Team USA skateboard defeated, but still hoping for big win

PARIS — Americans Poe Pinson and Paige Heyn finished fifth and sixth, respectively, at the women’s street skateboarding final Sunday evening at the Paris Olympics at La Concorde, the best team finish ever for U.S. skateboarding and an improvement from the last Games.
Skateboarding was first introduced as an Olympic sport three years ago in Tokyo. There, American Alexis Sable finished fourth in the women’s street skate; this was the first time Team USA had two athletes qualify for the finals. 
Japan dominates this sport globally and did so Sunday, with 14-year-old Coco Yoshizawa winning gold (272.75) and Liz Akama taking home the silver (265.95). Rayssa Leal of Brazil pulled off an upset, winning bronze with 253.37. Funa Nakayama, the third Japanese skater, finished seventh. 
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“Honestly I wasn’t really even concerned about a medal to be 100% real,” said Pinson, who scored a 222.34. “I made it into the Olympics last minute and then didn’t expect to make it to the finals, made it to the finals and was like, ‘whoa.’ It was crazy. I’ve never really been the type to expect the medal.
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She smiled, and got even more real: “I like to use the adrenaline I get to try tricks that are scary for me,” she said.
For a time, it looked as if Pinson, 19, might hang on for the bronze. She scored a 36.75 in her first run, but improved to 50.18 on her second (athletes have two runs in the finals and toss out the lower score). She scored 83.73 and 88.43 on the trick portion of the event. 
But the fourth trick thrown by Yoshizawa, the eventual gold medalist, moved her into the lead – she scored a whopping 96.49 – and bumped Pinson to fourth. With a total score of 222.34 going into the fifth trick – athletes throw five tricks total and keep the two best scorers – Pinson fell off her board. Her head phones went tumbling and she landed on her back. She threw her arms wide, and a smile spread across her face. 
“I didn’t even really land my run but I’m always happy if I can walk away, like walk away, you know, because there have been a few times where I have not been able to walk away,” Pinson said afterward. “It’s risky, it’s very taxing. Learning all these tricks is basically just slamming against the concrete for hours.” 
Heyn, 16, was expected to contend for a medal after winning bronze at the World Championships last year. She did not stop to speak with the media after the event. 
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Pinson isn’t sure if including skateboarding, which the IOC did in an effort to bring in a younger, more diverse audience, is serving its purpose. She acknowledged Sunday that adding the sport was “a little controversial in skateboarding because it’s mixing with the values of ‘core’ skateboarding,” which most associate with being counter-culture and on the margins (Pinson described the idea of core skateboarding as “just, like, a bunch of old dudes.”)
Still, she’s happy if anything, including becoming an Olympic sport, makes it so “more people can experience the joy of skateboarding.”
She’s not sure who’s tuning in though. She admitted that though she’s an Olympic athlete herself “personally I’ve never really watched other sports really.” 
But she’s thinking of making an exception for Paris. Now that she’s done with her event, she’s excited to get her Olympic fix now. On her event wish-list: Gymnastics (her first sport), diving (she’s tried it and relates to “how insane it is”), golf (she’s recently taken it up) and, interestingly enough, race walking. 
“That’s just crazy to me. They can walk faster, their body can just glide across the ground faster than I can jog,” Pinson said. 
Email Lindsay Schnell at [email protected] and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell