Olympic skateboarding champion Horigome Yuto eyes second gold in Paris: 'I’ve been able to discover the new me'
In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, the inaugural men's street skateboarding gold medallist opens up about his fight within and how he's rediscovered himself and his love for the game.
Skateboarding
Horigome Yuto is alright. About a year ago, however, he wasn’t.
In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, the Olympic men’s street skateboarding champion admitted to post-Games mental struggles he has since overcome and vowed to reboot his Paris 2024 qualifying campaign in Rome next month after flopping at this year’s World Championships.
“Compared to a year ago, I can see who I am and I’m really enjoying skating again,” Horigome said ahead of the launch of Uprising Tokyo, the contest he is competing in and also helped produce.
“I couldn’t keep up with all the changes after the Olympics but I’ve learned to control myself now. I’ve learned to heed advice and I’m doing the things I really want to do.”
Horigome shot to global stardom after winning the gold medal at Tokyo 2020 where skateboarding made its Games debut.
The sport has spread rapidly around the world, spawning new competitions like 'Uprising'. Its athletes, like Horigome, have gained fame in places and ways they were not familiar with prior to skateboarding’s joining the Olympic programme.
Becoming an Olympic champion entitled Horigome to money, privileges and opportunities, but it came at a cost - Horigome himself.
Horigome Yuto on Paris 2024: 'The dream remains unchanged'
While competing and winning medals in future Games is now a dream of many kids on wheels, Horigome didn’t take up skateboarding because of the Olympics.
The downtown Tokyo native fell in love with riding because it was a great way to spend time with his friends. He wanted to be like his heroes Shane O’Neill, Paul Rodriguez and Eric Koston.
As an extension of all that, the Tokyo 2020 Games came along. Horigome said topping the Olympic podium in his hometown is a memory he will cherish for a lifetime, but what came afterward was difficult to navigate - even for someone with a huge bag of tricks like Horigome.
“I started realising some of my dreams one by one,” the 24-year-old recalled. “I got to a point where I actually had a shot at appearing in the first Olympics (for skateboarding). People started saying I was a gold-medal bet, my family was really into it.
“It was a massive event that all of Japan was paying attention to. But even getting there, there were struggles within. I was absolutely thrilled and very relieved I won a gold medal but after the Games, my surroundings changed.
“My life changed so radically. Little by little, I could no longer do the things I was doing since I was a kid. People around me were saying do this, or don’t do that. There were all kinds of restrictions.
“I started losing sight of who I really was. I felt handcuffed. I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. I felt erased.”
Horigome says he is at peace now and enjoying skateboarding again, after going back to his roots - spending more time with family and friends, skating in locations that he used to during his days of innocence.
In February at the Worlds in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, Horigome didn’t even make it out of qualifying, a result that left everyone bewildered as he was considered one of the favourites.
But as disappointing as the outcome was with the championships being a Paris qualifier, Horigome can live with it. He knows what went wrong and how to adjust for the World Skateboarding Tour competition in Rome from 18 to 25 June.
“You have good days and bad days in skateboarding, as with anything else. I just didn’t skate very well on the day at the time. It was a while ago so I don’t remember it very well but I was OK. In hindsight I had the wrong gameplan. I didn’t skate to standards.
“If I’m in a competition I’m out to win it. The result was incredibly frustrating. I hope to use it as motivation for bouncing back. Things like that don’t happen to me very often.
“I know looking from the outside, people will think I’ve lost a step but I went through somethings, mentally. It was tough, I was overthinking but I’m looking forward to myself from hereon. Hey, it’s not interesting if I’m on top all the time.
“First things first, I want to make sure to secure qualification for the Paris Olympics.”
The emotional undulation Horigome has gone through has only strengthened his resolve to return to the summit next year in the French capital.
While the reasons are different, he very much wants to sling another gold around his neck.
“That dream remains unchanged. I definitely want to repeat as champion, primarily because I feel differently about the Olympics since Tokyo,” he said.
“For the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, it was being held at home, it was the first Games for skateboarding and I really wanted to ride well there. I wanted to win a gold medal and that was my goal.
“(For Paris), I’ve been able to discover the new me and there are various things I want to do now, one of the things being further telling the story of street culture.
“I want to do well in Paris and win a gold medal there so I can tell a deeper, better story.”