He boasts the biggest Instagram following of anyone on the Australian Olympic team, which is not surprising when you are hanging out and posting pics with the likes of Tony Hawk. Or when the inaugural Street gold medal winner, in this case Japanese star Yuto Horigome, wears your signature shoe and rides one of your skateboards. 

After carving out such a hugely successful career in the USA, the former World Champion revelled in the experience of representing Australia for the first time in Tokyo. He now has his sights set on Paris 2024 ... and, for a different reason, Brisbane 2032. 

“Having it in Brisbane is going to be awesome,” said O’Neill. 

“I just have to do my part to try and help the Aussie skaters get there, to do what I can do, to give the intel to the younger skaters who may be interested in doing stuff like this and try and help them and give them the tools to be able to do it. 

“It’s really a big game when it comes to competitive skateboarding, you’ve just got to really understand what’s going on.” 

His advice for those that wish to start is simple. 

“Try and grab a board, a second-hand board, whatever you can. I know it’s not always easy to access a brand new skateboard, but hopefully you can go into a skate shop and get a second-hand board, try and roll around and stick with it,” he said. 

“I know it’s hard in the beginning because it’s not as easy as getting on a bike or a scooter, and just like pedalling or pushing, it’s a lot harder to navigate the streets and just skate around when you first start. Just enjoy it, watch videos, there’s a whole world of skateboarding you can dive into to really teach you and start learning. 

“I’d like to try and help the next wave because as of now it was just me in this contest, just one, Hayley was just one, there’s a couple in the Park (competition next week), but it would be good to have more Aussies skating at the Olympics.” 

David Taylor