Monster Energy congratulates Nyjah Huston on taking first place in Men's Skateboard Street in the 2023 World Skateboarding Tour competition in Rome.
ROME, Italy, June 26, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Nyjah is back to his winning ways! Monster Energy congratulates Nyjah Huston on taking first place in Men's Skateboard Street in the 2023 World Skateboarding Tour competition in Rome. In the official 'Road to Paris 2024' qualifier event for the upcoming summer Olympics, the 28-year-old from Laguna Beach, California, claimed the top spot and important ranking points.
Huston was joined on the podium by 30-year-old Kelvin Hoefler from São Paulo, Brazil, in third place on the strength of a strong performance.
From June 18-25, the 2023 World Skateboarding Tour (WST) contest attracted skateboarders from across the globe to Parco di Colle Oppio skatepark, directly adjacent to the Colosseum historic landmark in the Italian capital. Showcased by World Skate, the official international governing body for skateboarding in the Olympics, the competition offered $200,000 in prize money and qualifier points for the upcoming Olympic Summer Games.
In the Men's Skateboard Street event, the eight finalists hailed from Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Portugal, and the United States. Winners were decided on compound scores, including the best of two Run scores, as well as the top-scoring two Best Trick Attempts.
Heading into Sunday's final, Huston was looking to return to the winner's circle after recovering from a knee injury that had sidelined the Team USA skateboarder for the majority of the 2022 season.
Huston put the rest of the pack on notice by posting a perfect run on his first attempt, including switch frontside tailslide the big Hubba, 360 kickflip the kicker, kickflip backside disaster the quarterpipe, kickflip frontside boardslide the Euro Gap rail, blunt kickflip the quarterpipe, Half Cab crooked the rail into bank, kickflip backside lipslide the flat rail, Half Cab kickflip the kicker, and Half Cab backside Smith grind 180 out the big Hubba for a whopping 90.00 points.
When the contest moved into Best Trick attempts, Huston maintained the upper hand by posting switch heelflip frontside tailslide (92.55 points) and switch heelflip frontside 5-0 (89.92 points) down the big Hubba. As the exclamation mark to an outstanding performance, Huston upped the ante by landing a nollie heelflip backside tailslide fakie (93.96 points) to bring his total score to 276.51 points for the win.
Speaking on his recovery, Huston said: "It was a hard comeback because that was my first serious injury ever. I definitely didn't picture that I'd be in this position right now. It was a ton of hard work, and I've been hungry for a win. We got one! USA, let's go!"
Asked how he edged ahead of the competition in the final, Huston said: "It's a momentum thing. You get a good first run down, and that helps you carry that momentum through the contest. I was feeling confident out there. We made it happen!"
A six-time street skateboarding world champion, Nyjah Huston represented the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Known as the winningest street skateboarder of all time, he is currently the only athlete ever to win X Games gold medals on five continents.
Also advancing to a podium finish, Brazilian team rider Hoefler raised the bar by posting the highest Run score of Sunday's finals. His second run featured kickflip frontside nosegrind the Hubba, sugarcane grind the rail, 360 kickflip lipslide the Euro Gap rail, frontside blunt the quarterpipe, backside tailslide the rail into bank, kickflip backside lipslide the flat rail, nollie frontside lipslide fakie the flat rail and a switch frontside tailslide 270 out the big Hubba for 91.51 points.
In Best Trick, Hoefler finessed a Half Cab to backside Smith grind 180 out the tall Hubba for 84.82 points. After missing the landing on his next attempt, Hoefler secured his podium finish by landing a Half Cab backside nosegrind 180 out the big Hubba for 82.95 points, bringing his total score to 259.28 for third place.
Hoefler is a two-time X Games gold medalist and took home the silver medal in Men's Skateboard Street at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
For Sunday's Women's Skate Street Final, the roster featured eight riders hailing from Australia, Brazil, and Japan. Monster Energy's Rayssa Leal came to Rome fresh off taking the win in the SLS World Tour competition in Chicago in April and taking gold at X Games Chiba 2023 in May. In February, the 15-year-old Brazilian ripper claimed the title in the World Skate 2022 World Championships in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In Rome, Leal emerged from the highly contested semifinal in second place. But the finals proved challenging for the Olympic silver medalist. While several competitors posted perfect runs, Leal lost the handle on the opening trick of Run 1, leaving her overall score riding on putting together a perfect second run.
No stranger to grace under pressure, Leal put together backside lipslide the big rail, frontside nosegrind the Hubba, frontside bluntslide the flat rail, gap to backside Smith grind the big Hubba, backside 50-50 the bump to rail and a near-miss backside tailslide the big Hubba for 70.00 points.
Not getting the Run score she wanted, Leal had to bring her A-game to Best Trick attempts. On her first try, she posted a technical gap to frontside bluntslide the big Hubba for 85.91 points. After taking a heavy slam on the second attempt, Leal skipped the third attempt to recover. Next, she showed her grit by landing a perfectly poised backside Smith grind the tall rail for 84.66 points. With everything depending on her last attempt, Leal opted for a risky kickflip backside tailslide and missed, finishing closely off the podium in fourth place.
Hailing from Brazil, Leal ranges among the sport's top competitors: In 2019, she made history as the youngest rider to ever win an SLS tour stop at age 11 and took second place at the SLS World Championship in Brazil that year. Leal represented Brazil in the Tokyo Olympics and claimed the silver medal in the Women's Skateboard Street event.
For more on Nyjah Huston, Kelvin Hoefler, Rayssa Leal and the Monster Energy skateboarding team visit http://www.monsterenergy.com. Follow Monster Energy on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok for exclusive updates as the action sports season continues.
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About Monster Energy
Based in Corona, California, Monster Energy is the leading marketer of energy drinks and alternative beverages. Refusing to acknowledge the traditional, Monster Energy supports the scene and sport. Whether motocross, off-road, NASCAR, MMA, BMX, surf, snowboard, ski, skateboard, or the rock and roll lifestyle, Monster Energy is a brand that believes in authenticity and the core of what its sports, athletes, and musicians represent. More than a drink, it's the way of life lived by athletes, sports, bands, believers, and fans.
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