Gold medal winner in men's street skateboarding stuns crowd on final attempt

3 months ago 3

It all came down to the fifth and final trick attempt for the gold medalist in men's street skateboarding.

PARIS, France — Japan's Yuto Horigome is a back-to-back Olympic gold medalist in men's street skateboarding after scoring a nearly perfect 97.08 on his fifth and final trick Monday to pass Americans Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston.

Horigome finished just 0.1 points ahead of Eaton, who despite a brilliant showing had to settle for silver. Huston took home the bronze, still an improvement after a disappointing seventh-place finish three years ago in Tokyo when skateboarding made its Olympic debut.

The 25-year-old Horigome came up empty on his second, third and fourth tricks, then stunned the crowd on his final attempt. Hutson and Eaton each wiped out in his fifth chance, making Horigome an Olympic champion again.

Snoop Dogg, who has quickly become one of the celebrity faces of the Paris Games, was in attendance and gave Huston some well-deserved appreciation. Huston nailed his second run with a Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's song playing on the speakers around La Concorde Urban Park.

It did not turn out to be a winning anthem for the U.S. skateboarder, after Horigome's final jump flipped the script at nearly the last minute.

This competition was scheduled for Saturday, but the same rain that soaked the opening ceremony down the Seine River — then much more overnight and into the morning — caused it to be postponed. World Skate cited adverse weather conditions for the move, and it was one of a handful of outdoor events affected over the weekend before skies cleared.

Sunny, warm weather greeted the skateboarders Monday, with temperatures hovering around 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Celsius) late in the preliminary round and throughout the final. The stands remained packed despite the heat and France’s Vincent Milou and Aurélien Giraud not making it through the prelims.

Also not reaching the final were 14-year-old Japan skateboarder Ginwoo Onodera, who was making his Olympic debut, and Chris Joslin from the U.S., who had an off day.