Japan’s Momiji Nishiya, 13, becomes one of the youngest Olympic champion
As it is never too late to start, it is also never too early. These words were brought to life by Momiji Nishiya, an ace skateboarder and now an Olympic champion. The Tokyo Olympics are in full swing with athletes from all over the world, leaving the spectators spellbound with their exceptional performances. Among these is a 13-year-old Japanese athlete, Nishiya, who had us at the edge of our seats as she slid her way to the gold medal in the women’s street skateboarding event. With this win, she became the youngest Olympic champion in Japan. She broke the record of swimmer Kyoko Iwasaki from Barcelona Games in 1992, who was 14 when she won an Olympic gold medal.
But the victory was not as easy as it sounds. Nishiya fell in her first two attempts but bounced back in the finals. Each skater has two 45 second runs on the equipment and five shots at a one-off trick. Out of the seven, their best four scores make up their final total. She finished with a score of 15.26 points to win the gold medal. Second to her was Rayssa Leal, another 13-year-old girl from Brazil who put on a great show and earned 14.64 points. The teen athletes were the talk of the Olympic town after their spectacular win on July 26th, Monday. The bronze medal was bagged by a 16-year-old Japanese athlete, Funa Nakayama with 14.49 points.
(AP/PTI)
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to win, halfway through,’’ said Nishiya in an NHK interview. But the other skaters were encouraging me, so I felt like I could go on,” she added as reported by the Japan Times. Earlier she won the silver medal in the Summer X Games in Minneapolis 2019 and was also a runner-up in the World Championships in June. Now, last month, she again made the news as she clinched the gold medal.
“Skateboarding is fun and interesting, I hope everyone can give it a try,” Nishiya told TIME after her victory. Almost half of the participants in the event were under 18. They gave their best despite the scorching Tokyo heat at the Ariake Urban Sports Park. This shows the widespread popularity of the sport, which is barely considered serious at times. Japan is one of the countries that have a negative perspective regarding skateboarding. However, winning two medals in the same event will undoubtedly cause a shift in their mindsets.
(JEFF PACHOUD/AFP)
We hope their performances act as a source of inspiration for many other athletes who want to take up skateboarding professionally. Other than skateboarding, the Olympics committee has also accepted karate, climbing, surfing, and baseball as a discipline from now on.
Wrestler Priya Malik won a gold medal for India in the World Cadet Wrestling Championship in Hungary. Read this blog to know more about her win. You can also check out our other blogs.
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Image credits: Google