Japan's Nishiya, 13, becomes first women's Olympic skateboard champion | Inquirer Sports

Japan’s Nishiya, 13, becomes first women’s Olympic skateboard champion

/ 01:42 PM July 26, 2021

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Skateboarding - Women's Street - Final - Ariake Urban Sports Park - Tokyo, Japan - July 26, 2021. Gold medalist Momiji Nishiya of Japan celebrates

Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Skateboarding – Women’s Street – Final – Ariake Urban Sports Park – Tokyo, Japan – July 26, 2021. Gold medalist Momiji Nishiya of Japan celebrates. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Japan’s Momiji Nishiya became one of the youngest individual Olympic champions in history when she won the inaugural women’s skateboarding gold at the age of 13 years and 330 days on Monday.

Nishiya finished ahead of Brazil’s Rayssa Leal — who at 13 years and 203 days could have become the youngest ever individual Olympic champion — and Japan’s Funa Nakayama, 16.

Article continues after this advertisement

Nishiya starred in the tricks section to score 15.26 and give the hosts a clean-sweep of the street discipline as skateboarding makes its Olympic debut.

FEATURED STORIES

Her performance mirrored that of Japan teammate Yuto Horigome, who won the men’s title with a stunning sequence of tricks on Sunday.

US diver Marjorie Gestring remains the youngest individual Olympic champion after winning the 3m springboard at the 1936 Berlin Games at 13 years and 268 days.

Article continues after this advertisement

Skaters each have two 45-second runs on the equipment and five shots at a one-off trick. Their best four scores out of the seven make up their final total.

Skateboarding is one of four sports making their debut in Tokyo, along with surfing, sport climbing and karate as part of an attempt to bring Olympics to younger audiences.

RELATED STORIES

Horigome brings Japan skateboarding’s first Olympic gold

Margielyn Didal finishes 7th in street skate as Tokyo Olympics bids end

Skateboard legend Tony Hawk shreds new Olympic venue

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

TAGS: Japan, Momiji Nishiya, Tokyo Olympics

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2024 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.