Gold Coast skateboarding prodigy Keegan Palmer has successfully defended his Olympic title from Tokyo, making it back-to-back gold in Paris.
The 21-year-old came out firing with his first run, scoring a 93.11 to take the lead after the opening round.
His second run didn’t go to plan, coming off his skateboard.
American Tom Schaar closed the gap after his second run to just 0.88 points.
It all came down to Shaar’s final run but he came off his skateboard, handing the gold medal to Palmer whose first run ended up being enough.
“I’m speechless. I just can’t believe it,” Palmer said after his victory was confirmed.
“Everyone’s just yelling at me. I’m just so happy. Come on Australia.”
Palmer’s gold comes just 24 hours after fellow Gold Coaster Arisa Trew claimed gold in the women’s park event.
While Palmer was born in San Diego, he was raised on the Gold Coast and says he’s proud to call himself an Australian.
“It’s where I learnt to how to walk, talk, skate, surf…and I feel like I owe it to Australia and the Gold Coast where I learnt how to skate,” Palmer told Channel Nine.
“So it just felt right for me and I’m beyond stoked to be able to bring it home for the green and gold.”
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Palmer’s gold capped off a magical day for Australia in Paris with four golds in total, our best day at a Games ever.
It also saw Australia claim its 18th gold, breaking our previous record of 17 from Athens in 2004.
Sailor Matt Wearn claimed gold in the men’s dinghy after earlier having his event delayed because of a lack of wind.
Our men’s cyclists beat Great Britain to win gold in the team pursuit.
While Nina Kennedy became the first Aussie woman to win an Olympic field event after taking out the pole vault.
