LA 2028 Olympic Qualification via WST: Where France's Skaters Stand

Aurélien Giraud, Vincent Milou, Joseph Garbaccio. Three names. And between them and Los Angeles 2028, there's now an open window — Phase 1 of the World Skate Tour has been running since June 11, 2026 and closes March 31, 2028. Here's where they're at.

The WST system: 22 months of points, not one hot weekend

Forget the Paris 2024 format. For LA28, street skating no longer qualifies off a handful of one-off results. World Skate has built a structured qualification circuit: every World Skate Tour stop hands out points. The final ranking is calculated on the best results from the last 18 months. Bottom line: consistency beats the one-off standout run.

A maximum of three athletes per nation can enter each WST stop. A bonus of six spots is set aside for skaters inside the world top 30, 60 days out from each contest. It's no longer raw talent that decides — it's the ability to hold a level across a whole season. For the French, that changes everything.

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Giraud, Milou, Garbaccio: France's three cards on the men's side

France has never had this much depth in men's street. Problem is, the WST system rewards the guys who travel, who stack up stops, who stay healthy. Three riders, three scenarios.

• Aurélien Giraud2023 World Champion

  Lyon, France · 6th Tokyo 2021 · 16th Paris 2024 · SLS Paris 2024 winner (post-Olympics)

• Vincent MilouProven tech skater

  Tarnos, France · 4th Tokyo 2021 · SLS Paris winner, October 2025 · World top 16

• Joseph GarbaccioFrench outsider

  Le Havre, France · 9x French champion · 20th Paris 2024 · FISE 2025 winner

Giraud first. World champion in Sharjah in 2023, 6th in Tokyo — the résumé speaks. But Paris 2024 stung: 16th in qualifiers, no final, at home, in front of his own crowd. What's interesting is what came right after. In October 2024, SLS Paris went his way — he took the stop at Roland-Garros. It's not an Olympic ranking, but it was the sign that the form was back. The WST race kicks off at exactly the right moment for him.

Milou, the most consistent. Fourth in Tokyo in 2021 — he came within a hair of an Olympic podium before skating went fully mainstream. In October 2025, he won SLS Paris on the same stage Giraud had a year earlier. Milou might be the best fit for the WST format: he stacks results, he doesn't crack, he delivers month after month. The most dangerous tech skater of the bunch over a long circuit.

Garbaccio, the wild card. Nine national titles, a solid international presence, and a YouTube audience of 311,000 subscribers that proves he knows how to put his skating out there. His 20th place at Paris 2024 still makes him an outsider on the world stage, but a WST circuit spread over 22 months could give him the room to climb.

On the women's side: Charlotte Hym and the Curutchet question mark

The women's picture is wider open. Charlotte Hym — neuroscience PhD and the only French woman to qualify in street at Tokyo 2021 (17th) — showed she can hang at the top level with an unconventional profile. She'll be 33 by LA28, so the window is closing, but she stays an option if the form holds.

Lucie Curutchet is the next generation. Versatile, still building herself on the international circuit — the long WST format could work in her favor if she settles into a steady upward curve. Nothing's locked in at this stage, but the name is going around.

22 months: why the French have a real hand to play

The WST qualification circuit has European stops on the calendar — probably including one in France — across the 2026–2028 window. For Giraud and Milou, skating in front of a French-speaking crowd, on familiar terrain, is a real psychological edge. European continental championships are part of the road too, and they hand out points.

The difference with Paris 2024: there, home-crowd pressure broke Giraud at the worst possible moment. On a circuit spread across two years, a bad stop gets made up at the next one. That's exactly what makes the WST system fairer — and potentially friendlier to the French, if they stay off the injury list and keep showing up internationally.

The real call now: choosing between the SLS circuit — no Olympic points, but still the barometer for form and the best prize money — and the WST stops, which build the ranking toward LA directly. Giraud and Milou will have to weigh that call month after month. It's a two-year chess game.

Giraud or Milou — who do you see on the podium at LA28? Drop it in the comments ↓

We're covering the whole qualification race over at nosk8.com/events.

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