By Rory Carroll
PARIS (Reuters) – Arisa Trew delivered a technical masterpiece in her final run at the Paris Games on Tuesday to grab gold in women’s park as the 14-year-old became the first Australian woman to win an Olympic skateboarding medal.
Trew saved her best for last, delivering a gutsy and precise performance on her third and final run and was rewarded with a huge score of 93.18 on a sun-soaked day at La Concorde.
Starting the run in the bronze medal position, Trew opened with a 360 over the box and went on to produce a pair of stunning 540s in a technical run that none of the other seven skateboarders in the final could match.
“I’m so excited right now,” Trew told reporters. “It’s just crazy.
Japan’s Cocona Hiraki won silver and Britain’s Sky Brown took bronze. Hiraki also won silver and Brown bronze in the competition at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
“It’s definitely nerve-wracking with that audience out there,” Brown said.
Being only 11-years-old when skateboarding was first contested at the Olympics in Tokyo, she did not compete there but has been on a meteoritic rise since, including winning two X Games championships in the park discipline.
A new champion was guaranteed after Tokyo gold medalist Sakura Yosozumi of Japan failed to qualify for the final during the preliminary rounds, which were held earlier in the day.
(This story has been corrected to change the attribution of the quote to Sky Brown in paragraph 6)
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Paris; Editing by Toby Davis)
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