Showmanship meets sportsmanship as Keegan Palmer strikes skateboarding gold for a second time at Paris 2024
Keegan Palmer stood braced with his skateboard in his hand waiting as the crowd rose to its feet.
Cheers sounded out; the 21-year-old bounced on his toes in anticipation and with a final blessing from Tom Schaar, the Australian burst into life diving into the depths of the park bowl.
It was the start of his victory lap.
On a balmy Wednesday afternoon in Paris, Palmer had achieved what he had always set out to do: successfully defend his Olympic park title.
In victory, he had become the second skateboarder to become a back-to-back Olympic champion, following the lead of Japan’s Yuto Horigome in the men’s street contest over a week ago.
He did it too in some style, wrapping up the victory in his opening run effort of 93.11 with no skater able to better his proposition. USA’s Schaar came closest with his 92.23 final run.
Palmer, with the win in the bag, didn’t complete his third and final attempt. About halfway through the time, the Australian bailed attempting a trick but he did waste a second longer to savour the moment.
Climbing to the top of the vert volcano, the star of the afternoon’s performance turned to the audience to properly receive his standing ovation. He bowed in gratitude before raising his board with his right hand, tugging out the Australian sigil with his left.
The consummate showman had delivered again and they were all entertained.
Bronze medalist Augusto Akio of Team Brazil balanced his skateboard on his chin to the amazement of the crowd.
Showmanship in all its splendour had come from all corners of the skate park throughout the afternoon.
Augusto Akio, the eventual bronze medallist, stopped at every junction to delight fans with his juggling. The energy he drew from their awe as he flexed his skills with the Brazilian-flavoured clubs, he continued to feed back.
Seconds after putting down his 91.85 closing run, the effort that would see him to the podium, not even his board was safe as he balanced it on his chin against the backdrop of the Olympic rings.
Like Akio, Pedro Barros too was in constant dialogue with fans. Asking first for their cheers he would then turn to them following his attempts for approval, and not even the celebrities gathered to observe the park final were safe.
Olympic superfan and music megastar Snoop Dogg, USA Basketball star Devin Booker and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk obligingly applauded after Barros gestured out a bow in anticipation towards their direction.
But though there were bags of bravado, the was also plenty of sportsmanship.
The slapping sound of skateboards hitting the coping as skaters expressed their appreciation punctuated the general applause.
When Barros' final attempt came up 0.20 points shy of Akio in third, the Brazilian trio formed a giant bear hug letting all their emotions out.
“I grew up watching him skate. I would watch videos of him every day when I was 10 years old,” Akio said of Barros, the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist and his good friend. “The message he has always conveyed is about unity, respect and acknowledgement. He has been a flagbearer of all these principles.”
Tate Carew, another skater came up just short of the podium and was the first on the scene to celebrate as the medals found their athletes. The U.S. skater later jumped into the bowl Barros to lift Palmer up on their shoulders to celebrate his victory.
It was a perfect harmony between the very best of skateboarding and the very best of the skateboarders.
“It’s just skateboarding in general,” Olympic silver medallist Schaar reflected on the atmosphere afterwards.
“It’s not like I’m going to beat him because he beat me or anything - we’re all cheering for each other.
“I yelled at [Keegan] on his last run. He had already won but I was like, ‘You better give them a show!’ he concluded. “It is supposed to be a camaraderie”.
Gold medalist Keegan Palmer of Team Australia (C), Silver medalist Tom Schaar of Team United States (L) and Bronze medalist Augusto Akio of Team Brazil (R) celebrate on the podium after the Men's Park Final
Palmer, the primary subject of the positivity having won for a second time, was more than thankful for the love.
“It’s a wild, wild, wild feeling,” the newly minted gold medallist reflected afterwards. “I’m going to get speechless and a little bit repetitive with my answers but you know, it is wild.”
Though it had been anticipated that skater would do well in Paris having shown serious form in the last-chance Olympic qualifiers ahead of the Games and then topping prelims, in truth, Palmer faced several setbacks in his quest to defend his title.
The start of his Olympic qualification campaign, some two years ago, was mostly littered with injuries preventing him from really ever taking off. In 2023 he was forced to miss the World Championships in Ostia, Rome where Gavin Bottger ultimately prevailed. Then in 2024, he struggled for fitness again.
“I don’t like to make too many excuses but I have had a lot of knee injuries on both knees,” he admitted to Olympics.com after his victory in Budapest in June.
“I tore my meniscus at the start of this year and I had to get surgery. I got a bone bruise in my left knee and fractured the top of my kneecap on my left knee. A whole bunch of stuff.”
But the fire in Palmer never dimmed even with the injury troubles. Rehab, patience and a desire to keep up with the fresh pace being set by his friends helped the skater reconnect with his winning form until eventually, all he needed was the stage to show it again.
And that, he did.
“It just feels so good to have a body that’s at 100 per cent,” Palmer said with the gold medal around his neck. “It’s a dream come true. I literally can’t believe it.”