Australia has finished fourth on the medal table at the World Skate 2023 Skate Cross & Inline Freestyle World Championships held in Shanghai, China from 9-12 November.
For Australia’s largest ever Inline team, it was the first time they had competed at the Skate Cross World Championships, and the nation’s return to the Inline Freestyle event since the 2019 Barcelona World Skate Games.
With every Australian athlete achieving a top-5 result, the 11-strong team came home with two gold medals, two silver and two bronze, plus three fourth place finishes and one fifth.
Australia swept the podium in both the Men’s and Women’s U15 Skate Cross event.
The Women’s U15 event saw Gloria Zhu on the top step of the dais, with Chloe Ma in silver and Angela Wu in bronze. Phoebe Wu and Jennifer Wu placed 4th and 5th respectively.
In the Men’s U15 event, Zheng Liang Zeng secured the gold medal, ahead of Henry Shan in 2nd, Ethan Che Liu in 3rd and Nick Like Su in 4th.
Australia’s Senior Men’s Cross Team of Luke Webb and Jesse Matthysz narrowly missed out on a medal, placing 4th, behind teams from Italy, France and Japan in the medal positions.
Individually, Webb was the top placed Aussie in the Senior Men’s event, placing 8th, with Matthysz 11th.
Skate Australia’s World Championships Team Manager Jingfeng Yang, said Australia is well placed for future success in the Skate Cross discipline.
“From the results of this Skate Cross World Championships, Australia's participation and skill in the U15 categories is currently at the top of the world,” he said.
“We will work hard to keep the advantage in the U15 categories, train the U19 athletes and involve more Senior athletes in the discipline. Hopefully this will lead to more World Champions and World Championship medals for Australia in the future.”
Whilst competing in the Cross World Championships, most of the team were doubling up their competition, competing in Shanghai’s Luwan Sport Center at the 2023 Inline Freestyle World Championships from 9-12 November.
Phoebe Wu was the top placed Australian in the Women's Inline Freestyle Slide competition, finishing in 8th place. Angela Wu and Chloe Ma narrowly missed out on progressing to the final, placing equal 9th after competing in the women’s quarter final. Zheng Liang Zeng was the top placed Australian in the Men’s Inline Freestyle Slide competition, advancing through to the quarter final where he placed 9th.
Gloria Zhu recorded a top-10 result in the Free Jump Women’s Final, placing 9th, while Asian Roller Skating Championships bronze medallist Jesse Matthysz placed 7th in the Men’s Free Jump Final.
Looking ahead, Yang said the technical committee’s focus is on introducing more athletes to the discipline to grow Australia’s success.
“These two World Championships offered perfect facilities for the athletes, with 24 countries competing. It was exciting to see so many of the world's top athletes,” he said.
“The World Championships also provide guidance for our future training plans. We will try to get more people involved in Inline Freestyle and Skate Cross and train more young athletes for future Australian teams to ensure Australia will compete in all future World Championships.
We are looking forward to the 2024 World Skate Games in Italy and the 2025 World Championships in Korea!”
Australian Team at 2023 Inline Freestyle World Championships
ATHLETES
ANGELA WU
CHLOE MA
ETHAN CHE LIU
GLORIA ZHU
HENRY SHAN
JENNIFER WU
JESSE MATTHYSZ
NICK LIKE SU
PHOEBE WU
ZHENG LIANG ZENG
COACHES
JINGFENG YANG
XIAOXUE ZHONG
JIANGYUN PENG
TEAM MANAGER
JINGFENG YANG
Australian Team at 2023 Skate Cross World Championships
ATHLETES
ANGELA WU
CHLOE MA
ETHAN CHE LIU
GLORIA ZHU
HENRY SHAN
JENNIFER WU
JESSE MATTHYSZ
LUKE WEBB
NICK LIKE SU
PHOEBE WU
ZHENG LIANG ZENG
COACHES
JINGFENG YANG
XIAOXUE ZHONG
TEAM MANAGER
JINGFENG YANG