South African professional skateboarder Jean-Marc Johannes is a gold, silver, and bronze medalist in the International Skateboarding Series, a five-time Guinness World Record holder in 2023, and the 2021 winner of the Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 South African Young Africans in the Sports category.
Johannes recently received a podium finish in the South African Olympic trials in April 2023, qualifying him to compete at the upcoming street skateboarding event held in Rome in June 2023, which serves as a qualification event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
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Born in Athlone, Jean-Marc Johannes won his first skateboarding competition when he was 11 years old, turned professional in 2017, and made his international debut last year.
He has won numerous awards and competitions along the way, including breaking two new skateboarding world records, which Guinness World Records confirmed on 9 October 2022.
On September 24th, 2022, he won gold and bronze at the FISE Freestyle Open in Switzerland, and he was soon nominated as the first skateboarding finalist for the 2022 Best of the Cape Awards (Best Sportsperson Category).
Johannes also obtained a first-place finish in the China World Series in 2016 and a second-place finish in 2017, a third-place finish in the Indonesia Pro Open 2018, the first-place position for the global Indonesia digital series 2020, the winner of the Mail & Guardian Top 200 Sports category for 2021, the winner of the Cape Town Sports Council chairman’s award 2018, and has broken additional world records.
Johannes has recently received a podium place in the South African Olympic trials in April 2023 and qualified to compete at the upcoming street skateboarding event held in Rome in June 2023, which is a qualification event for the Paris 2024 Olympic games.
The athlete hopes to highlight South African skateboarding’s rise in 2023, as well as share his skateboarding journey from the Cape Flats to winning international skateboarding medals at various World Series events and breaking world records.
He also spreads words of encouragement to all South Africans who have a passion, a dream, or a goal, encouraging them to believe in their ability and never let anything or anyone tell them that they can’t do it.
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Picture: Supplied