“I am very happy to be the youngest (Japanese gold medalist) in my first Olympics… My tears welled up,” Westinghouse told reporters after receiving the medal.
Each skater has two runs of 45 seconds on the equipment and makes five shots on a one-time trick. The best four of their seven made up their final total score.
“I was nervous in the first round, but then I was not nervous,” Nishiya said, adding that she wanted to win a second gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
But first, to celebrate her victory, she will “go to the beef barbecue restaurant for dinner.”
Skateboarding is one of the four sports that debuted in Tokyo, as well as surfing, sports climbing and karate as part of an attempt to bring the Olympics to young audiences.
American diving athlete Marjorie Gestring is still the youngest individual Olympic champion after winning the 3 million springboard championship at the 1936 Berlin Olympics with a record of 13 years and 268 days.
