2024-07-30 03:25:03
Huston is skateboarding’s most decorated rider. The only accolade he didn’t have? An Olympic medal. After placing seventh in a disappointing finish at the Tokyo Games, Huston was eager to make it onto the podium in Paris.
In a gnarly final, Huston and Eaton dominated the field by earning the top two scores in the run section. The Americans went 1-2 heading into the tricks section. Huston put down difficult tricks including a switch heelflip frontside tailslide and a nollie heelflip noseblunt slide, which earned him 92.79 and 93.22 respectively.
Defending Olympic bronze medalist Eaton was also aiming for gold. In the preliminary round, he poetically stomped his second run to the tune of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”. He needed to land his entire run and two difficult tricks in the separate trick section to have a shot at qualifying in the stacked final. He delivered. After falling twice, Eaton qualified for the final with a switchback nose blunt that earned 92.65 points and a backside kickflip fakie nosegrind that earned 93.86.
In the final, Eaton trailed Huston until he hit a nollie 180 switch backside noseblunt slide on the BERCY Hubbas, a ledge that leads down a 10-step stairway, to earn 95.25 and jump into first place.
Horigome wasn’t going to let the Americans take claim his Olympic title, though. He responded with his signature trick, a nollie 270 noseblunt slide, to get the highest single-trick score of 97.08 and bump into first place. Eaton and Huston were unable to better their tricks.
Japan’s Sora Shirai was another major podium threat. After a disappointing finish in the preliminary round in Tokyo three years ago, Shirai was desperate to make things right in Paris. He was denied victory. Despite high run and trick scores, including an alley-oop backside 180 switch nosegrind that scored 94.21, Shirai placed fourth.
Earlier in the preliminary round, Japanese newcomer Ginwoo Onodera did not qualify to the final after being unable to land two separate tricks. Fourteen-year-old Onodera had a strong run and first trick, but uncharacteristically struggled to put down a switch heel front nose to earn a second trick score.
Men’s skateboard street medalists
🥇Yuto Horigome (JPN)
🥈Jagger Eaton (USA)
🥉Nyjah Huston (USA)
