Two hours later.
“Ah, it's a shame, it was so close!”
“She missed the medal!”
Cai Xiaolei sighed with some regret.
With just a little bit of luck, Cui Chenxi could have won the bronze medal.
She was originally ranked third, but in the last trick, the Brazilian athlete had an amazing performance.
She directly completed a high-difficulty move, surpassing Cui Chenxi and winning the third place.
For street skateboarding, the qualification and finals have the same format.
The top eight skaters from the preliminaries advance to the finals.
And the preliminary scores do not carry over to the finals.
The skater with the highest final score wins the championship.
This year's Paris Olympics street skateboarding event has been significantly changed in terms of rules compared to the previous Tokyo Olympics.
After all, skateboarding was included in the Olympics for the first time in Tokyo, and some aspects weren't very standardized. The scores were based on 10 points, with a system similar to diving.
However, the rules for the second Paris Olympics have become much stricter.
The event is judged based on a scoring system, with judges awarding points.
It consists of two modes: a timed mode and a single-trick mode.
The timed mode is similar to the bowl competition, where skaters showcase their skills within a limited time frame.
Each skater has two chances, with a maximum score of 100 points. The best score is taken as the final result.
In the single-trick mode, skaters have five attempts to perform high-difficulty tricks, also known as "using their big moves."
The maximum score is also 100 points, and the two highest-scoring tricks are counted towards the total score.
Therefore, theoretically, the total score in street skateboarding can reach 300 points.
Cui Chenxi's total score was 241.56.
She didn't perform well in the timed mode and only got 65.47 points.
But her single tricks were quite difficult.
Her first and second big moves were both completed well, scoring 86.98 and 89.11 points respectively!
After two rounds, she even ranked first, but the Brazilian skater surpassed her in the last jump.
The final gold and silver medals were won by Japanese skaters, who performed excellently in both the timed mode and single-trick mode.
Japan has absolute dominance in skateboarding.
Cui Chenxi could only get a bronze medal at best.
In the previous women's street skateboarding competition, Japan also took the gold and silver medals.
They won three out of four gold medals, only missing out on the men's park bowl.
The champion of the Tokyo Olympics men's street skateboarding event is also participating this time.
He is one of the undisputed "kings" of skateboarding.
He is even stronger than the two gold and silver medalists in the women's street skateboarding event.
He is here to defend his title and is definitely one of Chen Shu's main rivals in this street skateboarding event.
Horigome Yuto, a legend in skateboarding.
At 25 years old, he currently ranks 3rd in the world for street skateboarding. He was ranked first for a long time.
Therefore, the men's street skateboarding competition that Chen Shu will be participating in tomorrow will be the most brutal competition.
It's a sea of talented players!
The top 10 skaters in the world are all here!
It's much more intense than the women's competition.
In all of China, only Chen Shu is qualified to participate in the Olympic skateboarding event.
You can imagine how high the threshold for this sport is.
If Chen Shu hadn't been playing skateboarding since he was young and had the "Levitation" system, he wouldn't have been able to earn this spot.
But now, with the system, he is invincible in skateboarding.
He is the biggest "king"!
He won the championship with the intermediate-level Levitation previously.
Now, thanks to the experience he gained from winning the qualifying rounds, Chen Shu's Levitation has reached the advanced level.
He has one second more airtime than everyone else.
...
Cai Xiaolei was comforting Cui Chenxi when Chen Shu walked over.
At this time, the Chinese female skateboarders who didn't make it to the finals, Zeng Wenhui, Zhu Yuanling, and the 11-year-old Zheng Haohou, also came over.
Chen Shu greeted each of them and they gathered around Cui Chenxi.
Seeing the bronze medal slip through her fingers, Cui Chenxi was naturally heartbroken...after all, she's only 14 years old.
“It's okay, come on, win it back next time!”
Cai Xiaolei said some useless words, Cui Chenxi wiped her tears, pursed her lips, and nodded.
“Cui, watch your brother avenge you!”
Chen Shu stretched his limbs on the side, because he needed to familiarize himself with the venue.
His skateboard was next to him, a simple skateboard designed specifically for the competition.
The organizers require the skateboards to be non-customized or heavily graffitied to avoid affecting the judges' scoring and observation.
They must use skateboards that meet the competition standards.
Chen Shu was here to gain experience, so he didn't choose a skateboard with a unique design.
Just a simple black skateboard... completely black.
“Who are you calling my sister?!”
Cui Chenxi, with tears of laughter, punched Chen Shu, her mood greatly improved.
“With your height and my height, if we walk outside, no one would believe you’re older than me by half a year!”
Chen Shu chuckled.
Cai Xiaolei on the side said, “Chen Shu, hurry up and practice, you only have one hour to adapt to the venue!”
You can't practice whenever you want in the competition venue.
There are specific times for practice, and pre-competition inspection and setup need to be done as well.
“We'll accompany you, we'll go back together later!”
“Okay!”
Cui Chenxi's emotions had obviously stabilized.
Zeng Wenhui and the others sat down and watched Chen Shu, the best skater on the team, practice.
They knew about Chen Shu's abilities. Although he was only 13 years old, his high-difficulty moves had a very low failure rate. He was the strongest skateboarder on the entire team.
And...his abilities were unfathomable.
Even Cai Xiaolei didn't know what the highest-difficulty skateboarding trick he could perform was!
When Chen Shu was practicing with the team, he could easily complete the highest difficulty moves currently in the world.
Even if he created his own tricks during the competition, Cai Xiaolei wouldn't be too surprised.
However, in skateboarding competitions, the venue and stability are crucial.
The skateboarding "kings" from Japan and the US are also very skilled.
But unfamiliar venues can greatly affect a skater's performance.
It's easy to understand.
If you're familiar with the place you skate frequently, you have a feel for it, and your movements are stable.
But if it's unfamiliar, it's really difficult.
The Paris venue was announced only a month before the competition.
Many skaters only had a month to practice on similar venues.
But simulation and reality... are completely different.
This means that even if you're very strong, you're not guaranteed to win.
...
At this time, the skaters participating in the men's street skateboarding competition began to enter the venue.
They were Chen Shu's opponents tomorrow.
There were three skaters from Japan, those three "kings".
Two from the US.
And Kelvin Hoefler from Brazil, the runner-up in the previous Tokyo Olympics.
...
Chen Shu recognized many of them at a glance.
The strongest of them all was the current world's number one skateboarder, Onodera Ginun, who looked like a girl.
He wasn't tall either, only 14 years old.
But he was a skateboarding prodigy who emerged from Japan!
He had won multiple skateboarding world championships and had a very strong skill set with difficult tricks.
The second-ranked skater was also Japanese, 22-year-old Shirai Sora.
His world ranking was just behind Onodera Ginun, and he had won several station race gold medals.
The third-ranked skater was also Japanese.
The defending champion, Horigome Yuto!
These three could be considered the three generations of "kings" in Japanese skateboarding.
Similar to the three generations of "kings" in Chinese table tennis.
And Jagger Eaton from the US.
Ranked fourth in the world, he won the bronze medal in the previous Tokyo Olympics.
Nyjah Huston.
Ranked fifth in the world, the longest-reigning "GOAT" in skateboarding!
He was one of the earliest skateboarding "kings", and he is now 30 years old.
He is also the oldest participant in the skateboarding competition.
He is also the highest earner in skateboarding tournaments...
Adding Kelvin Hoefler from Brazil.
The gold, silver, and bronze medalists from the previous Tokyo Olympics, along with the top six skaters in the world ranking, were all gathered here.
Chen Shu didn't even consider the others.
“Woohoo~~~”
Jagger Eaton, ranked fourth in the world, whistled as he watched Chen Shu skate down with his skateboard.
Many people in the venue knew Chen Shu.
He had met many of them during the skateboarding Olympic qualifying rounds.
The competition was held in Shanghai, where Chen Shu competed under his club's name and won the championship.
The runner-up was the current world's number one, Onodera Ginun.
The third-place finisher was this American guy.
It was clear that several people were dissatisfied with Chen Shu.
Because before the qualifying rounds, Chen Shu had no fame at all.
He relied on home advantage, judge scoring, and "luck" to complete two high-difficulty moves and secure first place.
He must have some skills.
But since he hadn't competed many times, those who play skateboarding naturally wanted to test him.
Many people had gathered around Chen Shu.
This was the atmosphere in the skateboarding world.
Head coach Yu Wenhao frowned slightly at this sight.
But coach Cai Xiaolei smiled, “It's okay, Old Yu, these guys are just provoking him. I think we're in for a good show!”
In the skateboarding world, strength speaks for itself.
Even during practice, the person who can complete the most difficult moves is considered the king.