Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Yuto Horigome won the first stop of this year's Street League Skateboarding Championship Tour on Sunday, as Japanese men claimed the top two podium spots.
Horigome scored 28.1 points out of a possible 30 in Jacksonville, Florida, to overcome compatriot Sora Shirai, whose 27.8 points gave him a career-best second-place finish in the men's competition. Portugal's Gustavo Ribeiro finished third.
"I was really, really happy," said Horigome, the winner of the first skateboarding gold medal ever awarded at an Olympics last summer. "The (technical) level of skateboarding is constantly evolving and you can't win without getting high scores.
"I was a bit nervous but I'm glad I was able to show my own style."
In the women's event, 15-year-old Yumeka Oda missed out on the title by 0.2 points, with Brazilian skater Rayssa Leal taking home the win on 23.2 points in a down-to-the-wire final at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Olympic champion Momiji Nishiya was fourth, and Aori Nishimura was eighth.
The next stop takes place in Seattle from Aug. 13.
