US men’s street skaters Jagger Eaton, Nyjah Huston earn silver and bronze in tight race down to last trick
Jagger Eaton (Mesa, Ariz.) and Nyjah Huston (Davis, Calif.) added to Team USA's medal total Monday evening, bringing home the silver and bronze in men's street skateboard competition at La Concorde.
Reigning Olympic champion Yuto Horigome received the highest score in the tricks segment, a 97.08 on his last run, to successfully defend his title with a final total of 281.14. That was 0.10 ahead of Eaton's silver medal score of 281.04. Huston won the bronze with a score of 279.38.
From preliminary competition, Eaton and Huston went into finals in first and second place, respectively. Eaton remained on top until after Huston landed his third trick in this format and moved ahead of his teammate to first with only two more tricks per skater while Eaton ahead of Huston after his fourth trick. Japan’s reigning Olympic champion, Horigome took the lead on his final trick landing himself with gold again bumping Eaton and Huston to silver and bronze.
“This was arguably one of the best finals I’ve ever competed in," Eaton said. “The caliber of athletes in that final and the difficulty of tricks that were laid down was insane. I have never seen anything like it, and with the vibe of the crowd motivating us kept us going to push each other.”
Eaton brought home the bronze medal at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in skateboarding's debut.
When asked on his fellow podium winners, Huston shared: “They are insane competitors. You can just tell the way Horigome handles the pressure out there and carries himself. He’s really meant to be doing what he’s doing out there. And Jagger, this is his second time now so it just goes to show how good of a skateboarder he is — how consistent he is... We’ve been kicking it a bit here and at the last Games in Tokyo. We had some sessions back home at my park and some other places before coming to Paris. That’s what skateboarding is all about. We all love skateboarding together and feeding off each other's energy. We’re all trying to do our best, but at the end of the day, this is what skateboarding is all about - having fun and continuing to push the progression.”
Women’s and men’s park skateboarding will be held on Aug. 6 and 7, respectively. For more information – including a complete schedule of events – please visit TeamUSA.com.
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