He said his work involved “nurturing young, up-and-coming talent” in the sport, and hoped the announcement would help further grow the sport.
“The Olympics has already had that effect, we’ve seen a massive upswing in young people taking part in skateboarding, and I would hope this would just go on to magnify that affect even further,” he added.
“Skateboarders are resilient, we’re determined and it’s great to hear that young people have been instrumental in getting this to happen.”
Osian explained that being able to choose skateboarding at GCSE level allowed young skateboarders extra time and resources to craft their skills, while also boosting their academic attainment with something they have already put a lot of effort into.
“Considering football and tennis were already included, people who were into those sports had those opportunities, but people like me didn’t,” he said.
“I think it put people who were into skateboarding off doing PE at school, but now they are more likely to do the GCSE.
“It’s going to help them improve a lot more because they’ll be more interested in it because it’s going to help them in school as well.”
He added the sport boosted participants’ mental, as well as physical health.
Osian said he would like to see more skate parks opened, to support new learners.
“There aren’t many skate parks, especially in Wales,” he said.
