In his final trick-filled run at the X Games on Saturday (23 July), S. O’Neill placed first in the skateboard street category for the first time in 18 years. The 32-year-old had previously placed second at the 2016 X Games in Oslo.
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S. O’Neill Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: Currently Ranked Fourteenth in the World for Olympic Street Skateboarding
Vincent Milou, on the other hand, had made a tremendous leap from tenth to first in his third run and had maintained that position all since.
The American Nyjah Huston and the Japanese Horigome Yuto were most likely to challenge the 25-year-old for the top spot, but it was S. O’Neill’s final run that surpassed the Frenchman.
Horigome completed off the podium with the bronze medal, but Huston’s unusually error-ridden performance dropped him to fifth place.
S. O’Neill Men’s Street Skateboarding Event
S. O’Neill, who competes in the men’s street skateboarding event, has not complained about the heat and humidity in Tokyo, unlike many other participants.
Before he took his first official Olympic drop, his team-issued dark green jersey and even darker leggings were pouring soaked.
This was not his day, as the 2016 world champion with 1,400,000 Instagram followers is a technically proficient skater. The humidity wreaked havoc on the rubber in his vehicles, causing the wheels to loosen and become difficult to steer.
Again, he’s not complaining; he’s simply addressing the questions the assembled media are throwing at him to get a sense of what it’s like to know you can win, to know you’ve beaten the majority of your competitors, but to realise that today is not that day.
S. O’Neill stated, “Today was not so good, it’s quite hot, and I may not have chosen the best moves.”
“Due to the heat, my board is a little slack, and I kept coming off when attempting a switch 360 double flip.
S. O’Neill maintained his momentum into 2017, placing second at the World Skateboarding Championships. In front of his home audience at the 2018 X Games hosted in Sydney, he won bronze to add to his silver medal from the 2016 X Games.
Last Words
S. O’Neill was awarded winner at the 2020 Oceania Continental Street Championships after winning the open male final.
S. O’Neill qualified for his first Olympic Games with solid results coming up to Tokyo, including an eighth-place finish in the 2021 Dew Tour and a twelfth-place finish in the 2021 Street World Championships.
He is currently ranked fourteenth in the world for Olympic street skateboarding and is scheduled to make his Olympic debut in the Tokyo Games.
