Tokyo Olympics: Yuto Horigome ushers in a new era of skateboarding in Japan
- 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’
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.”
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.
