Brazil's Augusto Akio qualified in first place for the men's final at the 2022 Skateboarding Park World Championships in 2023 in Sharjah on Saturday (11 February).
The 22-year-old from Curitiba was the consummate showman both off the Aljada Skatepark bowl and on it, juggling ahead of his run before wowing the crowds with an unmatched 88.76 opening run in the semi-final.
Up until the quarter-finals, the best score from two 45 second runs has been used to judge the skaters. For the semi-final and final, a best-of-three 45 second runs format is employed with the addition that if the skater falls, the run automatically ends.
Finishing just behind the Brazilian were Olympic champion Keegan Palmer and fellow Australian Kieran Woolley, while Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Pedro Barros ended the night in fifth.
Four skaters from the United States made it through to Sunday's eight-strong final including Olympic street skateboarding bronze medallist Jagger Eaton.
WATCH: Skateboarding | Olympic Qualifier | Men's Semi-final | Park World Championships | Sharjah
Not making it through was 16-year-old American Gavin Bottger who qualified for the semi-finals in second place.
After breaking his wrist on his second run in Friday's quarter-finals, Bottger had three pins fitted in surgery on Saturday morning.
Sporting a heavy cast and a sling, Bottger still opted to drop in without attempting anything too daring in order to secure a final position and Paris 2024 qualification points.
His efforts were rewarded with 15th place.
Another American, Heimana Reynolds, suffered a bad fall at the end of his third semi-final run and was helped away after sustaining facial injuries.
The competition concludes on Sunday with the women's and men's finals beginning at 17:10 local time (UTC +4) streaming live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com.
Earlier in the day, Great Britain's Sky Brown qualified in first place ahead of Kusaki Hinano in the women's semi-finals.
Park Skateboarding World Championships 2022: Men's Semi-final results and best run scores
The top eight skateboarders progress to the final
- Augusto Akio (BRA) 88.76
- Keegan Palmer (AUS) 87.56
- Kieran Woolley (AUS) 86.50
- Tom Schaar (USA) 85.06
- Pedro Barros (BRA) 84.46
- Jagger Eaton (USA) 82.20
- Tate Carew (USA) 81.33
- Liam Pace (USA) 80.00
- Steven Pineiro (PUR) 78.08
- Ash Wilcomes (AUS) 76.18
- Taylor Nye (USA) 73.06
- Joshua Dirksen (USA) 67.83
- Heimana Reynolds (USA) 60.00
- Vincent Matheron (FRA) 40.66
- Gavin Bottger (USA) 20.33
- Alessandro Mazzara (ITA) 9.33
How to watch Park Skateboarding World Championships 2022 in 2023 live
Coverage of the Park Skateboarding World Championships finals will be available to stream live on the Olympic Channel via Olympics.com without geo-restrictions.
You can find all the latest on your favourite skateboarders including news, interviews and updates from Sharjah, on Olympics.com.