Japan's Horigome bests U.S. duo in skateboard

Japan’s Yuto Horigome is a back-to-back Olympic gold medalist in men’s street skateboarding after scoring a nearly perfect 97.08 on his fifth and final trick Monday to pass Americans Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston.

Horigome’s win came in front of a charged-up Paris crowd that was much different than the empty stands in Tokyo three years ago, when skateboarding made its Olympic debut.

“It means everything,” Horigome said. “It feels like a dream, a living dream. It’s crazy. Tokyo, no one was there, no cr.owds, so I’m very happy this time [with] all the fans here. It’s a special moment.”

Horigome finished 0.1 points ahead of Eaton, who despite a brilliant showing had to settle for silver. Huston took home the bronze, an improvement after a disappointing seventh-place finish in Tokyo.

“The level of competition was unbelievable,” Eaton said. “I mean, it was arguably the greatest final in skateboarding history, and to be involved in it was really special.”

Added the 29-year-old Huston, who was still in awe of the medal around his neck an hour after competition: “It’s sick to look at it. I’ve got a ton of X Games gold medals before, but none of them look like this or feel like this.”

The 25-year-old Horigome came up empty on his second, third and fourth tricks then stunned the crowd on his final attempt. After he stuck the landing on his nollie 270 to nosebluntside, the electric audience at the packed outdoor park at La Concorde roared louder than it had before.

“When he made that, all I thought was ‘s—,'” Eaton said. “‘S—.’ I knew with that trick score, I knew that he was going to win if he landed it.”

On their respective fifth chances, Hutson and Eaton each wiped out, making Horigome an Olympic champion again.

Snoop Dogg, who has quickly become one of the celebrity faces of the Paris Games, was in attendance and gave Huston some well-deserved appreciation. Huston nailed his second run with a Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg song playing on the speakers at the park.

It did not turn out to be a winning anthem for the U.S. skateboarder, after Horigome’s final jump flipped the script at nearly the last minute.

“This moment, it makes me want to just keep pushing even harder, keep going as long as possible,” Huston said. “That’s the beautiful thing about skateboarding, is even after I’m not competing at a winning level, let’s say in whatever, five to 10 years from now, I’m still going to be skateboarding, I’m still going to be loving it, I’m still going to be having fun, still going to be putting out content street skating.”

Hutson added that although he will be 33 in 2028, he remains motivated to make it to the next Olympics, held in the city where he has lived for many years, Los Angeles.

This competition was scheduled for Saturday, but the same rain that soaked the opening ceremony down the Seine River continued overnight and into the morning, causing the postponement. World Skate cited adverse weather conditions for the move, and it was one of a handful of outdoor events affected over the weekend before skies cleared.

Sunny, warm weather greeted the skateboarders Monday, with temperatures hovering around 86 degrees Fahrenheit late in the preliminary round and throughout the final. The stands remained packed despite the heat and France’s Vincent Milou and Aurélien Giraud not making it through the prelims.

Also not reaching the final were 14-year-old Japan skateboarder Ginwoo Onodera, who was making his Olympic debut, and Chris Joslin from the U.S.

ESPN’s Coley Harvey and The Associated Press contributed to this report.