Skateboarding: Sasaki wins Japan’s 3rd men’s street world title

ROME (Kyodo) — Seventeen-year-old Toa Sasaki won the men’s street skateboarding gold medal at the World Skate Games Italia 2024 on Saturday for the third world title in the discipline by a Japanese man.

Sasaki won with 276.64 points to follow in the wake of 2021 champion Yuto Horigome and 2023’s Sora Shirai. Horigome, who defended his Olympic championship with gold in Paris this summer, was among the stars who did not compete.

The new champion took a sizable lead by posting the final’s best run before completing his title bid in the trick section. Argentina’s Matias Dell Olio was runner-up with Colombia’s JC Gonzalez third.

Japan’s Momiji Nishiya, who won the women’s Olympic event in 2021, was runner-up to the 270.56 scored by defending champion Rayssa Leal of Brazil. The Japanese missed out on the top podium spot by 1.42 with her countrywoman Miyu Ito taking bronze with 249.53.

Seven of the eight skaters in the women’s final were from Japan. Paris gold medalist Coco Yoshizawa came fourth, 2024 Games silver medalist Liz Akama fifth and Funa Nakayama, Aoi Uemura and reigning champion Yumeka Oda finished from sixth to eighth.