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Sakura Yosozumi wins gold in women's park skateboarding

Posted at 10:26 PM, Aug 03, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-04 01:45:00-04

Japan's Sakura Yosozumi won the first ever Olympic gold medal in women's park skateboarding on Wednesday in Tokyo. Yosozumi, 19, was the oldest medal-winner by more than six years. 

In park skateboarding, five judges evaluate competitors on three 45-second runs using a 0-100-point scale. The highest and lowest scores are dropped, and the remaining three scores are averaged to calculate a score for each run.  An athlete's best score out of the three runs counts for their overall score.

Yosozumi, who was fourth in prelims, but up a huge 60.09 in her first run of the final that practically sealed the win. Japanese teammate Cocona Hiraki, 12, took silver with a 59.04; she scored a 58.05 on her first run, 59.04 on her second, and 5.70 on her third.

Sky Brown, who turned 13 less than a month ago, took the bronze with a 54.04. She scored a 47.53 on her first run, 47.37 on her second, and big 56.47 on her third. Brown's mother is Japanese and her father is British; she splits her time between the United States and Japan.

Brown and Cocona qualified in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively, out of prelims. They are now the youngest Olympic medalist since 1936. 

World No. 1 Misugu Okamoto, 15, qualified first out of prelims but missed the podium in the final, finishing fourth. Her highest run score was a 53.58.

American Bryce Wettstein advanced to the final but teammates Brighton Zeuner and Jordyn Barratt missed out, finishing in 11th and 12th in prelims, respectively. Wettstein finished sixth with a 44.50 on her first run.

Two 13-year-olds, hometown favorite Momiji Nishiya and Brazil's Rayssa Leal, topped the podium in the women's street contest on July 26. 

FULL RESULTS: Prelims | Final