The athlete, who represented Brazil at Tokyo-2020, recognizes that the sport is becoming more and more professional, but believes that the level of dedication is
Should skate tournaments be competitive or just a “session” of sport? The debate on this subject is old and reignites with each major championship that begins, but there is no unanimous answer. Giovanni Vianna, who participated in Tokyo-2020, is among those who believe that there are positives on both sides, but considers the modality as a differentiator that no other has.
For him, it is not necessary to have a strictly professional routine, with a lot of repetitions, to shine in sport, each in his own way. The pressure increases when the sponsors, media commitments and all the other aspects that have allowed skateboarding to reach the level of an Olympic sport arrive.
“It has become a profession,” analyzed Giovanni in an exclusive interview with Earth. “I think all the modalities, once they see something that you have to do, it ends up becoming a job.” But it’s not a job like all the others. “If you have a schedule… it doesn’t exist,” emphasized the athlete.
“Personally, I only train physically, but I’ve never trained for skateboarding. For me, it’s a skate session, it’s a day when I go out for a walk. I don’t go out thinking: ‘ah, I have to do this maneuver, this line ten times’. No, it’s something I only do in the championship,” explained the skater. In short, enjoying sport is what makes you better.
Giovanni stressed, however, that this is not a rule, even with these nuances of skateboarding, and that it changes for each practitioner. “There are people who take it more professionally. They take a few days in advance and practice everything they are going to do,” he said, believing that in the end the most decisive factor ends up being psychological.
“The mental work will end up changing a lot, because the pressure is coming, the sponsors, everything that puts us forward. So the psychological side of skateboarding will change a lot, which has always been something of ‘fuck you’. This, really, will go even further”, concluded the representative of street country skateboarding.
Giovanni Vianna is one of the Brazilians participating in the Super Crown 2025, organized at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera, in São Paulo, on December 6 and 7. In addition to him, other names in the sport like Rayssa Leal and Filipe Mota will also move the championship.
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