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Phila Siu

When Yuto Horigome’s father handed him a skateboard for the first time at the age of seven, no one could have imagined the Japanese kid would become the world’s best skateboarder 15 years later, ushering in a new era of the sport in the country.
“I believe that there will be more support for skateboarding in Japan,” he said in an interview via Zoom. “With more people joining the sport, Japan’s skateboarding level will get higher and higher.”
Horigome, 22, pulled off a series of monster moves at the Tokyo Games, earning him a gold medal in street skateboarding on his home turf as the sport debuted in the Olympics.
Two other young Japanese skateboarders, 12-year-old Momiji Nishiya and 16-year-old Funa Nakayama, took gold and bronze in the women’s street skateboarding respectively, showing the nation’s dominance in the sport.

Brazil’s Kelvin Hoefler, 28, won silver in the men’s street skating, while the USA’s Jagger Eaton, 20, took bronze.
With the Japanese skateboarders’ massive victory in Tokyo, Horigome hoped it would turn into a more popular sport and that teenagers will be encouraged to pick up a board.
In Japan, skateboarding is sometimes considered an activity for aimless youth. Not many Japanese were skateboarding when Horigome started, he said. It took him some time to learn but thanks to his father’s patience, he got better and faster than his peers did.
His father Ryota Horigome, a taxi driver who works 10 hours a day, 28 days a month, was also a skateboarder.

Meet Japan’s teenage Olympic champion Momiji Nishiya – the 13-year-old girl who just won skateboarding gold at Tokyo 2020
The world champion first started skating in the regular parks and as he got better, he would travel 40 minutes by tram to the skateboarding venues to practice.
He moved to the Los Angeles in the USA when he was 14 to skateboard with the best athletes in the world.
“It’s been my dream to skateboard in the USA. I have fulfilled my dream,” he said.
He decided to move to the US at the time because the overall level of skateboarding was higher and it would motivate him to be a better athlete. He bought a home in Los Angeles last year and now spends half of his time there, and the other half in Japan.


He said he spent two to four hours on his practice every day, and would sometimes train seven days a week. His secret in becoming a world champion was to set a target of what he wanted to achieve every time before he practised, before moving on to the next goal.
The young Olympic gold medallist encouraged teenagers around the world not to give up on learning skateboarding, even if their parents were not supportive. They could go to the skateboarding parks to borrow skateboards from the people there, he suggested.
The teens can also ask to have the old skateboards that others are discarding, before upgrading them to use and fall in love with the sport.
“Don’t give up on your dreams,” Horigome said.



Asked what Japan needed to do to make skateboarding a more popular sport, he said that the US has some of the best skateboarding venues in the world, and thus his country could start by building more skate parks.
Looking ahead, the new face of the skateboarding world said he would constantly challenge himself and would also be on a mission to spread the fun and excitement of skateboarding.


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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Tokyo Olympics: Yuto Horigome ushers in a new era of skateboarding in Japan

Japan’s Yuto Horigome in action during the skateboarding competition at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: EPA-EFE

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Skateboarding - Men's Street - Medal Ceremony - Ariake Urban Sports Park - Tokyo, Japan - July 25, 2021. Yuto Horigome of Japan poses with his gold medal during medal ceremony. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Skateboarding - Women's Street - Final - Ariake Urban Sports Park - Tokyo, Japan - July 26, 2021. Gold medalist Momiji Nishiya of Japan celebrates. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo SEARCH "OLYMPICS DAY 4" FOR TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS EDITOR'S CHOICE, SEARCH "REUTERS OLYMPICS TOPIX" FOR ALL EDITOR'S CHOICE PICTURES.

Meet Japan’s teenage Olympic champion Momiji Nishiya – the 13-year-old girl who just won skateboarding gold at Tokyo 2020

Momiji Nishiya of Japan is the second-youngest champion in Olympic history, the youngest Japanese Olympic champion and the first-ever female skateboarding Olympic champion. Photo: Reuters

Rayssa Leal of Brazil, Momiji Nishiya of Japan and Funa Nakayama of Japan pose with their medals during the medal ceremony for women’s street skateboarding at Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo, Japan, for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on July 26,. Photo: Reuters

Momiji Nishiya of Japan poses with her gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on July 26. Photo: Reuters

Japan’s Momiji Nishiya competes in the women’s street skateboarding finals at Ariake Sports Park during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo: PA Wire/DPA

Tokyo Olympics: Japanese 13-year-old Momiji Nishiya wins gold in skateboarding street final

Momiji Nishiya of Japan reacts during the women’s street skateboarding event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Photo: Reuters

Momiji Nishiya of Japan competes in the women's street skateboarding finals at the Tokyo Olympics on July 26, 2021, at Ariake Urban Sports Park. The 13-year-old won the gold medal. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Thirteen-year-old Japanese skateboarder Momiji Nishiya celebrates after winning the women's street gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on July 26, 2021, at Ariake Urban Sports Park. (Kyodo)(TOPPAGE) ==Kyodo

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Skateboarding - Women's Street - Final - Ariake Urban Sports Park - Tokyo, Japan - July 26, 2021. Momiji Nishiya of Japan in action. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Tokyo 2020: Hong Kong’s skateboarding scene hesitantly backs Olympic Games integration

Warren Stuart, Hong Kong’s skateboarding “godfather” – a title he accepts reluctantly – said he is excited to see skateboarding make its debut at Tokyo 2020. Photos: Xiaomei Chen

Adrian Yahrah skateboards at Tseung Kwan O Skatepark. 30MAY21 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Hong Kong’s Godfather of skateboarding Warren Stuart at Tseung Kwan O Skatepark. 30MAY21 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Children skateboard at Tseung Kwan O Skatepark. 30MAY21 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

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The 22-year-old is hopeful his performance can inspire more people to take up the sport in his home nation
He believes the stigma of being an activity for aimless youth is disappearing and thinks ‘Japan’s skateboarding level will get higher and higher’



The 22-year-old Japanese is hopeful his gold medal-winning performance at the Games will inspire more people to take up the sport in his home nation.
