Arisa Trew has become Australia’s youngest-ever Olympic gold medallist after an extraordinary final run in the women’s Skateboard Park.
Needing to top Japanese skater Cocona Hiraki’s score of 92.63, the 14-year-old laid it all on the line to land a score of 93.18 and claim Australia’s 14th gold medal of the Paris Olympics.
At just 14 years and 86 days old, she takes the crown as the youngest Australian Olympic gold medallist from swimmer Sandra Morgan, who was 14 years and 184 days old when she won gold in Melbourne 1956.
Arisa said she was incredibly proud to have created Australian Olympic history.
“I got told by a few people that I'm Australia's youngest gold medallist, which is pretty insane and really cool because that's who I'm representing, and it's just amazing,” she said.
After falling on her first run, Arisa nailed it on her second to be in the bronze medal position after the opening two runs.
She said that there were little nerves heading into her final run, and some strong words from her coach helped give her extra confidence.
“My coach was like you just got to go all out, and I was like, it’s all or nothing,” she said.
“I always knew that I wanted to be here and podium.
“The first Olympics (for Skateboarding) that really inspired me, watching all the girls and it pushed me to want be here.
“When I did that run, I just knew that I could do it. When I saw the score I was just like, what?! That's crazy.
“Landing my second run definitely gave me more confidence. I landed the kick flip indie, which is one of the harder tricks, doing that first try in the comp was just like yes, I did it.”
As the third skater to compete on each run, Arisa skated with intensity and passion on her final run in her quest to eclipse Hiraki’s score.
Opening with two 540s to set the tone, her following moves were executed cleanly and with slick precision, sending the crowd into raptures at the Place de la Concorde as she finished her 45 second run.
Anticipating a high score, the crowd cheered in elation once the score showed on the screen, with a nervous wait following as Arisa watched on the final five skaters.
Britain’s Sky Brown, the bronze medallist from Tokyo, sent a statement with final run, but came up short with a 92.31 to sit in third place behind Arisa and Hiraki.
After no other skater could match Arisa’s score, it all came down to the Japanese skater, who went out hard in an attempt to bring her name back to the top of the scoresheets.
With some impressive opening tricks, she soon faltered the landing on her last trick, securing Australia’s second ever skateboarding gold medal after Keegan Palmer’s gold in Tokyo in the men’s park event.
Hiraki finished ahead of Brown for the silver, meaning the silver and bronze winners from Paris remained the same from Tokyo three years ago.
Arisa said it was extra special to be able to share the medal moment alongside Hiraki and Brown.
“It was really cool because all the girls there are amazing skaters and it’s well deserved.”
Earlier in the day, teammate Ruby Trew also competed in the Park event but was unable to progress past the preliminary round, finishing in 11th place.
Australian Olympic Committee - Ben Waterworth
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