WST Street Skateboarding Rome 2023: Nyjah Huston dominates men's final - Full results
The American star was second in the run and a clear first in the trick section as he defended his title in the Italian capital ahead of Shirai Sora and Kelvin Hoefler.
Skateboarding
Nyjah Huston was a cut above the rest as he retained his men's title at WST Street Skateboarding Rome 2023 on Sunday (25 June).
The American posted 90.00 on his run to leave him second behind Olympic silver medallist Kelvin Hoefler but scored 92.55 with his first trick to take control of the competition.
Huston then had an 89.92 which he dropped thanks to a spectacular fourth-round effort of 93.96 for a winning total of 276.51.
That left him 17 points clear of the field with Japan's Shirai Sora hitting two 90+ tricks to finish on 263.36 and Brazilian Hoefler (259.28) rounding out the podium to earn valuable qualification points for Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Draped in the Stars and Stripes, the defending champion reflected on his first contest win since his injury last August: "Last year went well, then a couple of months later I was street skating and tore an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). It was a hard comeback because that was my first serious injury ever and I definitely didn’t picture I would be in this position right now. It was a ton of hard work and I’ve been hungry for a win so, we got one."
Speaking on the nature of his dominant win which began with a strong run score Huston said: "It’s a momentum thing. You get a good first run down it really helps you carry that momentum through the rest of the contest.
"I was feeling confident out there and we made it happen."
Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Jagger Eaton was way behind on the run and fell on his first three trick attempts. But the American showed his competitive instincts with two 90+ tricks at the end to take sixth place in a high-quality final.
Top qualifier Aurelien Giraud only scored 65.47 on his run leaving him with a mountain to climb. And the Frenchman failed to land his trademark jump over the hubba as he did in the semi-finals, falling on all five of his attempts as he ended in eighth place.
Earlier in the evening, Liz Akama won a dramatic women's final from Chloe Covell.