With Peaceful Determination, Horikomi Takes Gold in Men’s Street Skateboarding at the Olympics
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On Sunday afternoon, July 25, 22-year-old Yuto Horigome wowed Japanese fans when he won the gold medal in the men’s street skateboarding final at Ariake City Sports Park.
With the debut of skateboarding as an Olympic sport at Tokyo 2020, Horigome made history as the first medalist for the new Olympic sport.
Horigome finished sixth in the morning qualifying round and advanced to the final, accumulating 33.75 points in the 35 degree Celsius sun.
However, after entering the quarterfinals, Horikomi showed his true colors.
His final scoring highs were 9.03, 9.35, 9.50 and 9.30 in two-inning and five-inning games, respectively, totaling a staggering 37.18 points.
The silver medalist was 28-year-old Kelvin Hoefler from Brazil with 36.15 points. Known for his good-natured personality, Hoefler has previously expressed his desire to open a skate school in his home country.
American Jagger Eaton, 20, graced the onlookers with a big smile as he won the bronze medal with 35.35 points. Eaton comes from a long line of skateboarding in Arizona, where his father, Geoff, ran one of the first dedicated skate training facilities in the United States.
The competition for the final was fierce. Hoefler scored 8.98, 8.84, 8.99 and 9.34 in his rounds. Eaton also performed well, scoring a high 9.40 on his third stroke, but it was ultimately not enough to close the gap on his Brazilian and Japanese opponents.
The favorite to win the tournament is 26-year-old American Nijah Houston, who has won four consecutive world titles since 2016 and is ranked No. 1 in the world until Tokyo.
On July 25, the 26-year-old Houston, after a strong performance in the first two rounds and the first move, even after scoring 9.11 points (the highest among the eight finalists) in the second round, seemed to lose his nerve and failed for the first time. He scored on his final four strokes. He finished seventh.
For his part, Horigome has recently been hailed as a rising star in the sport. Houston is followed by a runner-up finish at the 2019 Skateboard World Championships in Sao Paulo and a first-place finish at the World Skateboard Championships in Rome in June 2021.
Horigome grew up near racing venues in Tokyo’s Koto Ward, where he first learned to skateboard from his taxi driver father, Ryota. In 2016, the Japanese skater went to California, USA with the dream of becoming the world’s number one skater.
Horigome told him he responded to his victory with his usual calm countenance NHK: “It’s simple, but I’m happy!”
“I grew up in Koto-ku,” he gushes, “I grew up skating. When I first found out that Tokyo had been selected as the venue for the Olympic Games, it was already in the distant future, and I didn’t know if I would be able to participate. I’m happy to be here. ”
Skateboarding scores are attributed to the difficulty of tricks, ingenuity, height of jumps, etc. While mistakes are allowed during the 45-second race and overall performance is important, athletes score zero points for a single trick that fails to land correctly.
Olympic debut for a popular sport
Overall, it was exciting to see the debut of one of the five new Olympic disciplines, clearly an opportunity to draw attention to another sport and culture.
Despite the heat on the ground along Tokyo Bay, the athletes brought great energy to the day’s action. They cheered each other on, and former world No. 1 Houston even rushed to congratulate Horimi immediately after the game.
The physical appearance of athletes alone serves as a reminder to viewers that Olympic sport may be different than the image many of us think of elite sports.
While in most events, teams wear uniforms or at least consistent professional gear, skateboarding is something different and brings a breath of fresh air.
Some wore large earrings, some in jeans, some in shorts, and several pairs of popular Vans sneakers from their 20s. Many athletes wear earbuds to listen to music and cheer for the game.
Nyjah Huston is perhaps the best example of the ever-changing face of competitive sports. Said to have 90 percent of his body tattooed, he was raised in a strict Rastafarian household and moved to Puerto Rico when he was 10 years old. His father, who is black in Japan, was the first to push him and his four siblings to skateboard. Like many of his generation, Houston has an incredible online presence, with 4.7 million followers on Instagram (more than star gymnast Simone Biles with 4.5 million).
The general anticipation for these athletes is palpable.by japanese striker A week before the Games, most respondents were excited about introducing skateboarding to the Games.
Reactions on social networks that day raised hopes that the Olympic debut will draw attention to the sport.
Many people were amazed when they saw skateboarding for the first time and commented on how cool they thought skateboarding was and how it was different compared to other Olympic sports.
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Some were touched by the sportsmanship of the athletes.
Others use it as an opportunity to show off their involvement in the sport.
One thing is for sure: Tokyo 2020 is making history.
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