Arisa Trew, 14, became the youngest Australian ever to win an Olympic medal, winning gold in the women’s park skateboarding at the Paris Games. She edged out Japan’s Cocona Hiraki, who took silver.
According to the Olympics, the previous record for the youngest Australian Olympic medalist was held by swimmer Sandra Morgan, who won gold in the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay 68 years ago.
“It’s really cool being Australia’s youngest gold medalist because that’s the country I’m representing, that’s where I live, that’s who I am, and it’s just super cool,” Trew told Fox Sports Australia.
Trew won with a score of 93.18, just 0.55 points ahead of Hiraki, who previously won silver in the Tokyo Games when skateboarding debuted as an Olympic sport.
In the competition, skateboarders get three runs, with their best score counting as their final score.
Trew stumbled in her first run, scoring 35.53, but recovered with a 90.11 in her second, placing her third in the rankings.
“I fell on my first run which was kind of annoying because it was on a pretty basic trick,” Trew told Fox Sports Australia.
Her third run secured her gold. She began with a McTwist 540, followed by a body varial 540, and completed the run with impressive tricks like a kickflip indy, finishing on a noseblunt.
Trew’s Olympic success is not her only accomplishment.
According to the Olympics, she shared a video of herself becoming the first woman to land a 900, a trick that requires two and a half rotations in midair. Additionally, at 13, she also became the first woman to land a 720 in a competition.
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk praised Trew’s achievement on Instagram, writing, “Arisa Trew just became the first female to land a 900. Glass ceilings are so 2023. Congrats.”
When asked by Fox Sports Australia how her parents would reward her for winning gold at the Paris Olympics, Trew said she hoped for a pet duck.
“Ducks are really cute and I really wanted a pet duck,” she said.
