Canada's Micky Papa just misses cut for skateboarding final in Olympic debut

Canada’s Micky Papa finished just two spots short of reaching the men’s street competition final as skateboarding made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games.

Papa, from Vancouver, scored 30.39 points during Sunday’s preliminary round and was on the bubble holding the final qualifying spot heading into the last heat but ended in 10th place and two points back after the dust settled.

Matt Berger of Kamloops, B.C., came in last place at 20th with a disappointing 4.01 points.

Riders completed two 45-second runs through the street course and five best tricks attempts with their top four scores overall counting towards their total.

Papa, ranked 21st in the world, took to the course during the inaugural heat but faltered during his two timed runs scoring 6.66 and 5.50, respectively. The 30-year-old Papa nailed his first trick attempt with a nollie 180 nosegrind and stuck the landing to roll away with a 9.01. After three misses, Papa saved his best for last stomping a nollie into heelflip boardslide to count an impressive 9.22 and remain in the mix.

Berger, the world’s No. 10, also struggled through his timed runs with consecutive 2.01 scores and the 27-year-old was unable to recover failing to land any of his five trick attempts.

The final immediately followed the prelims with Japan’s Yuto Horigome taking the gold medal on home pavement. Brazil’s Kelvin Hoefler earned silver and Jagger Eaton of the United States claimed bronze.

Meanwhile, Montreal’s Annie Guglia will compete in the women’s street competition Monday as a late replacement. Guglia was first in line in case of injuries and got the call when a South African skater dropped out. Vancouver’s Ryan Decenzo also made the trip to Tokyo as a potential injury replacement in men’s street but did not get the opportunity to compete.

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