Young and fearless: China’s Cui Chenxi competes in the final of the women’s street skateboarding event. — AFP
CUI Chenxi became China’s youngest Asian Games gold medallist yesterday after the 13-year-old skateboarder won the women’s street event on day four of competition in Hangzhou.
With an eye-catching performance featuring several ‘Ollies’ and a huge move off a high rail, which several of her competitors avoided, Chenxi took gold ahead of compatriot Zeng Wenhui, 18, with Japanese 16-year-old Miyu Ito taking bronze.
“I did quite well today,” Chenxi said modestly.
Chenxi, who hails from China’s eastern Shandong province, only took up skateboarding in 2020 when China’s Covid restrictions meant she could not practice rollerblading, which she began as a three-year-old.
The street competition involves skaters performing daring tricks on a course that has features that resemble an urban environment including rails and gaps.
In bright, warm and humid conditions, which felt even hotter because of the skate park’s concrete jungle nature, scores of dragonflies shared air time with the competitors as they performed their tricks.
The women’s skaters did two ‘runs’ followed by five individual ‘tricks’. Each athlete’s highest scoring run and two highest scoring tricks were then added together to reach a final score. — Reuters
