PARIS (AFP) – Japan’s Yuto Horigome achieved the highest score in the final round of the men’s street skating event on Monday to retain his Olympic title.

He beat Jagger Eaton by 0.1 points, while another American skateboarder, Nyjah Huston, took bronze after a thrilling competition that the three medalists agreed was the best ever in their sport.

A day earlier, Japan had also achieved a one-two in the women’s street event.

Horigome was fourth after the two longer runs that opened the men’s final. He climbed the leaderboard with a big score in the first of his five tricks, but fell back in the next three.

This allowed Huston, a legendary figure in the skateboarding world, to take the lead.

In the penultimate round, Eaton, bronze medalist in Tokyo, achieved the highest score of the afternoon with a score of 95.25 to win gold.

Horigome rose to the challenge and scored 97.08 points in the final minute, good for a winning total of 281.14 points.

“I just didn’t want to have any regrets,” the 25-year-old said.

Eaton totaled 281.04, while Huston edged out Japan’s Sora Shirai for bronze.

The day after 14-year-old compatriot Coco Yoshizawa won gold in an all-teens women’s final, Horigome continued Japan’s dominance in a final where the top six competitors were all 22 or older.

Japan has won all four Olympic gold medals in the junior event. When asked why Japan is so good, Horigome laughed.

“I don’t know myself,” he said. “The level of skating in Japan and the rest of the world has gone up so much. I really had to push the boundaries and believe in myself, and that’s probably what worked.”

The American medal winners were impressed.

“Yuto is a wild one,” Eaton said.

“I don’t think Yuto feels any fear or pressure,” Huston said.

All three agreed that they could have easily competed in the best men’s street skateboard finals ever.

“Not only were there crazy tricks being done, but we also took advantage of the energy of the crowd and a lot of other things,” Eaton said.

“That crowd and that final with everyone doing great, it felt like a group of friends having an amazing day of skating. Yeah, the stakes were really high, but it was so much fun.”

Horigome has lived in Los Angeles, the birthplace of skateboarding and site of the 2028 Olympic Games, since he was 16.

“I never thought I would make the Olympic team here, so I can’t even think about Los Angeles,” he said, referring to the next Games.

“There are so many great kids around us and I don’t know physically and mentally if I can keep up with them.

“But America was really where I wanted to go when I started skateboarding, so maybe three Olympics would be great as a final one.”

Eaton and Huston said they felt like old men.

“This stuff wears you out mentally and physically,” said Eaton, who first started competing at age 11 and is now 23. “I’m sitting here cracking my neck and Nyjah sounds like an old door sitting on the floor.”

Huston said he wanted to continue competing “as long as humanly possible.”

“At my age, I am now 29, I have been competing in professional skating competitions for 18 years. It is not easy to keep up with these guys.”