Australian Skateboarders have finished competition at the 2023 Tokyo Street Skateboarding World Championships.
With World titles up for grabs, the team of 11 street skateboarders were also vying for their chance to improve their international rankings in order to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Chloe Covell was the standout performer of the Australian contingent finishing in fourth place in the Women’s final, narrowly missing out on a podium finish after having a fall in the run session.
“I was proud of myself that I came back up to 4th place from last place in the final after a not so good run,” said Covell. “I attempted a trick I had never tried before and it gave me confidence to hopefully land it next time.
“The competition atmosphere in Tokyo was great, everyone was supportive and the crowd was great. I enjoyed spending time with my teammates because we were often all sitting together hanging out and cheering on each other during practice and competition.”
Skate Australia National Coach Beau Mitchell said up-and-coming athlete Daniel Woolley was another skater who excelled in Japan.
“One of our emerging talented skaters, Daniel Woolley, had a breakthrough performance making his first quarter final,” he said. “However, he unfortunately had to pull out of competition after experiencing a lower limb injury during the quarter final practice session.”.
Mitchell added the World Championships provided the Australian team with important experience of competing at a purpose-built facility.
“The World Championships in Japan was a great event but saw the team have some up-and-down results across the men's and women's competitions.
“The Japanese people are amazing, and the atmosphere was electric as this was the first World Skate event held in an indoor stadium.
“While our team didn’t have their greatest results, all of our Aussie skaters have the potential to take on the Japanese powerhouse and podium in these events. Having the opportunity to train in a purpose-built training facility will provide our skaters with the greatest opportunity to achieve this in the future.”
The Australian team will now head home for a well-earned break over Christmas before starting preparations for 2024.
Australian Team 2023 Tokyo Street World Championships final results
Women’s
Chloe Covell - 4th
Felicity Turner - 23rd
Olivia Lovelace - 29th
Haylie Powell - 55th
Men’s
Shane O’Neill - 30th
Daniel Woolley - 32nd
Tommy Fynn - 36th
Jack Lewis - 60th
Nathaniel Connor - 88th
Rome Collyer -89th
Taj Branch - 99th
Full results here
