By Morichika Nakamoto,
Olympic gold medalist Yuto Horigome won the inaugural Uprising Tokyo street skateboarding competition on Sunday, snatching victory by reeling off a mistake-free run in the last of his three attempts in the men's final.
Fourteen-year-old Aoi Uemura won the women's title at Ariake Arena as Japan's first major international event dedicated solely to the discipline, co-hosted by Horigome and e-commerce giant Rakuten, drew to a close after three days of action featuring over 80 skaters.
Horigome, who ahead of the tournament spoke of his desire to help street skateboarding culture take root in Japan, lifted the crowd as he logged 87.94 points to pip Brazilian Carlos Ribeiro.
Having failed to land his last tricks in his first two runs, the 24-year-old opted for a different finish -- a 180 switch crooked grind -- that paid dividends, bettering Ribeiro's 87.00 from his first run.
"I'm really relieved. It was another event in Japan (after the Tokyo Olympics) and I'm happy to see many people coming over to watch," Horigome said. I think I put in a good run and I'm really happy to have won."
Horigome said Uprising Tokyo was distinct from already-established tournaments and would lead to a better understanding of skateboarding in Japan in conjunction with a number of other new events.
"This tournament was of a high level, with (international) skaters who don't compete in events like the Olympics appearing," he said. "It is a contest that people can draw new inspiration and joy from pro skaters."
Ribeiro was not surprised Horigome found his way back, and lauded the recent rise of Japanese skaters.
"It's almost hard to think he will miss the trick," the 31-year-old said of Horigome. "Japanese skaters are definitely the group of people that progressed a lot in a short amount of time lately...it's amazing to see."
Uemura won her title after scoring 84.19 with her second run, bettering Coco Yoshizawa's 82.41 in the 10-woman final dominated by Japanese.
The event also featured stand-alone men's and women's best trick competitions, won respectively by home skaters Taisei Hamamura and Hina Maeda.
