Olympic Qualifier Series Budapest Day 1 wrap-up: Sky Brown back with a bang, Nyjah Huston misses out, and sport climbing thrills fans
Check out the highlights and key moments from Day 1 of the OQS Budapest on 20 June, which included qualifying rounds in Boulder & Lead sport climbing, women's skateboard park, and men's skateboard street.
Sky Brown's stunning return from injury headlined Day 1 of the Olympic Qualifier Series Budapest on Thursday (20 June) as the British skateboarding phenom topped the standings in the women's park qualification rounds in the Hungarian capital.
Some 389 days after her last outing in a skateboard Olympic qualifier, the 15-year-old returned from a recent medial cruciate ligament tear to dominate at the Ludovika Campus in Budapest, as if she'd never missed a day.
Her 86.88 score was more than three points clear of nearest competitor Bryce Wettstein of the United States, and Brown was later overheard to say she was not fully satisfied with her run despite finishing first.
It was a sobering reminder to her rivals, however, that despite all of Brown's time away – which included an attempt to qualify, unsuccessfully, in surfing in addition to skateboarding – Brown remains one of the best skaters out there.
Nyjah Huston's bad day
There was no such luck for American skateboarder Nyjah Huston in the men's street prelims, with Houston – ranked third in the qualification standings after OQS Shanghai – making uncharacteristic mistakes in both his runs and finishing down in 29th, outside the top 16 cut.
His 65.26 second run proved to be the better of his two scores on the day, but well short of the 82.42 he needed to equal 16th place.
He was not the only big name to miss out, with fourth-ranked Gustavo Ribeiro of Portugal also not making the cutoff with a 76.91, good for 23rd overall.
There was good news, however, for Japan's Horigome Yuto, whose shock early exit in Shanghai meant he really needed to deliver in Budapest. Skating in the third of four heats due to his lower overall placing in the rankings, the defending Olympic champion appeared to be in trouble after an error-strewn first run.
However, with the pressure all on him as the last man to skate in his heat, Horigome delivered with an 86.40, which would eventually be good for seventh. Another concern of Horigome's will be that he has to overtake at least three of his Japanese teammates in the overall standings, with each National Olympic Committee only allowed two quota spots.
With Sasaki Toa topping the scores on Thursday with a big 91.41, and five of the six Japanese men competing making the semi-final cut, Horigome's work remains cut out for him.
Van Duysen springs surprise in sport climbing
Belgium's Hannes van Duysen is the surprise leader in the men's Boulder & Lead sport climbing event after Thursday's Boulder qualifications, with the 14th-ranked Boulder climber holding a slim lead over Czechia's Adam Ondra.
The 19-year-old Van Duysen made Top on his first and third problems and the high zone on his second and fourth boulders, each on the first attempt, scoring 70.0 points.
Ondra, who needed two goes at reaching the high zone on the second problem while matching Van Duysen on the other three, is right behind on 69.9 points, with reigning Olympic champion Alberto Ginés López – the only man to successfully reach Top on the fourth problem all day – in third on 64.5.
There was better luck for the women, with seven of them achieving four Tops. Leading the way was Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Nonaka Miho, who looked comfortable all day on the wall.
She only needed an extra attempt on the first and fourth problems, seeing her drop 0.2 points off the maximum possible 100 and giving her an early leg up on her friend and compatriot Ito Futaba, with whom she is competing for a single quota spot.
Italy's Camilla Moroni is 0.2 points further behind on 99.6, while Brooke Raboutou and her U.S. teammate Anastasia Sanders share third place on 99.5 points.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective teams at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at Paris 2024 depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation. Click here to view the qualification system for each sport.
You can watch the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) in Budapest from 20 to 23 May live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices.
