Under the keen observation of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and Snoop Dogg, Australia’s Keegan Palmer solidified his supremacy at the Olympic park event by clinching consecutive gold medals in central Paris.
The 21-year-old triumphed over knee injuries leading up to the Games and fierce rivalry from American Tom Schaar to claim his second Olympic title, successfully defending the gold he earned as a teenager in Tokyo.
This medal marks the second gold for Australia in the Games, following Arisa Trew’s victory in the women’s park event on Tuesday. Seventeen-year-old Keefer Wilson finished in eighth place behind Palmer after not completing a run in the final.
Arisa Trew ‘going to keep skating and pushing myself’ after winning Olympic skateboard gold – video
Palmer expressed that the significance of winning a gold medal wouldn’t fully hit him until later that evening. “Dude, I can’t even believe it, bro, I literally, like, I’m speechless,” he shared with Channel Nine.
His winning run, which was his first in the final, scored 93.11 and established an early benchmark that no one could surpass, despite the close competition – the top five skaters all scored above 91, within just two points of each other. By his final run, Palmer was already aware he had secured gold.
“I really wanted to land my next two runs because I’ve been holding back some tricks and wanted to attempt tougher stunts. I was hoping Tom would land his last run to motivate me to perform even better,” he stated. “But I’m really thrilled I got my first run down and managed to do it [win gold] again.”
The final began slowly, with six skaters stacking on their initial runs. Only Schaar and Keegan were left to finish their allotted 45 seconds. Schaar managed a score of 90.11 right before Palmer, but the Australian surpassed it, celebrating with hugs and high fives among his rivals.
Palmer soars on his way to gold. Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images
World No. 1 Tate Carew had an impressive run during his second go-round, and the audience waited with anticipation for the scores, but he only received a 91.17. Shortly after, Schaar attempted another combo that might challenge Palmer, yet the judges awarded it only a 92.23.
The world’s top skaters took the stage for their third runs, with Brazilian Augusto Akio pushing his way into medal contention. Schaar appeared poised to improve upon the Australian’s score until he fell near the end of his run, sealing the victory for Palmer.
Palmer acknowledged that luck played a role in the final. “I got really fortunate with everyone falling during their last two runs, but I had my own plan prepared if necessary,” he mentioned. “I don’t know dude, I’m just at a loss for words, I can’t believe it, man, everyone is cheering for me. I’m just ecstatic. Come on, Australia, let’s do this.”
Hawk was present to officially open the evening’s competition and remarked on Palmer’s impressive performance. “We kind of anticipated it would come down to a contest between him and Tom, and both of them brought their A-game,” he noted.
“What I appreciate about him is that he takes the most intricate vert [ramp] maneuvers and executes them in this [park] context, as I feel vert has been quite lacking in these games as a discipline.”
Palmer regarded Hawk as the “Goat of skateboarding, 100%” and felt honored to receive his acclaim. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Tony. Some of my tricks during the run, Tony invented. We owe a lot of the skateboarding events like this to Tony’s groundbreaking 900 back in the day, which propelled the sport into the limelight for us.”
Earlier, Palmer demonstrated his prowess in the preliminaries, consistently improving his scores on each run—ultimately achieving a record 93.78, the day’s highest score. This performance allowed him to go last in the evening session.
Palmer’s second run showed promise, though he stumbled partway through. His third run was a celebration as he had already claimed the gold, eliciting cheers from thousands of fans, including notable figures like Hawk and NBA star Devin Booker.
Palmer characterized himself and Trew—who won gold on Tuesday—as “the king and queen of the skateboarding park right now.” However, he acknowledged the need to improve in order to “keep pace with all the emerging talent” and to reach his aspiration of competing at his home Olympics in Brisbane in 2032.
