Australian skateboard king Keegan Palmer has achieved the prodigious feat of spinning and twisting his way to his second Olympic gold medal at the age of just 21.
After Arisa Trew had made winning park gold seem like child’s play at just 14 on Tuesday, Palmer, a grizzled veteran in comparison, followed up 24 hours later at La Concorde with his second Olympic title in the park event in three years.
He produced a series of dazzling performances, securing the best qualifying score in the morning on Wednesday before leading in the final from his outstanding opening run.
“It’s a wild, crazy feeling, dude, to be able to say I’m a two-time Olympian, let alone two-time Olympic gold medallist, it’s a crazy, crazy feeling like I literally can’t believe it,” beamed Palmer.
“I’m speechless, to be able to back up Arisa from yesterday is a dream come true. We grew up skating the same park together, Elanora in the Gold Coast. Elanora’s holding it down right now! A hundred per cent, Arisa’s gold was an inspiration for me.”
Palmer’s opening run in the final scored him 93.11 points – three clear of the rest of the field after the first round, even if not as high as his 93.78 in the prelims.
Watched by skateboard legend Tony Hawk, who had also been among the cheering fans who hailed Trew’s display the day earlier, Palmer then bailed out on his second run, while his American best friend Tom Schaar, the eventual silver medallist, got ominously close with his second-round run, scoring 92.23.
But none of his pursuers were able to match the US-based star third time out, as they crashed out while trying to match his score.
After Schaar tumbled, Palmer, the last to skate, got on his knees to celebrate and was able to to enjoy what, effectively, was a lap of honour with his last run.
But though he failed to finish it, taking a tumble, he was able to rise gingerly to his feet, hold his skateboard aloft and salute the packed, cheering crowd, which had included luminaries like Hawk, NBA superstar Devin Booker, French gold-medal laden swimmer Leon Marchand and superstar rapper Snoop Dogg.
“He gave me a little like dance on the deck, but I’m not representing America, so he probably doesn’t like me too much,” laughed Palmer of his close encounter with the Snoop.
It was the perfect follow-up for Palmer to trail in the wheeltracks of Trew, who had become Australia’s youngest ever Olympic gold medallist.
“We’re the king and queen of skateboarding park right now and we both grew up in the same town. So Gold Coast is holding it down right now,” he beamed.
Continuing the youth theme, 17-year-old Keefer Wilson, whose dad Peter built one of the southern hemisphere’s biggest skate ramps for him and his sister to use in their backyard at their home in Nyora, Victoria, produced the performance of his young life to qualify in fifth on 90.10.
But he failed to finish a run in the final, ending up eighth overall, while teammate Kieran Woolley, fifth in Tokyo, agonisingly missed out on a place in the final when he tumbled from his board after a heavy landing with just one second to go in his last run.
