Skateboarding Paris 2024 Olympics Review

Men’s Park 

Keegan Palmer (Australia) topped qualification ahead of Tom Schaar (United States). Schaar was the first man to lay down a score, in the final, with a 90.1. Palmer followed with 93.11 to lead the competition at the end of the first round. Pedro Barros (Brazil) briefly held bronze with 86.41 before Tate Carew (United States) jumped ahead with 91.17. Schaar improved, but only to 92.23. Augusto Akio (Brazil) was next to put himself onto the podium with a 91.85 and despite some brilliant runs, no one could surpass him. Schaar was seconds away from landing a brilliant run when slipping on the board to hand Palmer the gold. 

🥇Keegan Palmer 🇦🇺

🥈Tom Schaar 🇺🇸

🥉Augusto Akio 🇧🇷

Prediction analysis; 0 Medallists correct

I got the three countries that this would come down to but somehow didn’t get any of the medalists. 

Men’s Street 

After the run section of the semi final, Kelvin Hoefler (Brazil) led Nyjah Huston (United States). Huston was joined by Jagger Eaton (United States) and Sora Shirai (Japan) in landing two trick runs over 90 points. In the final, again Huston lead the run section from Eaton and Shirai. Six skaters hit a score over 90 in the first trick run, led by Yuto Horigome (Japan). Huston and Eaton each nailed a second trick to move into first and second. Cordano Russell (Canada) landed his second 90+ trick in his third run, but his run section had let him down. Eaton went into first by improving his trick on the fourth run whilst Shirai went into third. The only man to deliver in the final round was Horigome who scored 97.08, enough for him to win the gold by 0.1. 

🥇Yuto Horigome 🇯🇵

🥈Jagger Eaton 🇺🇸

🥉Nyjah Huston 🇺🇸

Prediction analysis; 1 Medalists correct

I kind of ignored the Olympic medalists from Tokyo which was a mistake as two returned. I did think Hutson would be better this time around and he was on the podium. 

Women’s Park

Kokona Hiraki (Japan) led qualification with 88.07, ahead of Bryce Wettstein (United States). Sky Brown (Great Britain) admitted she was not at 100% due to injuries but still made the final, while defending champion Sakura Yosozumi (Japan) missed out. In the final, Dora Varella (Brazil) set the early pace with 85.06 before Wettstein took the lead with 88.12. Hiraki improved that to 91.98 On the second run, big improvments came from Arisa Trew (Australia) who scored 90.11 while Brown went second with 91.60. Trew landed a sensational third run, going into gold medal position with a 93.18. Brown also improved but only to 92.31, while Hiraki improved to 92.63 to seal the silver medal. 

🥇Arisa Trew 🇦🇺

🥈Kokona Hiraki 🇯🇵

🥉Sky Brown 🇬🇧

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction

Again, of the four names listed, the podium had three of them. I would have likely gone against Brown if I’d have known about the injuries. Trew dealt with the Olympic experience better than I predicted. 

Women’s Street

In the semi-finals, Liz Akama (Japan) led the run phase, as one of three skaters to break 80, alongside Coco Yoshizawa (Japan) and Cui Chenxi (China). In the trick phase, Rayssa Leal (Brazil) posted the top score to seal qualification, but overall the Japanese pair still led. In the final, none of the first seven competitors landed a clean run, leaving Yoshizawa to take a big lead with a score of 85.02. At the end of the runs phase, Akama led with 89.26 ahead of Yoshizawa on 86.80 and Funa Nakayama (Japan) on 79.77. In the first round of the tricks, the standout score was Akama, scoring over 90. Leal followed in round two. Chloe Covell (Australia) and Nakayama finished round three with no landed tricks, meaning the pressure was at its largest. With two rounds to go Akama led Chenxi and Poe Pinson (United States). Neither Covell nor Nakayama landed a trick in the fourth round meaning they missed out on the podium. Yoshizawa scored 96.49 to go into first place. In the final round, Leal scored 88.83 to go into bronze medal position. The gold medal came down to whether Akama could improve in the final round but she couldn’t land a trick.

🥇Funa Nakayama 🇯🇵

🥈Liz Akama 🇯🇵

🥉Rayssa Leal 🇧🇷

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct

I mentioned five names as likely contenders and the medalists came from those five. I do not think Covell handled the pressure well which I said could be her downfall.