AP Photo/Ben Curtis
Yosozumi Sakura nailed back-to-back 540s during her first final run en route to winning the gold medal at the first-ever Olympic women’s park skateboarding final from Tokyo’s Ariake Urban Sports Park on Wednesday.
Olympics @Olympics
What. A. Final.<br><br>Yosozumi Sakura becomes the inaugural Olympic <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Skateboarding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Skateboarding</a> park champion as <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/JPN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#JPN</a> claims the top two spots on the podium!<a href=”https://twitter.com/worldskatesb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@worldskatesb</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/Japan_Olympic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@japan_olympic</a> <a href=”https://t.co/KL4f3ATAMr”>pic.twitter.com/KL4f3ATAMr</a>
Yosozumi led a trio of skateboarders representing Japan who took three of the top four spots in this competition.
Twelve-year-old Hiraki Kokona earned the silver medal for Japan, finishing just over one point shy of the gold.
Olympics @Olympics
Hiraki Kokona – just 12 years old – wins silver in the first ever Olympic <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Skateboarding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Skateboarding</a> park competition, completing a <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/JPN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#JPN</a> one-two!<a href=”https://twitter.com/worldskatesb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@worldskatesb</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/Japan_Olympic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@japan_olympic</a> <a href=”https://t.co/p28zCtmgJi”>pic.twitter.com/p28zCtmgJi</a>
Thirteen-year-old Sky Brown, a British Japanese skateboarder who is representing Great Britain in the Olympics, edged Japan’s Okamoto Misugu for the bronze after posting a 56.47 on her final run.
The Miyazaki, Japan, native made some history along the way, per BBC Sport:
BBC Sport @BBCSport
Great Britain’s youngest summer Olympian of all time.<br>Great Britain’s youngest summer Olympic medal winner of all time.<br>Great Britain’s first ever Olympic skateboarding medal winner.<br><br>Sky Brown… you are INCREDIBLE!<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Tokyo2020</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Olympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Olympics</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamGB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#TeamGB</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/bbcolympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#bbcolympics</a>
Eight finalists were given three runs on the day, with their best scores acting as the markers to determine the final results, which can be found on the Olympics’ official website.
Results (Best Score)
1. Yosozumi Sakura (Japan): 60.09
2. Hiraki Kokona (Japan): 59.04
3. Sky Brown (Great Britain): 56.47
4. Okamoto Misugu (Japan): 53.58
5. Poppy Olsen (Australia): 46.04
6. Bryce Wettstein (United States): 44.50
7. Dora Varella (Brazil): 40.42
8. Yndiara Asp (Brazil): 37.34
Yosozumi’s pair of 540s occurred in the first 60-point performance of the competition. She pulled those moves off on her first final run, which stood as the top score for the remainder of the competition.
Brown embraced Yosozumi following her epic run:
Ian Herbert @ianherbs
Different culture of competition among the young skateboarders. GB’s Sky Brown runs out to embrace opponent Sakura Yosozumi, who’s shot the biggest score of the day so far <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamGB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#TeamGB</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/jpn?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#jpn</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Olympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Olympics</a> <a href=”https://t.co/4Jqj8jA0qu”>pic.twitter.com/4Jqj8jA0qu</a>
In fact, the camaraderie between the competitors was clearly evident throughout the final:
Lukas Weese @Weesesports
This is sportsmanship at its finest.<br><br>What a scene. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/skateboarding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#skateboarding</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/TokyoOlympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#TokyoOlympics</a> <a href=”https://t.co/8Y2IJdCDyd”>pic.twitter.com/8Y2IJdCDyd</a>
#Tokyo2020 @Tokyo2020
The friendship and camaraderie shown at the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/skateboarding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#skateboarding</a> at <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Tokyo2020</a> today<br><br>It was just ❤️ <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/UnitedByEmotion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#UnitedByEmotion</a> <a href=”https://t.co/p9yF1DwLi5″>pic.twitter.com/p9yF1DwLi5</a>
Yosozumi’s decorated resume now has an Olympic gold medal in addition to gold at the 2018 Asian Games, bronze at the 2018 X Games and bronze at the 2018 Nitro World Games.
Hiraki was impressive in her own right, nearly reaching that mark in her first (58.05) and second (59.04) runs. Her performance is more remarkable considering the fact that she was the youngest competitor in the field (12 years old).
Per John Branch of the New York Times, Hiraki would have been the youngest gold medalist in Olympic history.
She finished just shy of that honor, but Hiraki was nothing short of excellent en route to a phenomenal day. Olympic skateboarders combined to score 58 points or higher in the heats and finals four times, and Hiraki posted two of those figures.
Okamoto had an excellent Olympic Games, finishing first in the heats. She looked on track for the bronze, but Brown nailed her final run to take third.
Japan has now won three skateboarding gold medals after Nishiya Momiji and Horigome Yuto won the women’s and men’s street finals, respectively.
Nakayama Funa also took bronze in the women’s street final, giving skateboarders representing Japan in this Olympics six of nine possible skateboarding medals thus far.
The men’s park skateboarding final will round out the sport’s Tokyo Olympics appearance.
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