Australia’s Keegan Palmer emphatically retained his Olympic gold medal in Men’s Skateboard Park this afternoon in a contest big on surprises- and one which threw many expectations out the window.
In the first instance, only two out of eight finalists completed their initial runs. Palmer’s was an unassailable 93.11, but silver medalist Tom Schaar had to improve on his first run in order to hold onto silver.
Happy-go-lucky Brazilian Augusto Akio, who qualified by the skin of his teeth for the finals, left it until his final run to vault the leaderboard and push highly-fancied American Tate Carew out of third place to take bronze with a run he will remember for the rest of his life.
In so doing, he pipped compatriot Pedro Barros for a medal by 0.2 of a point in front of a sellout crowd which included Snoop Dogg, Tony Hawk and French President Emmanuel Macron.
A fittingly dramatic conclusion to the greatest set of skateboard contests of all time, which have formed some of the unquestionable highlights of the entire Paris Olympic Games of 2024.
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Credit: World Skate