Japan Wins Women's Skateboarding Gold — Again
Coco Yoshizawa and Liz Akama took gold and silver for Japan in women's street skateboarding at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, July 28.
Yoshizawa's win comes after the country dominated the gold medals in the first Olympic street skateboarding competition at the Tokyo Games.
Akama was leading before Yoshizawa landed a trick that earned her a score of 96.46 and put her ahead.
"I was not so much happy but relieved that I made it," she said.
The bronze medal went to Rayssa Leal of Brazil, while Cui Chenxi of China placed fourth and Americans Poe Pinson and Paige Heyn finished in the next two spots.
Yoshizawa, who is 14, loves that all of the medalists were teenagers — Akama is 15 and Leal is 16.
"People in their teens can actually perform and achieve such a high level in the Olympics and I think that's wonderful," she said.
Japan's Funa Nakayama, who won the bronze medal in Tokyo, placed in seventh after failing to land any of her five tricks.
"I felt that there were areas where I lacked practice and also parts where I was being too meticulous," she said. "I need to rethink and not be too fixated."
The event, held at the outdoor venue of La Concorde Urban Park, was the first of this year's skateboarding competitions after the men's street competition was postponed from Saturday to Monday because of rain.
Yoshizawa was asked if she noticed the beautiful views from the park, which included one of the Eiffel Tower.
"I was too focused on skateboarding [and] I wasn't looking at anything else," she said. "When I was on the podium I could finally enjoy the scenery."
