A Nottingham skateboarder will be competing internationally for the chance to take part in the Olympics. Karim Keita, 19, grew up in Sneinton and from January 29 until February 6, 2023 he will be competing in the international Olympic qualifying championship for Senegal in Sharjah (UAE).
Karim is well known in the Nottingham skateboarding community and attended The Iona School in Sneinton before moving to France at the age of nine, and he later lived in Senegal. Karim holds three nationalities and says he loves each of the countries equally.
In 2019, Karim returned to Nottingham to study film and TV at Confetti College. The move back to Nottingham marked a turning point in Karim’s skateboarding practice with the re-opening of Flo Skatepark under a new charitable management team made up of skateboarders.
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He was able to practice daily at the park and improve his skills, while also making friends and teaching young people and beginners as a volunteer. Karim said: "When I moved to France I started surfing and then that's where I started really learning to skate and getting on with skateboarding."
Speaking of his return to Nottingham, he added: "That's when I really sort of just popped out and just started skating everyday. In Nottingham there were a lot of parks at that time."
Professional skateboarders like Alex Hartford and Olympic contenders such as Joe Hinson have been known to visit Flo Skatepark, which has a growing skateboarding community. Karim took part in the Skateboard GB X Habito National Championships in April 2022, which was his first large scale competition.
Following this, Karim was selected to be part of the Senegalese street skate team to compete in the international events and a chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. He competed in the first Olympic qualifying event in Rome in June 2022, where he ranked third for the African continent and 113th on the Olympic world-ranking.
Describing the competition in Rome, Karim said: "It was amazing. For me it was incredible to see all these skaters from different countries, pros and amateurs but all coming to do the same thing and it was lovely to see that.
"The vibe and how it felt to be in a competition was alright as it was around skaters and they all knew what they were doing so it was just lovely." Karim says he is proud to carry the colours of Senegal in competition, as it is not only the country of his father but a chance for him to represent the whole of the African continent, which he feels is usually underrepresented in international and Olympic contests.
Karim is one of 14 athletes selected to be part of the Youth Olympic programme, which will support skateboarders all over the world to compete in qualifying events, including at the championship in Sharjah. To prepare for the challenge, Karim has been training intensely, mainly in France, with a fellow team member and coach to work on his progression in the rankings.
Despite being busy with training and competitions across the globe, Karim has planned to return to Nottingham next month to catch up with his friends in the city.
He said: "I've been skating every week with my coach working on different categories of tricks that we want to put into the competition. We've been doing some cardio to get my skating level going up so I can do enough tricks, as sometimes it can be hard to do a trail of tricks in one go as maybe you're not used to it and by doing it every time you get more used to it and it becomes easier and easier.
"Then in the competition you won't have that worry of not knowing if you'll land it or not, you just know 100% you'll land it. I feel prepared so I'm feeling alright, not stressed, I'm just thinking positive about it.
"It's going to be just like Rome, I'm going to have fun, I'm going to do the tricks I want to do and I'm going to see some really good skaters."
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