The first skateboarding event of the Paris Olympics was held on Sunday (July 28) at the Concorde 3. The event saw numerous young athletes engage in a thrilling contest as they show of their flips and tricks
Ever since its debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the event has shown an immense rise in popularity on the global stage and is participated by people of varied age groups. Even for the Paris Olympics 2024, the discipline will have no age restrictions and the participating skateboarder can be of any age group.
Owing to these limited restrictions in the discipline, numerous young athletes in the 11-19 age group are seen competing for glory in the French capital. The Thailand national team fielded the 12-year-old Vareeraya Sukasem in the women's street event that concluded recently. However, she couldn't qualify for the finals of the event after she finished 17th during the prelims but showed immense composure for a 12-year-old.
Besides Sukasem, 11-year-old Zheng Haohao from China will also grace the Olympic floor in the Women's Park events scheduled to be held on August 6.
Even in the United States roster, numerous teenagers such as Poe Pinson (19, Women's Street), Gavin Bottger (17, Men's Park), and Tate Carew (19, Men's Park) will compete in the Paris Olympics.
All you need to know about the recently concluded Women's Street Skateboarding Finals
The Women's street skateboarding took place on the second day of the Paris Olympics (Sunday, July 28). The event saw a thrilling contest among the eight finalists of the event with Japan finally taking both the gold and silver medal.
Japan's 14-year-old Coco Yoshizawa performed superbly during her fourth trick to bridge the gap with her countrymate, Liz Akama who clinched the silver medal in the finals. Yoshizawa finished the event with a staggering 272.5 points, a massive 6.55 clear of Akama's 265.95.
Brazil's Rayssa Leal clinched the bronze medal in the event courtesy of her performance during her final trick of the event that helped her get past China's 13-year-old skateboarder Cui Chenxi. Chenxi fumbled in her fifth trick which helped the Brazilian to finish approximately 12 points clearer than her.
The United States of America also had two participants namely Paige Heyn and Poe Pinson in the finals of women's street skateboarding. However, both Heyn and Pinson faltered in their last few tricks during the finals which led them to fifth and sixth-place finishes with 222.34 and 162.23 points respectively.
Following the conclusion of the women's events on Sunday, the men's street prelims and finals will be held on Monday (July 29).