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Olympic Street Skateboarding action kicked off in Paris this weekend, as the world's best took to the stage to showcase their talents.
As an outdoor event, the skateboarding schedule is entirely at the mercy of the weather. Following an unfortunate downpour of rain that has postponed the Men's Street events until today, it was up to the women to open the show; an elite ensemble of 22 of skating's finest showed face, with plenty of talent apiece in each of the four preliminary heats leading into the finals. With only 8 spots in the final up for grabs, competition was hard fought. As expected, the USA and Japan put in the strongest of showings, securing the majority of the open positions as Paige Heyn and Poe Pinson advanced for Team USA and Coco Yoshizawa, Liz Akama, and Funa Nakayama did the business for Team Japan. Joining them were China's Chenxi Cui, Australia's Chloe Covell, and Brazil's Rayssa Leal.
Despite their strong standing going into the final, Team USA fell short of the podium, where Rayssa Leal came from 7th place going into the final event to scoop up a bronze medal behind a Japanese double-header: Liz Akama in second place for the silver and Coco Yoshizawa claiming gold and top spot at the second-ever Women's Street Skateboarding event at the Olympic Games.
