Tokyo 2020: Japan's Horigome Yuto wins the first-ever Olympic Skateboarding gold medal

Skateboarding at the Tokyo 2020 provided an exciting and momentous occasion as the sport made its debut at the games. Japan's  Horigome Yuto won the first ever Olympic Skateboarding gold medal in the inaugural men’s street skateboarding event at Ariake Urban Sports Park. After a gruelling seven rounds, the Japanese skateboarder took the title in style with a score of 37.18.

Horigome Yuto wins skateboarding gold in Tokyo 2020

Horigome finished the event with scores of 9.35, 9.50 and 9.30 for a total of 37.18. On his highest-scoring stunt, the 22-year-old flipped the board from under him on takeoff and slid it down a jagged rail on its nose, a trick called a nollie 270 noseslide. That earned a high-scoring 9.5. Horigome was the only skater in the final to score nothing but nines in all of his tricks that counted.

Brazil’s Kelvin Hoefler and Jagger Eaton of the USA scored 36.15 and 35.35 respectively to secure the silver and bronze medals. Eaton celebrated his bronze by whipping his phone out of pocket and broadcasting live on Instagram. Nyjah Huston from the US finished 7th after missing four of his tricks. 

Skateboarding in Olympics

Skateboarding in the Olympics delivered exactly what the Games’ organizers had hoped for a high-adrenaline show of thrills and lots of spills from athletes plugged into younger audiences. The skating was contested on ramps, rails and ledges on an undulating, unshaded stretch of concrete baking in 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit) heat near Tokyo Bay.

Skaters each had two 45-second runs on the equipment and five shots at a one-off trick. Their best four scores out of the seven make up their final total. Olympic competition crowns a long journey for the counterculture pursuit, which emerged as “sidewalk surfing” — an alternative to surfing — in California in the 1950s.

After decades of organic growth, skateboarding was included in the inaugural X-Games, created by broadcaster ESPN, in 1995, paving the way for an increasingly slick and organised sport. “Considering that snowboarding has been in the Olympics since 1998, I’m surprised it took this long for them to figure it out,” skate legend Tony Hawk, speaking in Tokyo this week, said of skating’s Olympic inclusion. “I believe they needed a youthful energy to the summer Games and it’s overdue.”

(With inputs from AP)

Image: Tokyo 2020/ Twitter