Didal fifth in world skate tour, claims important Olympic qualifying points

After finishing fifth in the 2019 Street League Skateboarding World Tour, Margielyn Didal moved up in the qualifying rankings for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

“Margie is now fifth in the world. With that result, most likely she’s already in the top 12 of the qualifying for the Olympics,” said skateboarding head Monty Mendigoria.

The 2018 Asian Games gold medalist tallied 21.7 points in the Los Angeles, California, leg of the world tour to book the highest finish by a Filipino on the global stage.

Didal will compete in three more world championship events and should be in the top 16 until May 2020 to qualify for the Tokyo Games.

According to Mendigoria, president of Skateboarding and Roller Sports Association of the Philippines, Didal should stay within her current ranking when the world tour swings over to Mexico in November.

After Mexico, there are two more legs where the Cebuana star would compete in, one of them possibly in Japan.

Rayssa Leal emerged victorious in the Los Angeles tour after the 11-year-old from Brazil scored 23.3 points, while another Brazilian in Pamela Rose placed second with 22.8. American Alana Smith ended up third (22.5).