A 14-year old Japanese skateboarder with no major sponsorship swept aside all before her in Paris this evening to become the new Olympic champion in Women’s Street Skateboarding.
Coco Yoshizawa from Kanagawa won top honours after holding off a spirited challenge from 15-year-old compatriot Liz Akama, who briefly took the reins from Coco before having to settle for silver when the new champion pulled her first ever competitive bigspin kickflip frontside boardslide on a handrail to retake the lead and gold- with a single Best Trick still to spare.
In bronze came 16-year-old Brazilian star Rayssa Leal, who was 13 points off the pace at the end of the Run section but brought the large and vociferous Brazil contingent in the packed stadium in Place de la Concorde to fever pitch with a comeback of her own.
Tomorrow the postponed Men’s Street event takes place at the same location, with Skateboard Park being held next door on the 6th and 7th of August.
Coco, who has competed at every stop on the Road To Paris, only won her first contest at the final leg of the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest last month. Having qualified in first through the preliminary stage of today’s event comfortably, she was the outright leader by the end of the first round of Runs in the final before getting a scare from a resurgent Liz Akama.
You can follow every twist and turn of skateboarding at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with more depth and analysis than anywhere else on the World Skate blog.
Credit: World Skate PR