WST Street World Championship 2023 Japan: Roos Zwetsloot leads 27 into women's quarter-finals on opening day in Tokyo
The flying Dutchwoman tops open qualifying as the curtains go up on the first-ever world championships in Japan.
Skateboarding
Roos Zwetsloot led a party of 27 qualifiers into the women’s quarter-finals as skateboarding's WST Street World Championships 2023 in Tokyo got under way on Wednesday (13 December).
Zwetsloot’s second run of 60.38 gave her a five-point cushion on Pamela Rosa (55.40) with Yoshizawa Coco (51.97) qualifying third as the top Japanese skater on a day with little drama or shock featured at the Ariake Coliseum.
“It feels good. I'm really happy to qualify first,” Zwetsloot said. “Like the first run I had to get my nerves out of the way and chill and then when I landed I was in the top 28 or 29 then I could do the tricks I wanted to do.”
The top 27 from a field of 73 riders advanced to the quarter-final round where they will be joined by the five seeds - Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Nishiya Momiji, who is top of the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings; Oda Yumeka and Akama Liz also from the host country; Rayssa Leal; and Chloe Covell.
They will be split into four groups of eight for the quarterfinals set for Friday. The men’s open qualifier is on Thursday.
The event, streaming live on Olympics.com and on the official Olympics mobile app from the semi-final stage, doubles as a Paris 2024 qualifier with crucial ranking points as well as the world titles on the line.