Skateboarding Park World Championships 2022 in 2023: Jagger Eaton makes history in taking men's title
Eaton becomes the first athlete to win street and park world titles, beating Brazilian pair Augusto Akio and Pedro Barros in a thrilling World Championship final in Sharjah, streamed live on Olympics.com.
Skateboarding
Former street world champion Jagger Eaton won the men's final at the 2022 Skateboarding Park World Championships in 2023 in Sharjah on Sunday (12 February).
The American - who finished sixth in last Sunday's street world final - became the first athlete to complete the street-park world title double thanks to a score of 93.00 on his third run which moved him ahead of top qualifier Augusto Akio.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist Pedro Barros made it two Brazilians on the podium inside Aljada Skate Park in third place.
Olympic champion Keegan Palmer finished down in eighth after taking early falls on all three of his runs.
Draped in the Stars and Stripes, 2021 street world champion Eaton said afterwards, "Finishing street in sixth was a hard finish for me as I'm always trying to go for the win. I showed up this morning just so grateful to make the final with these guys. I mean, these are some of the best in the world. And just to be here with the flag on in first is just unbelievable.
"On that third run, all I said was, 'Let's make a miracle happen. I'm tired, I'm beat, but there's more in my well. I can dig a little deeper.'
"So many people know what it takes to become great at something and this is just what it takes. It just takes everything you have each time and I'm just so grateful," Eaton added to Olympics.com.
WATCH: Skateboarding | Olympic Qualifier | Finals | Park World Championships | Sharjah
As well as the world title, Eaton gained maximum points towards qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
On getting his campaign for the Games underway with a win the American said, "Looking into the future right now, I'm so grateful I started with the win and I can't wait to be at home celebrating with my family."
Earlier in the day, Sky Brown claimed her first world title ahead of Japanese pair Hiraki Kokona and Yosozumi Sakura.
Eaton digs deep to claim historic win
Barros lit up the Aljada Skate Park with a scintillating first run, ending on a fully inverted Indy 540 for a score of 90.00 which left his rivals knowing they had to leave everything out there.
He kept that lead until the end of the second round when Akio, who led the way in the semi-finals, wowed the crowd with some serious upgrades on his previous runs including a Fakie Heelflip Indy, and even jumped off and back onto his board before hitting a Back Smith 270 out at the end.
The final round looked like it would produce fireworks, Olympic bronze medallist Eaton provided them with a 93.00 after landing a flip nose blunt and blunt flip out in his third high-quality skate of the evening.
In their efforts to try and overhaul that target, the following skaters - Barros, Tom Schaar, Kieran Woolley, Palmer and Akio all fell - to hand the victory to Eaton.
Park Skateboarding World Championships 2022: Men's final results and best run scores
- Jagger Eaton (USA) 93.00
- Augusto Akio (BRA) 92.00
- Pedro Barros (BRA) 90.00
- Kieran Woolley (AUS) 89.50
- Tom Schaar (USA) 87.70
- Tate Carew (USA) 85.13
- Liam Pace (USA) 82.50
- Keegan Palmer (AUS) 21.00