By Rumaiza Norova, OCA Young Reporter from Tajikistan
Nagoya, Japan, October 2: Kang Juni’s final decision in the men’s street skateboarding final was not to make the job easier. After two unsuccessful trick attempts at Aichi Sky Expo, Hall B, the Korean skater returned for one more try with the same difficult move still on his board.
He landed the 270 Nollie Heelflip Lipslide for 92.40 points, adding it to his best run score of 88.45 for a winning total of 180.85. Japan’s Sasaki Toa finished second on 172.35, while compatriot Onodera Ginwoo took bronze with 168.11.
The moments before Kang rolled in were less certain. “I can’t believe it now. After I failed the second try in the tricks I got nervous, but then I saw my mother in the stands and reset my mind to try again. Finally, I landed it,” he said. Asked what went through his head before the attempt, his answer was even shorter: “I thought, ‘I’m cooked’.”
There was little sign of that thought once the board came down cleanly. Kang had a large visible reaction after landing, and Korean supporters responded strongly from the stands. He later summed up the moment simply: “It felt like a dream. I couldn’t believe it. Finally.”
What made the choice notable was that Kang did not reduce the difficulty after the earlier failures. Sasaki said he had expected exactly that. “I thought there was a chance he would lower the difficulty and just try to land something, but he went for it and landed it, so that was amazing.”
Kang’s scoring line showed why the decision mattered. His three run scores were 84.83, 69.79 and 88.45. The first two trick attempts brought no score, leaving the 92.40 from his successful final trick as the second half of the total that moved him ahead of the Japanese pair.
Sasaki’s own best scores were 84.30 in the runs and 88.05 in the tricks, producing 172.35. Onodera combined an 80.72 run with an 87.39 trick for 168.11, giving Japan both remaining places on the podium.
For Korea, Kang’s victory carried a specific first: no Korean skateboarder had previously won an Asian Games gold medal. Skateboarding joined the Asian Games programme in 2018, and Kang’s win put the country on top of an Asian Games skateboarding podium for the first time.
The result also gave Kang somewhere immediate to point next. “My next goal is the world championships in Asuncion, Paraguay next month,” he said, shifting the conversation quickly from what he had just done to the next competition.
The winning trick lasted only seconds, but the choice behind it defined the final. Kang looked toward his mother, kept the harder option and committed to it. At Aichi Sky Expo, that was enough to turn “I’m cooked” into a 92.40 and a first for Korean skateboarding.