In honour of the launch of the 2024 Paris Olympics, I bring you clips from a delightful video called Buble Skate from 1978 by Alain Igorra and Lionel Durand. The scene is La Trocadéro or “Troca” which was a popular meet-up spot across from the Eiffel tower. The film also includes a contest called the “Festival de Skateboard de Paris” organized by the Paris Skate Club, April 21-23 1978.
This clip is a nice overview of the contest scene, which is pretty different than today!
I suspect the tall girl skateboarding in the Santana jersey is Béatrice Buchholz, who was admired for skating a concrete mini-ramp with a cast on her arm, and possibly the daughter of famous actor Horst Buchholz.
Béatrice appears in a team photo of Santana at the skatepark de la Villette, Paris 1978. She was also recognized in the magazine, Skate France International after winning a pairs contest at the Béton Hurlant skatepark in Issy-les-Moulineaux. Apparently Béatrice is being congratulated by the Mayor! Béatrice is now known as SimranKaur Khalsa and is a spiritual leader.
This next montage of girls skateboarding is fun. It’s got girls butt-boarding, racing slalom, and performing freestyle.
The adorable photo of the French girl learning to skate is from the first issue of Skate from 1977, which is provided in full scan via Endless Lines website, a French skateboard anthology, with gratitude to Claude Queyrel. There’s also a delightful photo of French girls having fun in 1977 at La Trocadéro.
Good luck to all the competitors!
For more features on French skaters of the 1960s check out this post featuring Marie-Pierre Bianco, Jackie Arquie and Isolde Gérard; and in the 1970s I have bios for Naomi Harris and Nicole Boronat, although there were plenty more.
Womxn Skateboard History 