In the realm of skateboarding, a new king has been crowned. On Sunday, Yuto Horigome of Japan won the inaugural Olympic skateboarding competition in the city where he began to skate as a child.
“I was born here in Koto ward and started skateboarding in Koto ward,” Horigome said, referring to the Tokyo neighborhood where his family lives. “I still cannot believe that I’m here at the Olympics. I’m very happy to have performed my best in Koto ward.”
Yuto, 22, made history by winning the most recent major skateboarding competition in June, the Street Skateboarding World Championships held in Rome. At Tokyo’s Ariake Urban Park, located only eight miles from where he grew up, he became the first person ever to win a gold medal in skateboarding at the Olympics.
There were twenty skateboarders that competed in the preliminary round. The skaters were divided into four heats, each with five skaters. In their respective heat, each skater completed three 45-second runs. A rating was created using the best run score of each skater’s three runs. The top eight skaters from the combined heat rankings qualified for the final round.
To measure score in the final round, the skaters have two 45-second runs on the equipment and five chances at a one-off trick. Their cumulative total score is made up of their best four out of seven scores. During the final, Yuto Horigome was the only skater to receive at least nine points from the judges for all tricks. He landed a nollie 360 lipslide and a nollie frontside 180 k-grind. Yuto’s highest-scoring trick was a nollie 270 noseslide, one that he had never performed before in competition.
The Tokyo native scored 9.50 points for the trick, the highest score for any trick in the final round. The Japanese skateboarder secured a historic feat after finishing his performance with a total score of 37.18 points and took gold. Brazilian Kelvin Hoefler ended up winning silver, while American Jagger Eaton took bronze. Unfortunately Nyjah Huston of the United States, one of the biggest competitors in the sport, finished in seventh place.
Tokyo 2020 | Men’s Street Skateboarding Final Results
- Yuto Horigome (JAP) 37.18
- Kelvin Hoefler (BRA) 36.15
- Jagger Eaton (USA) 35.35
- Vincent Milou (FRA) 34.14
- Angelo Caro Narvaez (PER) 32.87
- Aurelien Giraud (FRA) 29.09
- Nyjah Huston (USA) 26.10
- Gustavo Ribeiro (POR) 15.05