Skateboarding: World champion Cocona Hiraki runner-up at Olympic qualifier

DUBAI (Kyodo) — Japan’s reigning world champion Cocona Hiraki finished runner up to Spain’s Naia Laso in the women’s final of the Paris Olympic park skateboarding qualifier in Dubai on Sunday.

Hiraki scored 91.60 on her first of three runs to finish 1.86 back from fellow 15-year-old Laso, with 13-year-old Mizuho Hasegawa earning 88.91 to round out the podium in a 2-3 finish for Japan.

Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Sakura Yosozumi took sixth with a first-run score of 86.65 after falling on her second and third runs.

“While I’m happy I was able finish second, I’m still disappointed I wasn’t first,” said Hiraki, who took silver at the Tokyo Games. “Looking toward Paris, I want to do my best to get good result from here.”

In the men’s event, Japan’s Yuro Nagahara finished 10th in the semifinals and did not advance to the eight-man final.

The Olympic qualifying series has reached its halfway point with the conclusion of the Dubai round. A maximum of three men and three women from each national Olympic committee can contest each of the park and street skateboarding competitions at the Paris Games.