"I think it would be insane to win an Olympic medal," Nyquist said.

He means that in a good way.

There's been a strong push to get the bike and skateboard events featured at the Gravity Games into the Olympics, but even though the Summer Games in Beijing are still four years away, it could be until 2012 before those sports make an appearance.

Nyquist is competing this weekend in the Gravity Games, which are in Cleveland for the third straight year. Like many other action sports stars, Nyquist believes their time has come.

"X Games and Gravity Games are kind of like the modern day Olympics. A lot of the kids nowadays just aren't into the traditional sports like they used to be," Nyquist said. "Times are changing and I think the Olympics should adapt."

Even those who were opposed to the Olympics in the past, like skateboarder Bob Burnquist, are coming around. He was inspired while attending the games in Athens and has done a 180 on the issue.

"It would mean more for Brazil than it would for myself personally," he said of his home country.

Burnquist still has concerns about whether skateboarding's integrity can be maintained in the Olympics and how events would be judged - he doesn't want a skateboarding controversy similar to the men's gymnastics gold medal dispute.

Many top snowboarders have shunned the Olympics - they view competing there a sellout - since the sport made a leap to the Winter Games in 1998. Despite those protests it's been successful.

Skateboarding would seem to be the summertime equivalent of snowboarding, but the sport has been slow to follow its counterpart.

The problem is that skateboarders do not have a federation recognized by the IOC, which is the first step to getting an event into the Olympics.

But the skateboarders, a typically independent bunch, have gotten organized this year by forming the International Skateboard Federation and USA Skateboarding. Bike motocross, or BMX, riders have formed the International BMX Freestyle Federation.

At the center of the Olympic push is Gary Ream, who is the director of Woodward Camp, an elite training center for action sports and gymnastics in State College, Pa.

"We understand that there is a time and place for everything to mature and organize and that time and place is now," he said.

The only BMX events planned for the 2008 Beijing games are men's and women's BMX racing, which will debut as a medal event. There are no plans for freestyle BMX or skateboarding events, in which athletes are judged on flips and tricks.

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies did not return a phone call seeking comment on the future inclusion of those events.

Ream won't rule out the possibility of getting at least one freestyle event into the 2008 games. If not, he's confident that the IOC will eventually embrace the sports as a way of attracting younger viewers.

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On the Net:

www.gravitygames.com

www.olympic.org