Mutual Respect Brings Japan’s Teenagers Gold, Silver in Women’s Skateboarding; Competitors Cite Support for Victory

By Takao Inoue / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

17:35 JST, July 29, 2024

PARIS — Fourteen-year-old Coco Yoshizawa won the gold medal in women’s skateboarding and Liz Akama, 15, finished with silver at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.

Yoshizawa was in second place behind Akama after two runs in the first half of the competition, when competitors have 45 seconds to skate freely within the course. She would have been able to secure a medal at that point with only average performances thanks to mistake-ridden runs by two of the event’s strongest contenders — Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Rayssa Leal of Brazil and world No. 6 Chloe Covell of Australia.

But Yoshizawa was determined to win with a “big spin flip frontside boardslide,” which involves the skateboarder rotating their board 270 degrees and flipping it once before sliding down a rail.

Her chance came in the second half of the competition, when skateboarders have five opportunities to showcase their best tricks.

Only their top-scoring run and top two tricks count toward a contender’s overall score.

Yoshizawa performed one of her specialty tricks in her second attempt during the best-trick stage to set herself up with a good shot at winning the gold.

Then, in her fourth attempt of the best trick segment, she successfully executed the big spin flip frontside boardslide and secured the top prize. It is a dynamic trick that she had almost never stuck in practice.

That trick scored her a very high 96.46.

She was the only contender to score more than 96 in the best-trick stage.

“I held my arms out because I was so happy to pull off the trick so cleanly,” she said.

Despite competing against each other, Yoshizawa, who flips her board in the air, and Akama, who rotates on the board in the air, get along well outside of skateboarding competitions, enjoying chatting and applying makeup to each other for instance.

“I could never have won the silver without having someone to encourage me and to talk with during the competition,” Akama said.

The mutual respect the competitors have for each other’s individuality and the challenges they face has made women’s skateboarding one of Japan’s strengths.