Yuto Horigome makes history by winning the first ever gold medal in skateboarding after nailing his final three tricks to take Japan top of the table… but USA’s street king Nyjah Huston leaves Tokyo empty-handed!
Japan have clinched another gold medal after Yuto Horigome dominated the second half of the men’s street skateboarding final to out-trick his rivals.
Home favourite Horigome made history with the first ever gold in the sport, having superbly pulled off his final three tricks to win with a final score of 37.18.
Kelvin Hoefler of Brazil took silver, while Jagger Eaton – who caught the eye with his nonchalant nature earlier in the day – finished with the bronze.
Yuto Horigome made history by taking the first gold medal in the street skateboarding final
Horigome scored 9.50, 9.35, 9.30 and 9.03, with all four scoring attempts tricks, and was the only skater in the field to have landed more than three tricks.
In the tussle for the final two medal positions, Hoefler looked on track for bronze, but a stunning final trick instead propelled him to take silver.
That meant Eaton settled for bronze, although the Team USA man fell narrowly short of improving after failing to execute his own last trick.
Widely-fancied favourite Nyjah Huston left his debut at the Olympics empty-handed in Tokyo
Meanwhile, it was a nightmare result for the widely-fancied favourite Nyjah Huston, the figure who has dominated street skateboarding for the past six years.
It was believed to be unthinkable, but Huston was sent packing from his Olympic debut empty-handed after the thrilling final.
Superstar Huston fell repeatedly while trying to land and ultimately placed seventh.