Hawaii skateboarder Heimana Reynolds finishes 13th
Aug. 5—Reigning world champion Heimana Reynolds of Aina Haina did not make it to the finals of the Olympics' inaugural men's skateboarding park competition in Tokyo today at Ariake Urban Sports Park.
Keegan Palmer of Australia won the gold medal, followed by Pedro Barrosof Brazil for the silver and Cory Juneau of the United States who got the bronze.
Reynolds, also representing the U.S., was expected to contend for a medal but finished 13th in the field of 20. His score of 63.09 was second in his preliminary heat (the first of four flights of five skaters each ). But high scores in the ensuing rounds knocked him out of the top eight who advanced to the finals.
Reynolds, who turned 23 on Sunday, fell on his first two attempts. But on his third and final 45-second try he performed an impressive and clean run for a 63.09 score. At the time, it put him second behind fellow American Zion Wright, who scored 67.21 on his first attempt.
Reynolds, a 2017 graduate of Mid-Pacific Institute, won the world championship in 2019 after taking silver in 2018.
Skateboarding has held world championships since 2016 (not last year due to COVID-19 ). The winners of 10 of the 12 medals in those championships were competing at the Olympics today.
Palmer, 18, was the bronze medalist at the 2018 world championships. He was at his best in the finals today ; his 94.04 score on his first try was surpassed only by his own 95.83 on his final run.
Barros, whose best score was 86.14 on his first finals run, was considered one of the favorites to win coming in based on his 2018 world championship and silver medals in 2016 and 2017.
Juneau, whose 84.13 score edged the 83.14 by Luiz Francisco of Brazil, was also a bronze winner at the 2017 world championships.
Kokumai misses final Another Hawaii athlete, Roosevelt alum Sakura Kokumai of the United States, advanced out of her pool but did not advance to the final six today in the kata division of the karate competition. Kokumai finished third in her pool, with the top three advancing.
