PARIS: Japan’s 14-year-old Coco Yoshizawa grabbed gold in the all-teenage women’s street skateboard final at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, after nailing a high-risk ride down the hand-rail. Yoshizawa went into her penultimate trick with two big scores but needing a third to complete her total, before finishing in style.

“I knew that if I wanted to win, I had to go for the most difficult tricks. I didn’t aim for second or third place; I aimed for the top spot with my highest difficulty moves,” she said. Even though all her rivals had one more run, she raised her board above her head in celebration after the move.

“After making it I was not so much happy as relieved,” she said. “Completing the big spin flip felt fantastic because I hadn’t managed it in practice, so to nail it here meant a lot.” Fellow Japanese Liz Akama took silver, with Brazilian Rayssa Leal collecting bronze at the Place de La Concorde.

After the deluge that forced the postponement of the men’s event the previous day, skies cleared Sunday and the temporary arena became a humid cauldron. The women’s street final opened with the evening sun shining off the golden point of the ancient obelisk of Luxor at the centre of the Place de La Concorde and glinting off the glass dome of the Grand Palais.

Yoshizawa, who forms part of a younger generation of Japanese skaters, racked up 272.75 points from her three best runs. Akama, aged 15, collected 265.95 for second and Leal finished on 253.37 - comfortably ahead of fourth-placed Cui Chenxi of China. Leal was the oldest of the three medallists in the French capital at 16. Momiji Nishiya - who took the first-ever gold in the event in Tokyo aged 13 - this time failed to make the team.

‘Ramen and Disneyland’

“I could perform with the Eiffel Tower as a background,” said Yoshizawa. “But I was focused on skateboarding and didn’t see anything until I was on the podium and then I could take in the scenery and say ‘right, I’m in Paris’.”

She said to celebrate her gold win she wanted to “have some ramen and visit Disneyland”. The crowd was dappled with yellow-shirted Brazilian fans, who rose from their seats waving flags and chanting when Leal wrapped up bronze. “It felt like it was 100 percent Brazilians in the crowd,” said Leal, who won silver aged 13 at the Covid-hit Tokyo Games. “Now I know what the real Olympics are.” She said her next plans were to sightsee around the French capital with her skateboard. “I will do some tricks on the Paris streets,” she said. 

Japan has won four of the six women’s street medals since the event was first introduced in Tokyo. “The reason we are very strong is that the Japanese people are diligent and work hard toward their dreams,” said Akama.

The skateboarding resumes on Monday with the men’s street event, which was postponed due to the driving rain on Saturday. With defending Olympic champion Yuto Horigome, Sora Shirai and 14-year-old Ginwoo Onodera, Japan could again be set to dominate. – AFP