Australia’s 14-year-old wonderkid Arisa Trew beat Japan’s Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Hiraki Kokona and the reigning Olympic champion Yosozumi Sakura to win the women’s park skateboarding event at the Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai 2024 on Sunday.
Trew’s best of 91.16 from the three scores in the final came off in the second run. She achieved 89.18 on her first and 79.12 on her final attempt. Hiraki (90.18) and Yosozumi Sakura (87.02) also scored best on the second runs.
Trew, who recently won the prestigious Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year award, had finished second in the preliminary rounds and third in the semi-finals.
The meet in Shanghai was the first of the two Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) events. The second leg will be held in Budapest from June 20 to 23. The points earned at the OQS will have a decisive say on which 88 skateboarders make the final cut for the upcoming Summer Games.
The competitions in Shanghai were held across four sports – BMX freestyle, breaking, skateboarding and sport climbing – and points were awarded to athletes as per relevant qualification systems for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
A total of 464 athletes (including 81 Olympians and seven Olympic champions) competed in Shanghai with a 50-50 split between men and women.
In the men’s park skateboarding, Australia’s reigning Olympic champion Keegan Palmer took second position with a best of 92.30 from three attempts.
The USA’s Tate Carew won the gold medal while his compatriot Jagger Eaton, who won the gold medal in the men’s street event earlier in the day, clinched a bronze. Australia’s Kieran Woolley came fourth with 90.19 points and was followed by Brazil’s Pedro Barros, the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist, in fifth place with 88.96 points.
Olympian Shane O’Neill could not make it to the men’s street skateboarding final while X Games 2023 gold medallist Chloe Covell finished eighth with a score of 87.34 in the women’s final.
In the men’s park BMX freestyle, Australia’s Olympic champion Logan Martin (92.65) came second behind 2022 World Championships bronze medallist Anthony Jeanjean of France, who scored 93.54. Great Britain’s Kieran Reilly (89.28) came third.
A total of 47 BMX riders – 24 in the men’s and 23 in the women’s events – competed at OQS Shanghai.
Tokyo Olympian Natalya Diehm scored 81.24 for ninth place in the women’s park BMX freestyle event.
Twelve BMX freestyle quota spot winners – six in the women’s park event and six in the men’s park will be announced after the Budapest meet. A maximum of 50 points were available in Shanghai with another 50 at the next event in Budapest.
Australian athletes also featured in the sports climbing and breaking competitions but could not bag podium finishes.
