The clatter of skateboards echoes around an indoor park in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital. A round of applause erupts as a skater masters a kickflip after several failed attempts. Elsewhere, bodies gleaming with sweat tackle the ramps and rails that fill the centre.
Some of the skaters are nurturing dreams of representing their country in this burgeoning sport one day. For others, it is an escape from the streets and a break from the shackles of poverty.
“Skateboarding didn’t really exist 10 years ago,” says one of the country’s first skaters, Peterson Khim.
