Keegan Palmer, 18, has won the first Olympic men’s park skateboarding gold medal in Tokyo win a near-perfect run.
The American-born Australian skater absolutely tore up the Ariake Urban Sports Park in the final on Thursday, beating Pedro Barros of Brazil in silver and Team USA’s Cory Juneau with bronze.
Palmer’s first run saw him score 94.04, which is colossal in itself and no other skater surpassed this during the Olympic competition. No one, except Palmer himself. In his third and final run, Palmer scored a whopping 95.83, which is pretty damn close to perfection.
“It’s an absolute honour to skate with my friends. I can’t believe I’m here in Tokyo for the Olympics, skating with so many of my best friends from when I was little. And now we’re all on the podium together,” Palmer said. “Everyone’s been training for so long, missing out on the last year. I worked my ass off a long time for this, and I saw it through to the end.”
Palmer joins Japan’s 19-year-old Yosozumi Sakura, who won gold in the women’s park skateboarding finals on Wednesday, both the first ever gold medallists in the sport.
What a year for new Olympic sports, huh?
