WST Dubai Park 2024: Tate Carew soars in semis to bag pole position for men’s skateboard final
The 18-year-old American had the crowd fixated as he punched his ticket to the final along with seven other skaters on a night of high-octane action at the Dubai Harbour, streaming live on Olympics.com and the official Olympics mobile app.
Skateboarding
Tate Carew had the rest of the pack chasing after stunning with a 93.04 semi-final run to qualify in first for the men’s final at skateboarding's WST: Dubai Park 2024.
Ominously for the rest of the field, the 18-year-old initially soared to the top of the leaderboard on Saturday (2 March) with a first-run score of 93.00, sending the crowd wild before then improving it on the third. His enormous tail grab 540 proved a particular crowd-pleaser with his family leading the excitement from the stands.
Carew's marker, set in heat one proved a tall order for the rest to follow.
World champion Gavin Bottger was the only other skater to breach the 90 mark putting down a 90.00 in his opener, before using his two remaining runs to test out some upgrades. He qualified in second ahead of Australia’s Kieran Woolley in third.
Woolley was one of just three skaters from the second heat to make it to the final eight, highlighting the height of the bar set by Carew. Italy’s Alex Sorgente and Spain’s Danny Leon were the other two, qualifying in fourth and seventh respectively.
It was a tough night for Brazil with just one of their skaters making Sunday's final. Olympic silver medallist Pedro Barros and top qualifier Augusto Akio, both failed to string together a complete run in three attempts.
As for Olympic Champion Keegan Palmer, he was unable to put down anything significant after reportedly suffering an injury. The Olympic champion opted to drop in still to secure a final position and Olympic World Skate Ranking points.
All eyes will now be on Sunday's final which will be streaming live on Olympics.com and the official Olympics mobile app. The event doubles as a Paris 2024 Olympic qualifier with crucial ranking points on the line.
WST Dubai Park 2024: Men's semi-final results and best run scores
The top 8 advanced to the final.
- Tate Carew (USA) - 93.04
- Gavin Bottger (USA) - 90.00
- Kieran Woolley (AUS) - 89.32
- Alex Sorgente (ITA) - 88.27
- Viktor Solmunde (DEN) - 87.20
- Pedro Quintas (BRA) - 86.27
- Danny Leon (ESP) - 84.93
- Hampus Winberg (SWE) - 83.41
- Pedro Carvalho (BRA) - 82.96
- Nagahara Yuro (JPN) - 81.99
- Keefer Wilson (AUS) - 81.50
- Luiz Francisco (BRA) - 80.00
- Alessandro Mazzara (ITA) - 77.62
- Augusto Akio (BRA) - 75.42
- Pedro Barros (BRA) - 64.43
- Keegan Palmer (AUS) - 9.50