07/26/2021 7:55 AM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 07/26/2021 7:55 AM
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Japan lacked enthusiasm and fresh air.
Skate brought both things, a sport that in its Olympic premiere has so far delivered two golds for the hosts and
the youngest podium ever
.
The Japanese
Momiji Nishiya
, just 13 years old, became the first Olympic champion in the history of the discipline on Monday.
He did it in the Street category.
There, the Brazilian Rayssa Leal, also 13 years old, hung the silver medal.
Nishiya, silver in the last World Cup and who turns 14 on August 30, is not the youngest champion in the history of the Olympic Games.
The precocity record has been held since 1936 by the American Marjorie Gestring
, who was crowned in ornamental jumps at 13 years and 267 days.
If she had won,
Rayssa Leal would have set a new record
, as she is 13 years and 203 days old.
The young Brazilian came to nothing to make history even bigger.
Rayssa Leal, the young Brazilian skate celebrity.
Photo: AP
Nishiya scored 15.26 points and Leal 14.64 in the final.
The bronze medal went to another Japanese, 16-year-old Funa Nakayama, who added 14.49 points.
Yes, there were three teenagers on the podium
.
Something that until a long time ago seemed only reserved for artistic gymnastics.
"I am very happy to have become the youngest (Japanese Olympic champion) in my first Olympic Games. As I was so happy, tears escaped me. I was nervous in the first race, but later I calmed down," explained the young winner. .
Teen podium in the Street discipline of women's skateboarding.
Photo: AFP
"I want to compete in the Paris Games and win. Skateboarding is interesting, it's fun, so I want everyone to try it," he said.
The gold and silver of the women's street therefore went to the same countries and in the same order, Japan and Brazil, as in the men's category, which was played on Sunday and served as the
absolute premiere of skateboarding in the Olympic Games
.
Then the title went to the local
Yuto Horigome
, while Kevin Hoefler was the runner-up.
Come on girls
Momiji Nishiya, in action.
Photo: Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP
Skateboarding entered the Tokyo 2020 Olympic program within the project of those responsible for the Games to
rejuvenate audiences
.
And he succeeded: at least among his participants.
Of the eight finalists this Monday, six were between 13 and 20 years old.
The street is one of the two disciplines proposed in the Olympic Games with the park (or bowl).
On the street, the skater must chain highly technical tricks (figures) in modules reminiscent of urban furniture, such as ramps.
In competition, riders must chain two
runs
of 45 seconds each and then five
tricks
.
Only the three best results of the seven obtained are taken into account for the final grade.
Five judges assess the performances, taking into account creativity and quality of execution.
The phenomenon Rayssa Leal
Rayssa Leal flies with her board at the Ariake Sports Park Skateboarding in Tokyo.
Photo: AFP
The Brazilian not only stood out for her impudence on the track, but also for the overflowing joy and maturity with which she spoke at a press conference sitting next to her two rivals, from whom the journalists only managed to tear off monosyllables or several. he".
"I never heard those who said that skateboarding is only for boys, or that you can't study and skate," said the young prodigy after receiving the silver medal.
"I believe that all sports are valid for boys and girls, there are no barriers in sports. I do not believe in preconceptions of that type," said Leal.
Rayssa Leal's silver was Brazil's third medal at these Olympics.
In addition to the two silvers of the street in skateboarding, Brazil added a bronze with the judoka Daniel Cargnin (-66 kg).
Pure charisma.
Rayssa Leal was nowhere near being the youngest Olympic champion in the history of the Games.
Photo: EFE / Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
Rayssa is a phenomenon by herself. "How to explain that a 7 or 8 year old girl can do
tricks
that even 28 or 25 year old boys cannot do? It is a gift, she has something special", explained the president of the Brazilian Skateboarding Federation, Eduardo Musa.
"I have the habit of saying that we have two teams from Brazil: we have the national team and we have Rayssa. Because the problem is her age. We have to take that as a difference, but without forgetting that she is also competitive," he stressed.
New Olympic Heroes
Nyjah Huston, the American influencer who sweeps his skateboarding but did not shine in Tokyo.
Photo: EFE / EPA / FAZRY ISMAIL
Both Horigome and Nishiya went in a matter of hours from being practically unknown in their country, despite arriving in Tokyo in privileged positions in the World Skate classification, to monopolizing the covers of national media and television spaces.
Skate became a
trending topic
in Japan
since its debut the day before, in
addition to the most commented sport on social networks so far in the Games, according to data from the International Olympic Committee.
This was helped by the presence of figures such as
the American icon Nyjah Huston
, a benchmark on and off the slopes, who has millions of followers on social media, as well as billionaire sponsors and his own fashion firms.
Huston, who disappointed in the men's final by staying off the podium, was in the Ariake grades this Monday cheering the competitors and accompanied by his friend and rival Horigome, whom he gave a hug when he won the gold.
Yuto Horigome receives a hug from Nyjah Huston.
Photo: REUTERS
The Californian apologized to his followers for his disappointing second to last place in the final and admitted that "he has always struggled mentally" to "deal with pressure and expectations", in a message posted on his Instagram profile.
Like other young athletes recently, like the Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka,
Huston stressed the importance of taking care of his "mental health"
and working to improve in that regard.
"At the moment of truth, I do not skate to be the best, to be famous, for the money or to be an Olympian. I skate because I love it (...) and because it is the most fun on this planet",
Sources: AFP and EFE