They’re the king and queen of skateboarding – and they’re from the same town

Australia’s Keegan Palmer couldn’t work out what was most exciting. Meeting rapper Snoop Dogg on the deck. Earning high praise from skateboarding superstar Tony Hawk. Or having “one of the sickest basketball players of all time”, Devin Booker, watching him from the stands.

In the end, it was probably defending his gold medal from Tokyo and becoming the first back-to-back champion, as well as the only champion, in the event. “It’s just a wild, wild feeling,” said Palmer, who, at 21 years old, is a two-time gold medallist and a legend of his sport.

On Tuesday night, Paris time, 14-year-old Australian Arisa Trew became the country’s youngest medallist when she won gold in the park skateboarding. Twenty-four hours later, Palmer won gold in the same event.

Australia’s Keegan Palmer on his way to gold in the men’s skateboarding park finals in Paris.Credit: AP

Both grew up skating at the same bowl at Elanora on the Gold Coast, which is billed as one of the “biggest and meanest” in the country. “We’re the king and queen of skateboarding park,” he said. “And we both grew up in the same town.

“The Gold Coast is holding it down right now.”

South-East Queensland is the cradle of Australian skateboarding. Trew and her bestie, Finnish skater Heili Sirvio, train at a skating academy on the Gold Coast. Star street skateboarder Chloe Covell, also 14, lives there too. The Sunshine Coast is home to Haylie Powell and Kieran Woolley.

Paris is only the second time skateboarding has been an Olympic event. Australians and Japanese are the only countries to have won gold. There’s something special happening in Australian skating, which Palmer says is due to better investment in the sport.

Arisa Trew won gold in the women’s park skateboarding. Credit: Getty Images

“Slowly but surely we’re starting to get facilities and infrastructure behind what we do. We’ve been pushing for it for a long time. The Olympics really helped push it,” Palmer said.

But Hawk said Australians had always been leaders in world skateboarding. “Oz has been a big supporter of skateboarding, even in what they call the dead years, the early 80s, early 90s, there’s always been legendary Australian skaters,” he said.

“I’ve always thought of Australian skaters as some of the best, so I don’t think of it as a rise.”

There were only ever two people in Wednesday’s final, Palmer and the United States’ Tom Schaar. Palmer set the pace with 93.11 in the first run, but Schaar nearly touched it with his second. It all came down to the last round.

Palmer had set the bar. Schaar was chasing it. If the American out-skated him in his third attempt, Palmer would have to pull out a blinder to win. But he didn’t; his board slipped out from under him. Palmer’s last run was a victory lap. He already had the gold.

Palmer has been living in the United States, but will soon move back to south-east Queensland. He has the Los Angeles and Brisbane Games in his sights. But he’s not taking anything for granted. “I’ve got to make sure I keep up with this younger generation,” he said.

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