As skateboarding returns for a second installment following its Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago, the sport continues a surprising trend: teenagers rule a vast majority of the field.
The youngest Olympian in Paris, Zheng Haohao of China, competed in the women's skateboard park event at only 11 years old.
The medalists in both women's events averaged 15 years of age.
Stark comparisons exist in the men's competitions, where 49-year-old South African Dallas Oberholzer and 51-year-old Andy Macdonald dropped in.
Several athletes headed into Paris looking for redemption after falling short of their expectations at the last Games, leading to extremely fierce competitions in which the medalists were decided in only the final few runs.
Medal table
| Country | 🥇-🥈-🥉 | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2 - 2 - 0 | 4 |
| United States of America | 0 - 2 - 1 | 3 |
| Australia | 2 - 0 - 0 | 2 |
| Brazil | 0 - 0 - 2 | 2 |
| Great Britain | 0 - 0 - 1 | 1 |
Women's street
Teenagers ruled over the women's skateboard street final.
World No. 1 and 2, Coco Yoshizawa and Liz Akama of Japan, repeated their world ranking order on the Olympic podium. Both Japanese women earned the highest run scores, with Yoshizawa scoring 86.80 and 15-year-old Akama earning 89.26. Fourteen-year-old Yoshizawa was crowned the Olympic champion after performing a picturesque bigspin flip frontside boardslide, which scored a 96.49, the highest single trick score of the competition.
Brazilian Rayssa Leal struggled to put down a high-scoring run in the elimination round, but she came back with ferocity to land a cleaner run in the final to finish third.
Women's skateboard street medalists
🥇Coco Yoshizawa (JPN)
🥈Liz Akama (JPN)
🥉Rayssa Leal (BRA)
Men's street
Japan's Yuto Horigome left it all on the course to make skateboard street history by successfully defending his Olympic gold medal among an extremely stacked lineup.
Americans Nyjah Huston and Jagger Eaton were on fire in what Eaton considers to be the greatest final in skateboard street history. Fewer than two points separated the podium finishers.
The Americans went 1-2 throughout the semifinal and a majority of the final. That was, until Horigome attempted his final trick.
Horigome landed his signature nollie 270 bluntslide to earn 97.08 points, the highest score of the day. His combined score of 281.14 points from the run and tricks sections boosted him into first place.
Eaton and Huston, who were the last two skaters to drop in, were unable to better their tricks. Eaton narrowly trailed Horigome by 0.10 points, with a total of 281.04 points, to take silver, while Huston claimed bronze.
Men's skateboard street medalists
🥇Yuto Horigome (JPN)
🥈Jagger Eaton (USA)
🥉Nyjah Huston (USA)
Women's park
Fourteen-year-old Arisa Trew of Australia solidified her status as a podium mainstay after unseating Japan's Sakura Yosozumi as the Olympic champion after an intense women's skateboard park final.
Trew threw down a jaw-dropping final run that included a 360, McTwist, body varial 540, and kickflip indy to earn 93.18 points and slide into first place.
Japan's Cocona Hiraki followed closely behind. As the top qualifier, 15-year-old Hiraki dropped in last. She attempted to best Trew's run.
Her run scored 92.63 points, falling short of jumping into first place, but enough to squeeze her into the silver medal position. She knocked Great Britain's Sky Brown into third, repeating Hiraki's and Brown's results from the Tokyo Games, where they both finished second and third, respectively.
Women's skateboard park medalists
🥇Arisa Trew (AUS)
🥈Cocona Hiraki (JPN)
🥉Sky Brown (GBR)
Men's park
The Australians completed their Olympic gold medal sweep in skateboard park when Keegan Palmer repeated his Olympic gold medal win in Paris.
In a dramatic final in which the first six athletes fell in their first run, Palmer managed to land an incredible run that scored 93.11 points, the highest-scoring run in the final.
American favorites Tom Schaar and Tate Carew attempted to challenge the Australian's high score, but no dice. Schaar placed second with a 92.23-point run that included an alley-oop to lipslide, a 540 tailgrab, a 360 stalefish, a 540 melon, and a kickflip Indy to fakie. He also earned extra points with Snoop Dogg and Tony Hawk, who were both impressed with Schaar's run.
Brazilian Augusto Akio lightened the mood by juggling Brazilian flag-colored clubs between runs with a huge smile on his face. His juggling may have helped ease the pressure of competing. He won bronze with a 91.85 score on his final run, just 0.20 points more than fellow Brazilian Pedro Barros, who finished fourth.
Older athletes Macdonald and Oberholzer both had a blast ripping through the park as the crowd, including Hawk, cheered them on.
Men's skateboard park medalists
🥇Keegan Palmer (AUS)
🥈Tom Schaar (USA)
🥉Augusto Akio (BRA)