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Australia’s Keegan Palmer remained the only man to win an Olympic park skateboarding gold medal by defending his title in a high-octane final at Place de la Concorde.
Joined on the podium by the USA’s Tate Carew and Brazil’s Augusto Akio, six of the eight competing posted scores that would have seen them medal in the Tokyo Olympics, 17-year-old Keefer Wilson and Brazil’s Luigi Cini the only two not to complete a run without any trouble.
It had been a nervy start with Snoop Dogg and skateboarding pioneer Tony Hawke looking on, as only Schaar and Palmer posted complete runs, Palmer the top qualifier running last and scoring 93.11, which was good enough for gold in the end, despite Schaar’s second run of 92.23.
Akio, the juggling entertainer, came back from two falls to win bronze with 91.85, just 0.2 above his compatriot and Tokyo silver medallist Pedro Barros, but the two summarised the enduringly positive skateboarding Olympic spirit, Akio getting his juggling batons out at every opportunity and Barros hoisting Palmer aloft after he fell on his victory run.
Palmer’s gold ensures an Australian double in the skateboarding park, as he joins Arisa Trew atop the podium, as Andy Macdonald’s failure to qualify ensured Sky Brown’s bronze remained Britain’s only medal in the event.
05:26 PM BST
Barros and Carew unlucky to miss out
Compared to Tokyo’s final, this afternoon’s was a really high standard. Palmer’s Tokyo winning score of 95.83 wasn’t to be matched but Barros’ silver had come with a score of 86.14.
In this year’s competition, five skaters finished with scores above 90, and Alex Sorgente’s score of 84.26 would’ve been enough for bronze three years ago – top quality stuff.
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 92.23
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 91.85
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 91.65
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Luigi Cini, Brazil – 76.89
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Keefer Wilson, Australia – 58.39
05:20 PM BST
Aussie rules
Palmer makes it two for two for Australia in the skateboarding park, joining compatriot Arisa Trew at the top of the podium. He’s another athlete to have recovered from the ‘twisties’, and is joined by the USA’s Tom Schaar and Brazil’s Augusto Akio in the medal ceremony.
05:14 PM BST
Palmer defends title
05:13 PM BST
Keegan Palmer takes gold
He remains the only skateboarding park gold medallist in Olympic history! Barros and Carew hoist him aloft. He falls on his victory lap, losing grip of his board in the deep end but it doesn’t matter!
05:12 PM BST
Schaar running for gold
Will this be a procession for Palmer? Schaar is doing all he can, maximising difficulty but falls on an ally-oop tail grab.
Palmer has defended his Olympic title!
Victory lap incoming! He’s swarmed by his competitors, these skaters know what Olympic profile does for the sport and they’re really embodying the Olympic spirit.
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 92.23
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 91.85
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 91.65
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Luigi Cini, Brazil – 76.89
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Keefer Wilson, Australia – 58.39
05:09 PM BST
Sorgente speeds through
A rapid run but he slips and ensures a non-podium finish – a lot of these skaters have been taking it all in their stride but he looks quite disappointed. The podium is decided, but who will finish first and second?? Either way, Sorgente is “hyped for the boys on the podium”
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 92.23
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 91.85
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 91.65
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Luigi Cini, Brazil – 76.89
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Keefer Wilson, Australia – 58.39
05:07 PM BST
World No. 1 Carew falls
And he won’t medal! One of the pre-tournament favourites bails on a kick flip body jar and he’ll stay outside the podium – Hawke looks gutted!
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 92.23
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 91.85
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 91.65
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Luigi Cini, Brazil – 76.89
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Keefer Wilson, Australia – 58.39
05:06 PM BST
Wilson falls
The 17-year-old is the only one of the four to fail to make the 45-second mark, falling having lost grip of his board on a jump.
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 92.23
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 91.85
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 91.65
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Luigi Cini, Brazil – 76.89
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Keefer Wilson, Australia – 58.39
05:04 PM BST
Tokyo silver medallist goes out with a bang
The oldest skater aged 29 stays on his board despite a few wobbles from big air time tricks, he’s very happy afterwards, and the three Brazilians embrace, but Akio’s bronze is secure for now…
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 92.23
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 91.85
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 91.65
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Luigi Cini, Brazil – 76.89
05:02 PM BST
Cini doesn’t trouble podium
Smith grinds, nose grinds, back tails, nose grabs, and a fall on his last trick – Cini won’t register a competitive score from any of his three runs but he’ll go home happy – he runs a community skateboarding scheme at home which he’ll continue to work on now.
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 92.23
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 91.85
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 86.41
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Luigi Cini, Brazil – 76.89
04:59 PM BST
Akio completes first run
His final run, first chance of a score and he makes the most of it despite the pressure, using every second available to him! Lots of flow to it which is a big metric for judges. 91.85, he’s juggling again and is in a provisional medal spot! I like this guy, oozing character.
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 92.23
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 91.85
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 86.41
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 81.43
04:57 PM BST
Leader Palmer falls
It’s an excellent run but he bails on a kick-flip, meaning he can’t improve on his first and leading run. He pretends to smash his board after he falls in frustration but his lead is safe for the moment.
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 92.23
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 86.41
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 81.43
04:55 PM BST
Tom Schaar now
Tom Schaar is next on his Tony Hawke board, he’s performing to Snoop Dogg and embraces the mystery man after the run as Hawke looks on in disbelief, and he’s in silver!
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 92.23
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 86.41
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 81.43
04:53 PM BST
Sorgente completes run
But it won’t trouble the podium, one too many adjustments as he prioritises technical tricks. “One more run” he says.
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Tom Schaar, USA – 90.11
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 86.41
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Alex Sorgente, Italy – 84.26
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 81.43
04:51 PM BST
Tate Carew unleashes signature move
Words wouldn’t really be able to explain what his signature move is, but he did it perfectly, flying up the ramp and catching the board between his legs. It’s a clean run so the one of the favourites will make a statement…
91.17! “Oh my god, dude!” he exclaims.
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tate Carew, USA – 91.17
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Tom Schaar, USA – 90.11
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 86.41
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 81.43
04:49 PM BST
Keefer Wilson falls again
Too early to threaten the score. Quite a heavy fall at the top of a ramp too so will have to regather himself before his final run.
04:48 PM BST
Barros nails it
He clings on precariously, gathering some serious air-time with a 540. Headphones out, Palmer filming him on his cam-corder. It’s 86.41, clean it up and he’ll threaten.
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 90.11
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Pedro Barros, Brazil – 86.41
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 81.43
04:44 PM BST
Akio off again
It was a great run but he falls with just seconds remaining! A real shame as that was medal-threatening. 81.34 with the bail considered speaks to how well he was going!
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Keegan Palmer, Australia – 93.11
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Tom Schaar, USA – 90.11
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Augusto Akio, Brazil – 81.43
04:42 PM BST
Keegan Palmer finishes first round
And it’s another great routine to follow Schar’s – tail-grabs, 540s, alley-oops, the Aussie is happy.
It’s a 93.11, that’ll be hard to beat!
04:39 PM BST
Schaar tops board
Schaar of the USA was a late qualifier for the Games but he goes to the top of the leaderboard with our first completed routine, opting for more technical difficulty than aerial. It’s a 90.11, very competitive.
04:38 PM BST
Sorgente next…
And he also bails, six from six incomplete routines. The skaters have 45 seconds to complete a routine and none have made it to the 20 second mark.
04:36 PM BST
Wilson next
Keefer Wilson goes next and goes first with 40.03… he also fell, this time bailing. Difficulty level from the preliminaries is really raised and it’s telling as Tate Carew scores an 18.06 having also fallen. “All good” he tells the camera.
04:34 PM BST
Another Brazilian falls
29-year-old and prolific skating X Games medallist Pedro Barros comes next – he’s the quickest of the skaters but also falls within 10 seconds of his routine.
04:33 PM BST
Underwhelming start
Augusto Akio is up first but falls immediately. His compatriot Luigi Cini follows but falls after a bit more progress, botching the landing after a 540 flip.
04:31 PM BST
Found him!
Our reporter Thom Gibbs has been on Snoop Dogg watch all week, he’s here alongside Tony Hawke at the skateboarding! The skating legend – Hawke that is – has endorsed Tom Schaar, providing him with the board he’ll use today. Akio is juggling again as the skaters are introduced.
04:26 PM BST
Expect trickery
Maybe in a different form to this…
04:19 PM BST
What you can expect
A technical and dangerous sport, skateboarding is quite the spectacle, technical skill and airtime are both held at a premium on the judges’ scorecards. Australia’s Arisa Trew beat Sky Brown to the women’s gold medal, you can see some of her highlights below.
04:16 PM BST
MacDonald’s third and best run
Here’s the run that scored him his best total of 77.66, which was still quite a margin from the qualifying threshold. He didn’t look too disappointed though, but rather quite happy to have competed as he was met by a notably positive reception from the crowd – as our interview with him uncovered, he had no expectations of making the Games in the first place.
04:12 PM BST
MacDonald’s first run
04:08 PM BST
Britain’s MacDonald misses out as youngsters skate for gold
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the men’s park skateboarding Olympic final where are I urge you to stay with us in spite of the following bad news: 51-year-old Briton Andrew MacDonald, and 49-year-old South African Dallas Oberholzer have failed to make the final, missing out instead to eight men whose average is 22.6.
The athletes competing in the final of course still deserve their due respect at that ripe old average age considering the women’s competition hosted a roster averaging the age of 16, Great Britain’s Sky Brown, who falls on that average, winning bronze despite continual shoulder dislocation problems hampering her preparation and routine.
However, her compatriot MacDonald was unable to present himself with the chance to emulate her success, finishing 18th from 22 in qualifying earlier this afternoon, 10 places and 11.32 points from Brazil’s Augustus Akio who rounded off qualifying with a score of 88.98. Nonetheless, MacDonald had an enjoyable time on the board, improving incrementally across his three attempts and drawing in ovations after each round from a packed out Place de la Concorde crowd including none other than Tony Hawke.
Oberholzer was a bit further adrift, posting a best score of 33.83 having fallen off in all three routines. It leaves us with an imminent final comprising of three Brazilians, including Tokyo silver medallist Pedro Barros who is competing at the grand old age of 29, as well as Luigi Cini and Augusto Akio. They’re joined by two Australians, 17-year-old Keefer Wilson joining reigning Olympic champion Keegan Palmer, who has qualified top with a score of 93.78, 1.73 ahead of the USA’s Tom Schaar in second. Schaar is joined by compatriot Tate Carew, whilst Italy’s Alex Sorgente is the final qualifier.
Defending champion Palmer is definitely the favourite, but Brazilians Akio and Barros are widely fancied so you can expect some new trickery this afternoon that may have been omitted from earlier’s preliminary.
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