"One thing I must throw in here is skateboarding is constantly reinventing itself. All of us skaters from all corners of the globe are making it, [as] it is. For years I’d only look West but now there is a strong attraction for me to look to the East for work opportunities. In the last month having been to China and Russia, I can sense their economies are robust and their determined people have a strong admirable work ethic," he said on social media.
The skater, who competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, said he was looking for partnerships with countries that saw his worth, and that Russia was one of those countries as it continued inviting him for skating events and saw value in his experience and vision for developing skateboarding.
"I clearly see the current shift of power to the East, it’s definitely happening now. Even my country South Africa puts the BRICS countries before the West while the rest of Africa continues to find infrastructure development through the East," Oberholzer said.
The athlete argued that there was no point denying the global power shifting to the East and suggested that the West should "stop fighting it."
Russia's Nizhny Novgorod hosted the BRICS Skate Cup from June 6-9. The competition drew athletes from BRICS member states and beyond, including from Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Senegal. The Skate Cup became Russia's largest sporting event last year by participant geography, with athletes from 41 countries competing in the event.