Japan’s 14-year-old Coco Yoshizawa on Sunday grabbed gold in the all-teenage women’s street skateboard final at the Paris Olympics, after nailing a high-risk ride down the hand-rail. Yoshizawa went into her penultimate trick with two big scores, but needing a third to complete her total, before finishing in style.
“I knew that if I wanted to win, I had to go for the most difficult tricks. I didn’t aim for second or third place; I aimed for the top spot with my highest difficulty moves,” she said.
Even though all her rivals had one more run, she raised her board above her head in celebration after the move.
Photo: Reuters
“After making it I was not so much happy as relieved,” she said. “Completing the big spin flip felt fantastic, because I hadn’t managed it in practice, so to nail it here meant a lot.”
Fellow Japanese Liz Akama took silver, with Brazilian Rayssa Leal collecting bronze at the Place de La Concorde.
After the deluge that forced the postponement of the men’s event the previous day, skies cleared on Sunday and the temporary arena became a humid cauldron. The women’s street final opened with the evening sun shining off the golden point of the ancient obelisk of Luxor at the centre of the Place de La Concorde and glinting off the glass dome of the Grand Palais.
Yoshizawa, who forms part of a younger generation of Japanese skaters, racked up 272.75 points from her three best runs.
Akama, aged 15, collected 265.95 to place second and Leal finished on 253.37 — comfortably ahead of fourth-placed Cui Chenxi of China.
Leal was the oldest of the three medalists in the French capital at 16. Momiji Nishiya — who took the first-ever gold in the event in Tokyo aged 13 — this time failed to make the team.
“I could perform with the Eiffel Tower as a background, but I was focused on skateboarding and didn’t see anything until I was on the podium, and then I could take in the scenery and say: ‘Right, I’m in Paris.’” Yoshizawa said.
She said to celebrate her gold win she wanted to “have some ramen and visit Disneyland.”
Japan has won four of the six women’s street medals since the event was first introduced in Tokyo.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
SEMI-FINAL SWEEP: Taiwanese are to take up all four berths in the men’s doubles semi-finals, while three Taiwanese women’s doubles pairings secured spots Taiwan’s badminton ace Chou Tien-chen stayed hot as he secured a semi-final berth in the men’s singles at the US Open at Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday. Chou entered the Super 300 tournament as the top seed and breezed past Victor Lai of Canada 21-19, 21-8 in 37 minutes, advancing to the semi-finals for the second straight tournament. Earlier this month, the 35-year-old veteran finished runner-up at the Indonesia Open, becoming the oldest male shuttler to reach a Super 1000-level final. He was set to face Ayush Shetty of India last night after press time for a spot in the final. Meanwhile, 22-year-old Taiwanese
PROMISING TALENT: Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso was pleased with youngster Gonzalo’s performance and compared him to former ‘Los Blancos’ great Raul Spanish giants Real Madrid on Tuesday beat Juventus 1-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final clash against Borussia Dortmund, who edged Mexican side Monterrey. Serhou Guirassy struck twice for the German outfit as they scraped past Sergio Ramos’ side 2-1 in a tight last-16 clash in Atlanta, Georgia, and denied the former Real Madrid skipper a matchup against his former team. Youngster Gonzalo Garcia headed home his third goal of the tournament to help Madrid edge Italian side Juventus at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami earlier. It was an impressive display from Xabi Alonso’s Madrid side,