Brazil's Leal makes street skateboarding finals despite tough start to Paris Olympics

PARIS (AP) — Coco Yoshizawa and Liz Akama took gold and silver for Japan in women's street skateboarding at the Paris Olympics on Sunday and Rayssa Leal of Brazil got bronze to win her second medal in the sport.

Japan's win comes after the country dominated the gold medals in the first Olympic street skateboarding competition at the Tokyo Games.

Akama was in first place after landing her first two tricks before Yoshizawa slid down the big rails on the course on her fourth trick attempt, earning a score of 96.49 to pass her teammate.

“I was not so much happy but relieved that I made it,” she said.

The trick, which elicited gasps from the crowd, got the highest score of the day.

Yoshizawa, who is 14, was the last to finish the competition and she'd already won gold before she attempted her fifth trick. But she landed it anyway as a bit of a victory lap — raising her arms high above her head as she rolled toward her coach to celebrate.

Akama took the lead early in the finals after posting a 89.26 on her second run. And when the 15-year-old got a score of 92.62 on her first trick, she appeared to be the one to beat before Yoshizawa's late surge.

The 16-year-old Leal, who needed a late run in the preliminary round to make it into the finals, also made a run late in the last round to medal again after taking silver in the Tokyo Games. Leal was the youngest Brazilian ever to participate in the Olympics when she was 13.

Leal, who amassed 6.6 million Instagram followers after her breakout performance in Tokyo, scored a 92.88 on her second trick but didn't land her next two to set up a dramatic finish.

“When I need a trick, well I always get it in the last round and this time was no different,” she said.

She raised her arms to pump up a crowd filled with fans in Brazil's colors, many waving the country's flag. She then executed her last trick attempt for a score of 88.83.

Yoshizawa loves that each of the medalists Sunday were teenagers.

“People in their teens can actually perform and achieve such a high level in the Olympics and I think that’s wonderful,” she said.

Cui Chenxi of China, who is 14, placed fourth and Americans Poe Pinson and Paige Heyn finished in the next two spots.

Funa Nakayama, the bronze medalist in Tokyo, placed in seventh after failing to land any of her five tricks.

“I felt that there were areas where I lacked practice and also parts where I was being too meticulous," she said. "I need to rethink and not be too fixated.”

Australian Chloe Covell placed last after also failing to land a trick.

The event, held at the outdoor venue of La Concorde Urban Park, was the first of this year’s skateboarding competition after the men’s street competition was postponed from Saturday to Monday because of rain.

Yoshizawa was asked if she noticed the beautiful views from the park, which included one of the Eiffel Tower.

“I was too focused on skateboarding (and) I wasn’t looking at anything else,” she said. “When I was on the podium I could finally enjoy the scenery.”

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games