Japans Yuto Horigome Is the New King of Skateboarding After Winning the Sports First Olympic Gold Medal

Skateboarding has a new king, and Japan has another fine reason to cheer these troubled Olympics. Yuto Horigome, 22, who served notice that he was a gold medal threat by winning at the Street Skateboarding World Championships in June, earned the sport’s first Olympic gold medal in the sweaty heat on Sunday at Tokyo’s Ariake Urban Park.

When skating during his runs, Horigome almost looks effortless: Was he really trying? Falls in the finals didn’t phase him. After putting in middling initial runs in the finals, he landed four monster tricks. And, when he knew he had the gold wrapped up, he threw his skateboard into the air.

Kevin Hoefler of Brazil took the silver. Team USA’s Jagger Eaton won bronze. Horigome’s win was Japan’s third gold medal, following victories in judo and swimming.

American Nyjah Huston, the heavy gold medal favorite and great hope to lift U.S. skateboarding to new heights, finished seventh. He needed to pull off miracle slides and flips on the rail at the end, but Huston kept falling. And falling. His sponsors, like Nike and Monster Energy, and American broadcaster NBC were banking on Houston, who’s already won more prize money than any skater in history, to break into a mainstream Olympic starâ€"like Shaun White and Chloe Kim before him. He’ll have to wait another four years, when he’s 30, for his next shot.

Gold medallist Japan's Yuto Horigome (C), silver medallist Brazil's Kelvin Hoefler (L) and bronze medallist Jagger Eaton of the US pose on the podium at the end of the men's street prelims during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Sports Park Skateboarding in Tokyo on July 25, 2021. Jeff Pachoudâ€"AFP/Getty Images

This is a singular moment in skateboarding, which has surged in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. People were desperately searching for new challengesâ€"preferably those that could be done solo, outdoors and socially distancedâ€"to take their mind off the misery. U.S. skateboarding participation spiked 34% during 2020; no other sport saw a higher rise, according to the Sport and Fitness Industry Association.

In Great Britain, website visits to a national skatepark directory were up 214% in April 2021 compared to April 2020. Even many adults, either seeking out an activity to distract themselves during tough times, or looking for something to do with their kids as organized sports shut down (or both) took up skating for the first time. In the U.K., they even have a name: Rad Mums and Dads.

Read more about the Tokyo Olympics:

Naomi Osaka: ‘It’s O.K. to Not Be O.K.’

Motherhood Could Have Cost Olympian Allyson Felix. She Wouldn’t Let It

‘Unapologetic and Unafraid.’ Sue Bird Stares Down Olympic Glory in Tokyo and Equity Off the Court

Meet 6 Heroes Who Helped Battle COVID-19 Before Competing in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics

48 Athletes to Watch at the Tokyo Olympics

The Olympic Refugee Team Was Created to Offer Hope. Some Athletes Are Running Away From It

Huston was set to become the sport’s LeBron James or Tiger Woods. The world, however, can now look to Horigome for inspiration. America can claim him somewhat: he is based in Los Angeles, where he moved to be in the hotbed of competitive skating. In his elementary-school yearbook, Horigome wrote that his dream was “to become the best skateboarder in the world.”

He grew up going to Tokyo skate parks with his father. By winning skateboarding’s first gold, maybe he can finally lay waste to the notion that skateboarders are nuisances: a stereotype that persists in Japan (and elsewhere). No skateboarding signs are still common across Tokyo. Now, a skateboarder is one of the faces of Japan’s Olympics team.

After Horigome clinched the gold, photographers from around the worldâ€"and particularly the host countryâ€"mobbed him, social distancing be damned. They trailed him out of the venue, on the way to collect his gold, as if he were a pop star. With his floppy reddish hair, he has the look.

Horigome waved to the delighted Japanese volunteers present in the venue. The scene was the closest thing we might see to a mass celebration at these Olympics. If there was a full house in normal times, fans might have poured out of the seats, just to be close to Yuto Horigome, a young hometown hero. And an Olympic champion.

â€" With reporting by Aria Chen/Tokyo

Subscribe to TIME

Share this post