Gold medalist Coco Yoshizawa (left) and silver medalist Liz Akama (both of Japan) pose together after the women’s street skateboarding final during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024 in Paris, France.
12:50 JST, July 29, 2024
PARIS (AP) — Coco Yoshizawa and Liz Akama won gold and silver for Japan on Sunday in the women’s street skating event at the Paris Olympics, while Rayssa Leal of Brazil took bronze, her second medal in the sport.
Japan won the competition after already winning the gold medals at the first Olympic street skating competition during the Tokyo Olympics.
Akama was in first place after landing her first two tricks before Yoshizawa skidded down the track’s large rails on her fourth attempt, scoring 96.49 to pass her teammate.
“I wasn’t so much happy as relieved that I made it,” she said.
The trick, which drew cheers from the crowd, produced the highest score of the day.
Yoshizawa, who is 14, was the last to finish the competition and had already won gold before attempting her fifth trick. But she landed it anyway as a kind of victory lap — raising her arms high above her head as she rolled toward her coach in celebration.
Akama took an early lead in the final after posting an 89.26 on her second run. And when the 15-year-old posted a 92.62 on her first trick, she looked set to be the one to beat before Yoshizawa’s late surge.
Left: Coco Yoshizawa of Japan competes in the preliminary rounds for the women’s street skateboarding event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France.
Right: Liz Akama of Japan performs a trick during the women’s street skateboarding preliminary rounds at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France.
The 16-year-old Leal, who needed a late run in the preliminary round to reach the final, also made a run in the final round to claim another medal after winning silver at the Tokyo Games. Leal was the youngest Brazilian ever to compete at the Olympics when she was 13.
Leal, who had 6.6 million followers on Instagram after her breakthrough performance in Tokyo, scored 92.88 with her second trick but failed to land her next two tricks, leading to a dramatic ending.
“When I need a trick, I always get it in the last lap and this time was no different,” she said.
She raised her arms to cheer on a crowd of fans in Brazil’s colors, many of whom waved the country’s flag, before executing her final trick attempt for a score of 88.83.
Coco Yoshizawa of Japan celebrates her gold medal in the women’s street skateboarding final during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024 in Paris, France.
Yoshizawa is thrilled that all of Sunday’s medal winners were teenagers.
“People in their teenage years can actually perform and reach a high level at the Olympics and I think that’s amazing,” she said.
China’s 14-year-old Cui Chenxi came in fourth, with Americans Poe Pinson and Paige Heyn finishing in the next two spots.
Funa Nakayama, the bronze medalist in Tokyo, finished in seventh place after failing to perform any of her five tricks.
“I felt like there were areas where I didn’t have enough practice and also areas where I was too precise,” she said. “I need to rethink and not be too fixated.”
Australia’s Chloe Covell finished last after also failing to land a single trick.
The event, which took place on the outdoor grounds of La Concorde Urban Park, was the first of this year’s skateboarding competitions after the men’s street competition was moved from Saturday to Monday due to rain.
Yoshizawa was asked if she noticed the beautiful views from the park, including the Eiffel Tower.
“I was too focused on skateboarding (and) I wasn’t looking at anything else,” she said. “When I got on stage, I could finally enjoy the scenery.”
