Jean-Marc Johannes grew up in Athlone, watching his friends play rugby, soccer and every other sport they could. He was not allowed to join in on the fun because of chronic asthma.

“I was actually told not to really pursue any kind of sports because it could possibly aggravate the situation,” he told Daily Maverick.

However, his whole life changed at about nine years old when he discovered a sport he enjoyed and could do on his own.

“When I saw skateboarding, I originally saw it at school, I saw kids doing it. I took to it very differently, I thought it’s something I can do in my own space, at my own pace, my own time,” Johannes said.

Athlone-based skateboarder Jean-Marc Johannes with his Guinness World Records certificates. (Photo: Supplied)

“I went home, I asked my parents if I could get a board and my parents went into the garage and they took out their old board from when they were younger – they used to skate. It obviously wasn’t the best state-of-the-art board that everybody had at school, but it was something I could use to get into it.”

After a year or so of learning on that old board, he entered and won his first professional contest.

Into the record books

He competed in another contest at the start of October 2022 – attempting to break a Guinness World Record, which, if successful, would be his second placing in the acclaimed book in three short years.

Johannes has the record for the most skateboard fakie heelflips in one minute, achieved in 2019.

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This time, Johannes tried to break the record for most consecutive ollies – a skateboarding trick where the skater pops the board into the air with their feet and lands on it again – which stood at 323.

Check out Johannes’s original ollie world record set in 2020:

Unfortunately – in the parking lot of his most frequented skatepark, Battery Park in Cape Town – he could only manage to tie the record of 323 held by the UK’s David Tavernor.

“I think it was the difficulties of doing so many. Definitely when I got to about 200 or so I could feel the difficulty of the record. But I’m very capable and keen to break the tie of the joint record.”

An idea was then sparked by the organising committee to attempt to break another record.

This time Johannes pulled out all the stops and broke the record for the most skateboard 360 frontside spins in 30 seconds. The previous record was six and he did seven.

Gold, silver and bronze

Besides doing tricks for the record books, the 31-year-old also competes on the biggest stages.

On Heritage Day this year, two weeks before his Guinness World Record attempts, Johannes competed at the Festival of International Extreme Sports World Championships where he earned a gold and a bronze medal.

Jean-Marc Johannes at Shred Skate Park in Paarden Island, Cape Town, in 2020. (Photo: Shaun Roy / Gallo Images)

He competed in the Skatepark Open section and the Best Trick section, placing first and third respectively.

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Since starting to compete professionally in 2017 Johannes has clinched South Africa’s first medals on the international stage.

“I won South Africa’s first gold, silver and bronze for international skateboarding – the most international podium finishes for South Africa to this day,” he said.

“My goal, originally, was not to have the most international podiums as a South African skateboarder. My goal was just to progress as a skateboarder, as an athlete.

Since starting to compete professionally in 2017 Jean-Marc Johannes has clinched South Africa’s first medals on the international stage. (Photo: Shaun Roy / Gallo Images)

“To have won the first medals for international skateboarding for our country, it’s definitely a big achievement for me, but it’s also a big achievement for my community, where I come from – Athlone.

“Considering that skateboarding is not popular in the community, it just brings motivation for everybody, and for me to set that benchmark is just humbling for me.”

Building for the future

Skateboarding was introduced to the Olympics for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

It will once again feature at Paris 2024, and Johannes hopes to be on the plane, donning South Africa’s colours. He is, however, acutely aware of the effort he and the sponsors have to put in to make his dream a reality.

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“In terms of Olympic skateboarding, there are a lot of factors that come into play, aside from being capable of competing at that level, which I’ve been preparing for my entire life,” he said.

“In terms of accessing that level, there’s a lot of sponsorships that do need to come into play. A lot of structure in South African skateboarding needs to be set in play. But I’ve always been ready to represent my country – as I’ve done in the past.

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“My goals are to continue to compete, bring home the medals for South Africa, and bring home the world records for South Africa.”

Johannes admitted to seeing a recent shift in the attitudes towards skateboarding, with adults and children of all ages hopping on boards and skating wherever they need to go.

Jean-Marc Johannes’s goals are to ‘continue to compete, bring home the medals for South Africa, and bring home the world records for South Africa‘. (Photo: Shaun Roy / Gallo Images)

“It’s more acceptable. You see it a lot more. It’s like you see kids playing soccer in the streets, you now see the same kind of consistency with skateboarding.”

Having seen what skateboarding can do for him, Johannes would like to invest in kids like himself. “Also to inspire others and to build skateboarding. One of my goals is to build Athlone’s first skatepark.

“I’ve always said that if by some miracle I’m by the means to do that, that’s what I would like to do.” DM