World champions past and present Oda Yumeka and Sasaki Toa won the women’s and men’s titles, respectively, at the Japan Skateboarding Championships in Osaka on Sunday ( October 7).

Oda won last year’s world championship in Tokyo but failed to qualify for the Paris 2024 Games.  Nevertheless, she prevailed over Olympic gold and silver medallists Yoshizawa Coco and Akama Liz to top the podium for the second consecutive year.

Sasaki, the men’s champion at the World Skate Games Italia 2024 last month, first qualified for the final and held on for his maiden title. Two-time defending champion Onodera Ginwoo withdrew before the heats.

With a score of 285.42 in the two-run, five-trick final, the 17-year-old Sasaki beat out Nagai Taiga (274.56) and Yashima Rio (269.58) in tallying the domestic silverware to his world crown.

“I’m glad I won here. It’s a good start towards LA28,” Sasaki told reporters. “I want to keep adding more tricks to my bag.”

Oda finished with 261.87, comfortably ahead of Yoshizawa (249.68) and Akama (248.62).

17-year-old Oda said, “The level in Japan is going up but I was still able to show my skills. I’m happy with the championship but there are better skaters than me out there in the world.”

The popularity of skateboarding is on the rise among youngsters. With a successful run at the Paris Olympics 2024, the sport will once more have a starring role at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. 

Skateboarding officially made a debut as an Olympic sport at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.

Following events in Paris, five countries have won Olympic medals in skateboarding: Japan, Australia, Brazil, United States and Great Britain.

Japan leads the way with nine medals in total – five gold, three silver and one bronze.

Also Read: Sports That Missed Paris Olympics But Will Feature At LA 2028

At LA28, the street and park skateboarding events are due to be held at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California.

The Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area – where the 405 and 101 freeways meet – is the second largest urban park in LA and will for the first time play host to three of the Olympics staged in the Valley.