Keegan Palmer Retains Olympic Skateboard Crown

There were two main events, two gold medals, and just one winner: Keegan Palmer. Under the watchful eyes of skateboarding legends Tony Hawk and Snoop Dogg, Aussie Keegan Palmer solidified his rule of the Olympic park event by winning back-to-back gold medals in Paris. The 21-year-old struggled with knee issues in the lead-up to the Games, as well as strong competition from American Tom Schaar. Still, he won his second Olympic crown, defending the gold medal he earned in Tokyo as a youngster.

Just after Arisa Trew's gold in the women's park on Tuesday, this victory marks Australia's second gold medal of the Games among the four skateboarding events on the schedule. Keefer Wilson, 17, finished in eighth place behind Palmer after failing to complete a run in the final. Palmer immediately stated that winning a gold medal would most likely not set in until later that night. "Dude, I can't even believe it, bro, I, like, I'm speechless.”

Photo bySasha BondonUnsplash

Keegan Palmer Steals The Gold For Australia

Palmer's victory run was his first-ever in the final. Surprisingly, he scored 93.11 and set an early standard that no one could equal. Even as the field tightened - the top five skaters all scored above 91 and were separated by only two points. But by his final run, Keegan Palmer knew he had won the gold. “I really wanted to land my next two runs because I’ve been saving [tricks] and also wanting to do harder stuff,” Gold Medalist said. "And I wanted Tom to land that last run to push me to be able to do my next run even better. But I’m happy I got my first run down and I was able to do it [win gold] again.”

The final began slowly, with six skaters stacked on their opening run. It left Schaar and Keegan Palmer with only 45 seconds to finish their task. Schaar finished ahead of Palmer with a 90.11, but the Australian outperformed him, celebrating with hugs and high-fives.

The world's finest skaters excelled in their third runs, with Brazilian Augusto Akio putting himself into medal contention. Schaar appeared to be on track to beat the Australian's score until he pulled off his run with seconds to go, awarding the Australian gold. Of course, Keegan Palmer tried all his best tricks and the ultimate result was in his favor.

Palmer's Journey in Paris Olympics 2024

Earlier, Keegan Palmer had improved his form throughout the first round, beating his previous best on each of his runs and finally achieving a 93.78, the highest score recorded all day. This offered him the benefit of going last in the event. Palmer's second run seemed good, before a stack halfway through. And his third was a celebration after he had already won gold, with thousands of supporters, as well as VIPs like Hawk and NBA player Devin Booker. All expressed their gratitude for the Australian's efforts.

Andy MacDonald (GBR) deserves special recognition since, at 51, he was the oldest athlete in the field. Despite failing to qualify, his efforts earned acclaim from skateboard great Tony Hawk, and MacDonald was beaming as he made his last run. They told his kids over the camera: "Your dad's in the Olympics." Overall, there were fantastic efforts by great athletes. But at the end of the day, there is only one winner. And that is Keegan Palmer.

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Article originally written by Zartash Zulfiqar