Olympic champion Horigome falls in Olympic Qualifier Series

Tokyo Olympic skateboarding champion Yuto Horigome of Japan was the big name to fall on day one of the ground-breaking Olympic Qualifier Series on Thursday, scoring 81.88 points to finish 17th, just one spot below the bar to qualify for the semi-final round.

"I am not satisfied with my performance today, but I still have a chance to secure a position in [the] Paris Olympic Games. I will work harder and try to be among Paris Olympic skateboarders," said the 25-year-old, while fellow Japanese Netsuke Kairi posted a triumphant 90.41 to qualify first.

Horigome was not alone in facing an early exit. Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Kelvin Hoefler of Brazil also failed to advance after only posting a best score of 68.44.

In the men's sport climbing competition, reigning Olympic champion Alberto Gines Lopez from Spain finished third out of 46 athletes in the bouldering qualification. South Korea's Lee Dohyun took first place with 84.9 points. Hamish Mcarthur of Britain was second with 84.6 points.

China's Pan Yufei was tied for 15th with Yannick Flohe of Germany. After Friday's competition, the top 20 athletes in overall standings will advance to the semi-final phase.

In the women's bouldering qualification, China's Luo Zhilu scored 84.8 to finish fifth among 48 climbers, behind Ievgeniia Kazbekova of Ukraine who scored 99.8 to lead the qualification.

"It feels great but the numbers are just the numbers. It's way more important that I am proud of my climbing and definitely this round is one of the best I've had," said Kazbekova.

Luo blamed her cold for failing to conquer the first route and vowed to bring a stronger performance.

"I caught a cold and it influenced me a lot. The routes were not very hard for me," she said. "I will try to get back to my best form as soon as possible."

In the women's skateboarding park qualifying round, Olympic silver medalist Kokona Hiraki had a spectacular second run and took first place after scoring 83.66 points, followed by Austrian Arisa Trew (81.09) and her mate Mizuho Hasegawa (79.03).

"I am happy that I made it full in the first run already," said Hiraki.

Chinese skateboarder Zheng Haohao failed to enter the round of last 16 after ranking 20th with 51.73.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover: A view of the men's skateboarding event during the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai, China, May 16, 2024. /CFP)