Latest news with #MomijiNishiya
Kyodo News
2 days ago
- Sport
- Kyodo News
Skateboarding: Powerhouse Japan welcomes new Olympic age limit
KYODO NEWS - Jun 1, 2025 - 13:52 | Sports, All Despite the potential impact on its medal prospects, skateboarding powerhouse Japan has welcomed the new Olympic age limit restricting competition to athletes 14 and older from the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Governing body World Skate decided in April to institute the limit, which would have ruled some of Japan's previous Olympic medal-winning skateboarders ineligible. Japan's street skateboarding head coach Daisuke Hayakawa has nevertheless endorsed the new restriction against the backdrop of increasingly severe injuries, including ligament ruptures, being reported among growing children in many countries as the technical difficulty of tricks continues to rise. "I think it's a good decision. We can't overlook the risk of children attempting them while lacking the basis (for skills) or being physically immature," he said. Among Japan's record seven Olympic skateboarding medalists since the sport debuted at the 2021 Tokyo Games, Momiji Nishiya won women's street gold in Tokyo at 13 and Cocona Hiraki took park silver at 12, while Coco Yoshizawa was 14 when she triumphed in women's street in Paris last summer. Hayakawa believes the average age of the Japan national team would naturally not go any lower, as the stars who emerged at the Tokyo Games reach their peak years. He added that children's lighter bodyweights are not necessarily an advantage for aerial maneuvers that also require sufficient leg power. While World Skate also mandated a minimum age of 12 for other international tournaments, Japanese organizers kept recent domestic competitions in Kanagawa and Mie prefectures open to future stars aged between 7 and 10. With youngsters often drawn more to the culture of skateboarding than to competition, parents and children at the events did not seem too concerned by the latest developments. "My dream is to skate in a cool way. The Olympics isn't really a target," a 10-year-old at one of the events said. World Skate Japan has decided not to set an age limit for domestic tournaments amid the latest news, its board member Hitoshi Murakami said. "There might be changes in the growing process of children aiming for the Olympics from Los Angeles onward," he said. "We'll think about how we can support children of those ages." The International Olympic Committee started tightening age restrictions to protect child athletes after Russian figure skating prodigy Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. "I believe this change (in skateboarding) is also related to the IOC's policy," said Murakami, who expects little opposition in Japan to the new limit. Related coverage: Snowboarding: 6-time Olympian Tomoka Takeuchi to retire after 1 more season Golf: Chisato Iwai wins 1st U.S. tour title in Mexico
Kyodo News
4 days ago
- Sport
- Kyodo News
Skateboarding: Powerhouse Japan welcomes new Olympic age limit
KYODO NEWS - 11 minutes ago - 13:52 | Sports, All Despite the potential impact on its medal prospects, skateboarding powerhouse Japan has welcomed the new Olympic age limit restricting competition to athletes 14 and older from the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Governing body World Skate decided in April to institute the limit, which would have ruled some of Japan's previous Olympic medal-winning skateboarders ineligible. Japan's street skateboarding head coach Daisuke Hayakawa has nevertheless endorsed the new restriction against the backdrop of increasingly severe injuries, including ligament ruptures, being reported among growing children in many countries as the technical difficulty of tricks continues to rise. "I think it's a good decision. We can't overlook the risk of children attempting them while lacking the basis (for skills) or being physically immature," he said. Among Japan's record seven Olympic skateboarding medalists since the sport debuted at the 2021 Tokyo Games, Momiji Nishiya won women's street gold in Tokyo at 13 and Cocona Hiraki took park silver at 12, while Coco Yoshizawa was 14 when she triumphed in women's street in Paris last summer. Hayakawa believes the average age of the Japan national team would naturally not go any lower, as the stars who emerged at the Tokyo Games reach their peak years. He added that children's lighter bodyweights are not necessarily an advantage for aerial maneuvers that also require sufficient leg power. While World Skate also mandated a minimum age of 12 for other international tournaments, Japanese organizers kept recent domestic competitions in Kanagawa and Mie prefectures open to future stars aged between 7 and 10. With youngsters often drawn more to the culture of skateboarding than to competition, parents and children at the events did not seem too concerned by the latest developments. "My dream is to skate in a cool way. The Olympics isn't really a target," a 10-year-old at one of the events said. World Skate Japan has decided not to set an age limit for domestic tournaments amid the latest news, its board member Hitoshi Murakami said. "There might be changes in the growing process of children aiming for the Olympics from Los Angeles onward," he said. "We'll think about how we can support children of those ages." The International Olympic Committee started tightening age restrictions to protect child athletes after Russian figure skating prodigy Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. "I believe this change (in skateboarding) is also related to the IOC's policy," said Murakami, who expects little opposition in Japan to the new limit. Related coverage: Snowboarding: 6-time Olympian Tomoka Takeuchi to retire after 1 more season Golf: Chisato Iwai wins 1st U.S. tour title in Mexico
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Skateboarding age minimum set through 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Skateboarders must be born in 2014 or earlier to be eligible for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics under a new age minimum set by the World Skate federation. Starting this year, an age minimum is being phased in for World Skateboarding Tour events. World Skate, the international governing body for the sport, confirmed that the age rules will also apply to the LA Games. Advertisement Skateboarders must have been born in 2014 or earlier to compete in tour events in 2025. The age minimum will be raised one year each in 2026, 2027 and 2028 — which means that the birth year minimum of 2014 will remain the same through the LA Games. Year Minimum Age Youngest Birthdate 2025 turning 11 in 2025 Dec. 31, 2014 2026 turning 12 in 2026 Dec. 31, 2014 2027 turning 13 in 2027 Dec. 31, 2014 2028 and onward turning 14 in 2028 Dec. 31, 2014 The World Skate decision was made after "comprehensive consultations conducted as a part of the debriefing process" after the Paris Games. "Supported throughout the debriefing with the largest collective consensus was the learning that the accelerating standard and corresponding challenges in Olympic skateboarding has necessitated the introduction of a minimum age limit," according to World Skate. Skateboarding made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games. It was one of the many sports with no age minimum at both the Tokyo and Paris Games. Advertisement In both Tokyo and Paris, the youngest medalists and gold medalists across all sports were female skateboarders. In Tokyo, Kokona Hiraki took silver in the park event three weeks before her 13th birthday. She became the youngest Olympic medalist since 1936, according to the OlyMADMen. Momiji Nishiya of Japan took gold in women's street in Tokyo, a month before her 14th birthday. She became the youngest Summer Olympic gold medalist since 1960, according to the OlyMADMen. Had the new age rules been in place at those Games, Hiraki would not have been eligible while Nishiya would have made the age cutoff by four months. Advertisement At the Paris Games, both women's skateboarding gold medalists were 14 years old -- Australian Arisa Trew in park and Japan's Coco Yoshizawa in street. Zheng Haohao of China, who placed 18th out of 22 in the women's park event in Paris five days before turning 12, was the youngest Olympic competitor in any sport since 1992, according to the OlyMADMen. Lexus WSL Finals Caity Simmers, John John Florence give U.S. sweep of world surfing titles in thrilling finals The U.S. won the men's and women's world championships in surfing for the first time since 2011.
NBC Sports
08-04-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Skateboarding age minimum set through 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Skateboarders must be born in 2014 or earlier to be eligible for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics under a new age minimum set by the World Skate federation. Starting this year, an age minimum is being phased in for World Skateboarding Tour events. World Skate, the international governing body for the sport, confirmed that the age rules will also apply to the LA Games. Skateboarders must have been born in 2014 or earlier to compete in tour events in 2025. The age minimum will be raised one year each in 2026, 2027 and 2028 — which means that the birth year minimum of 2014 will remain the same through the LA Games. The World Skate decision was made after 'comprehensive consultations conducted as a part of the debriefing process' after the Paris Games. 'Supported throughout the debriefing with the largest collective consensus was the learning that the accelerating standard and corresponding challenges in Olympic skateboarding has necessitated the introduction of a minimum age limit,' according to World Skate. Skateboarding made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games. It was one of the many sports with no age minimum at both the Tokyo and Paris Games. In both Tokyo and Paris, the youngest medalists and gold medalists across all sports were female skateboarders. In Tokyo, Kokona Hiraki took silver in the park event three weeks before her 13th birthday. She became the youngest Olympic medalist since 1936, according to the OlyMADMen. Momiji Nishiya of Japan took gold in women's street in Tokyo, a month before her 14th birthday. She became the youngest Summer Olympic gold medalist since 1960, according to the OlyMADMen. Had the new age rules been in place at those Games, Hiraki would not have been eligible while Nishiya would have made the age cutoff by four months. At the Paris Games, both women's skateboarding gold medalists were 14 years old -- Australian Arisa Trew in park and Japan's Coco Yoshizawa in street. Zheng Haohao of China, who placed 18th out of 22 in the women's park event in Paris five days before turning 12, was the youngest Olympic competitor in any sport since 1992, according to the OlyMADMen. Nick Zaccardi,
