A Son of Tokyo Wins Skateboarding’s First Gold

Yuto Horigome won gold in the men’s street competition only eight miles from where he grew up, and after Nyjah Huston fell four times in a row.

TOKYO — With its street-riding roots, youthful vibe and full immersion into culture of all kinds, skateboarding was invited to the Olympics because its global reach could no longer be denied. But it only had to look across town for its first Olympic champion. Yuto Horigome, the 22-year-old son of a Tokyo taxi driver, had the gold medal for men’s street skateboarding draped around his neck on Sunday in an empty, sun-drenched skatepark about eight miles from where he grew up.